A rail pass is a travel document that entitles you to travel on Japanese trains in specific areas for a specific number of days.

The number of days during which you can take the train with your rail pass is typically referred to as Travel Days, while the period within which you can use your travel days is referred to as the rail pass validity period. A travel day lasts from midnight to midnight. During this period, you can take as many train trips as you want within your rail pass area of coverage.

There are only a few overnight trains left running in Japan the Sunrise Seto and Sunrise Izumo overnight trains only accept the Japan Rail Pass where passengers can be seated in the Numi-Numi compartments. If passengers wish to travel in one of the other sleeping compartments they must pay an additional fee.

A rail pass and a train ticket are two completely different types of travel documents.

A train ticket is valid for a single journey between two cities. Many tickets also include a reservation, which means that they are valid only for a specific train, on a specific date and at a given time. To learn more about tickets, read the section Train Tickets Explained.

A rail pass, on the other hand, is good for travel in an entire geographical region. With it, you can take as many train trips as you want within that geographical area, for as many travel days as you bought, within a set period of time (the pass validity period).

For any given itinerary in Japan, you can generally choose between both: train tickets or a rail pass, and individual reservations as needed. In general, traveling on a rail pass is more cost-effective when taking three trips or more, but it really depends. Make sure to do your research in advance to determine whether a pass is the most cost-effective for your itinerary.

A rail pass travel day is a 24 hour period, from midnight to midnight, during which you can take as many train trips as you want. Since rail passes use calendar days, trips within 24 hours of each other but on different days will count as two travel days.

The validity period of a rail pass is the time period within which you must complete your travel with your rail pass. This period is calculated from the date stamped on the rail pass by the rail official. The Japan Rail Pass can be purchased for 7, 14, or 21 day travel periods.

In general, yes, but there are some exceptions and a few rules to keep in mind. The Japan Rail Pass allows travel on most JR (Japan Rail) network trains including JR Kyushu, JR Shikoku, JR West, JR Center, JR East, and JR Hokkaido. This means passengers can travel on most shinkansen, limited express, express and other JR transport as well as local JR buses, the Tokyo monorail connecting to Haneda Airport and Hamamatsucho Station and the JR Miyajima Ferry. The pass excludes Nozomi and Mizuho trains on the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen. There is also an extra charge if passengers wish to travel in Green Cars which is Japan`s equivalent to `First Class`.

Also, be mindful that some trains (such as certain high speed and night trains) require travelers with a rail pass to purchase reservations at an additional cost. Make sure to read our detailed article on Seat Reservations.

No. You can take as many train trips as you want within one day and only use one day, as long as your last train ride ends before 11:59 pm.