Hi I'm travelling to Japan in April for 10 days 9 nights.
For my trip, i am planning to cover 4 cities in the following order:
Start: Tokyo -- Kyoto -- Hiroshima -- Osaka(end)
I am planning to purchase the 7-day Japan rail pass. Does it allow me to book a seat in advance? Because my trip to Kyoto and Hiroshima are on Friday and Sunday respectively. Therefore I am afraid that the seats are not available. Also, how does the pass work? Does it cover the Skinkansen from Kyoto to Hiroshima and from Hiroshima to Osaka? How about the normal train rides? And if I purchase the tickets on April 1, will it expire on April 7 1159pm?
Does Osaka have a 4 day city pass that includes a trip to the airport?
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Comments
Yes, you can make advance seating reservations with the pass from any JR office. It's a free perk thrown in. All the bullet train routes are covered, but you cannot use the fastest ones, Nozomi or Mizuho.
Please remember also that the day you activate it for counts as Day One - which starts and ends at midnight. So if you activate and use it at 6 PM, your first "day" is just 6 hours long. So as you said, if you start Apr. 1, you last day is Apr 7.
You can also exchange your order for the pass and designate a future date to start on it - so for example to start using your pass from the earliest train possible (sometimes departing before the office even opens) or to leave from another station where you can't exchange your order for the pass, you can set the first day as tomorrow, or 3 days from today, or whenever. Please note that the exchange order must be turned in for the pass within three months of the date the order was issued. So if you want to start using the pass in mid-Sept, you should not buy the exchange order until after the middle of June.
There is no 4 day pass in Osaka, but I suggest you look at the Icoca & Haruka discount ticket.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_icoca_haruka.html