Japan is a relatively small country, with incredibly efficient transportation infrastructure due to its high population. Several major companies own the majority of the public transportation networks in each major city.
One slightly confusing drawback to this is when trying to catch trains around places like Tokyo. You may find you have to leave the station to find your transfer. When using a JR pass you won’t be able to use transfer gates. Especially when using a combination of trains and subways. Tokyo for example has 6 major rail companies, JR, Tokyo Metro, Odakyu, Keikyu, Tokyu and Keio.
For example: traveling to Harajuku (Takeshita Street) there are 2 train stations 1 is JR Harajuku which is the Yamanote Line and the other is Tokyo Metro Meiji-Jingumae <Harajuku> Station which is the Chiyoda and Fukutoshin lines. It can be important to note the difference as the Metro is a subway and not covered by JR Pass.
My trick for using the correct trains is Google Maps, when looking for routes you can see the symbol next to the station or line name that says what company it is. Google Maps also shows the line colour, these colours correlate with the platform signs and train design.
Shinkansen
Now that you know how to get to the right station and line, catching the correct JR Shinkansen when using a JR pass can be a little tricky. There’s two main ways to board the correct bullet train:
- (Recommended) Reserve your seat using your JR pass at the Shinkansen ticket area. The station master will give you a ticket with the time, platform, carriage and seat number. Since they made the reservation for you, you don’t have to worry whether it’s the correct train.
- Nearly all Shinkansen are covered by the JR pass; except when traveling between Osaka/Kyoto and Tokyo. You can only catch the Hikari or Kodama class trains, with the Hikari being the faster of the two. So if you’re short on time and don’t want to book a seat, you can go to the non-reservation carriage of these trains and pick any empty seat. Be warned during peak periods there may not be any seats available.
Buses
Buses in Japan are amazing for both local and distance travel. Particularly in older cities such as Kyoto, which have much less train infrastructure. To ride these I highly recommend purchasing a IC Card if you haven’t already. You can purchase these at ANY train station. To recharge you can do this at either a train station or on the bus itself. Note: When charging on the bus you can only purchase ¥1000 worth of credit, simply say ‘cha-ji’ to the driver and have your money and IC card ready prior to boarding the bus.
The bus itself is pretty easy to use, with the number displayed clearly on the front of the bus. Knowing when to get off may seem scary, however, stops are usually announced, and in tourist areas they usually have announcements in English for places of note. Even many of the more modern buses have electronic displays showing the name and number of the stop coming up.