Hi there!
I am heading to Japan with my Dad in June and after a few days in Tokyo after landing we will be flying down to Okinawa for my cousins wedding before heading back to the mainland for the final week and a half of our trip.
During the final week of the trip we are planning on spending some time in Osaka with possible day trips to Hiroshima and/or Nara before moving on to Kyoto for 5 nights (again with possible day trips) and then travelling up to Tokyo to fly home.
Just wondering whether a JR Pass would be worthwhile, as well as what pass would be best for the last leg of the trip - as in once we fly from Okinawa to Osaka and need to use trains for day trips and moving from Osaka-Kyoto-Tokyo.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Sam
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Comments
http://www.jetstar.com/jp/en/home
http://www.flypeach.com/home.aspx
http://www.vanilla-air.com/en/
Alternatively, if sold out or pricey, look at ANA's Experience Japan Fare.
http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/wws_common/promotions/share/experience_jp/index.html
For the rail pass, if you can go from the Kansai area down to Hiroshima/Miyajima, and then back to Tokyo within 7 days, you can in fact make a 7 day JR Pass pay off. A 14 day pass though would not, unless you added a couple of day trips from Tokyo to places like Nikko or Karuizawa (both are well worth seeing BTW). So up to you. You could take a day off of Kansai to do it - if you are already seeing Tokyo, you can largely skip Osaka in the day time since it is more or less a clone. But in Osaka don't miss Dotonbori at night and the view from the Umeda Sky Bldg or Abeno Harukas Bldg at night when the weather is good is just stunning.
Also be warned that June is the rainy season, and you might get a lot of days of heavy rain. At the very least you will be hit by some extremely muggy weather. Bring enough sunblock (it's very expensive in Japan).