1 : Transportation services  

Railways

All JR Group Railways–Shinkansen “bullet trains” (except any reserved or nonreserved seat on “NOZOMI” trains), limited express trains, express trains, and rapid or local trains. (With some exceptions)

Buses

JR Bus Companies

Local lines of JR Hokkaido Bus, JR Bus Tohoku, JR Bus Kanto, JR Tokai Bus, West Japan JR Bus , Chugoku JR Bus, JR Shikoku Bus Company, and JR Kyushu Bus.

JR Highway Bus Lines

Sapporo-Otaru; Morioka-Hirosaki/Aomori; Tokyo-Nagoya/Kyoto/Osaka/Tsukuba Center;

Nagoya-Kyoto/Osaka; Osaka-Tsuyama/Kasai Flower Center (Not accepted on some lines)

Ferry

JR Ferry (Miyajima – Miyajimaguchi), except “Beetle2″ (Hakata – Pusan)

Important notes : The JAPAN RAIL PASS is not valid for any seats, reserved or nonreserved, on “NOZOMI” trains on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines. If you use a “NOZOMI,” you must pay the basic fare and the limited express charge, and if in a Green Car, the Green Car charge. Passengers using train on non-JR lines* must pay respective fares and charges applicable to sections traveled on such lines.

2 : Train and fare conditions

All JR trains have Ordinary Cars (coach class) while many long-distance trains also offer Green Cars (superior class). With a Green-type JAPAN RAIL PASS you can use either class, while with an Ordinary-type JAPAN RAIL PASS you can use only Ordinary Cars without paying an additional charge. Refer to the table below for details.

• The cars with ● can be used with JAPAN RAIL PASS.
• Use of the cars with ▲ requires paying additional charges.
• There are no Green Cars on most HIKARI and KODAMA trains on the San ‘ yo Shinkansen line (Shin-Osaka – Hakata), or on TSUBAME trains on the Kyushu Shinkansen line (Shin-Yatsushiro – Kagoshima- chuo )

Remarks:

• Green private compartments are on certain limited express trains, such as “NARITA EXPRESS” and “Super-view Odoriko.”
• Use of “Home Liner” and other “liner” trains requires an additional charge.

3 : Validity period

• The validity period of a JAPAN RAIL PASS is the consecutive 7, 14, or 21 days beginning on the date the PASS is first used.
• Within three months from the date the Exchange Order was issued, you must turn in your Exchange Order to obtain your JAPAN RAIL PASS. At that time, you have to specify the date that you want to start using the PASS. It can be any date within one month from the date the PASS is received.
• Once the PASS has a starting date written on it, the date cannot be changed.