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14 Days Japan

I have planned 14 days to Japan and wondered if someone provide me with some feedback and help.

Arriving in NGO Nagoya airport on Sept 19
Sept 19 -20 in Nagoya
Sept 21-22 in Kyoto
Sept 23-27 in Osaka
Sept 28-29 in Kobe
Sept 30 in Hiroshima
Oct 1-4 in Fukuoka
Depart from Fukuoka to home.

1.Is it worth to get the JR pass?
2.If I will be touring the surrounding cities in Osaka such as Nara, Sakai, is the JR pass included for those lines?
3. JR pass covers the commute from airport to the city where my hotel is? Nagoya ( NGO) airport to city, and from my hotel in Fukuoka to Fukuoka (FUK) airport ?
4. What is the best data or wifi rental should be use while staying in Japan, any recommendation?

Many Thanks

Comments

  • Hello, Panda!

    1. Assuming you mean the nationwide Japan Rail Pass, the answer would be no. Compared to buying individual tickets, the 7-day and 14-day JR Passes do not provide savings for this itinerary.

    If you're still itching to buy a rail pass, it's possible to get modest savings with the JR Sanyo Sanin Area Pass (active from September 25 to October 1).

    http://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/sanyo_sanin/

    The idea is to start your trip without any pass. Buy your Shinkansen ticket as usual from Nagoya to Kyoto. Also use a commuter service to Osaka (not the Shinkansen). Hold off from visiting Nara until you activate your area pass on September 25.

    Unlike the usual JR Pass, the JR Sanyo Sanin Area Pass allows you to take the fastest-class Nozomi services along the Sanyo Shinkansen Line, which is great.

    2. Yes. It's possible to get to those places by JR.

    3. There isn't a JR Pass that covers these trips, as there isn't access to either airport through JR. You'll have to get there with other alternatives.
  • edited August 2016
    A 14 day pass would not pay off.

    To get from Nagoya to Kyoto/Osaka and around cheaply, look into using a Kintetsu Rail Pass.
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357_006.html

    With some travel around Kansai and the trip down to Fukuoka, you can barely make a JR Sanyo Sanin Area Pass pay off.

    A few suggestions on your dates - first, you are putting in way too little time for Kyoto and way too much for Osaka. Please don't skip Nara either - it has some of Japan's very best sights. If you'd like to expand your trip and get more value out of a rail pass, take a day from Osaka and go see Himeji for a day - it has Japan's best castle, plus the Kokoen Garden next to it is nice and Mt Shosha has a wonderful mountaintop temple complex.

    You could also take a day and go see Koyasan for a very spiritual experience in Japan. A Koyasan World Heritage Ticket would save you a lot of money for it.
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_012.html

    You also might want to take a day away from Fukuoka and use it to go see Miyajima for a day. It too is a major top sight and worth seeing. You could also see Iwakuni nearby if you wished. There are some good previews of the places on:
    https://www.youtube.com/user/thejapanfaq/videos

    Fukuoka has some overlooked gems as well. Don't miss the Nanzoin Temple, one of the very best in Japan and unknown to all the tourist guidebook "experts". Plus, it's free! Many of the best sights are not far from a subway station, so a subway day pass is a great way to get around. Now it's about 620 yen on weekdays and 520 on weekends.
    For a great collection of other places to see, have a look at:
    http://www.thejapanfaq.com/fukpic.html
    Fukuoka airport is just 2 subway stations from Hakata Stn - very inexpensive and extremely convenient.
    For Chubu airport in Nagoya, see here:
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2431.html

    As for pocket w-fi, it all depends on how much speed you want and how data bandwidth you want to use. There are many I listed on:
    http://forum.japan-rail-pass.com/discussion/comment/1285/#Comment_1285
    so you might take a look.
  • Hi Tenjin,
    Thank you very much for your reply and recommendation.

    We have finalized the itinerary due to personal circumstances and some of your recommendation.

    Nagoya and Kyoto will remain as the way it is. Yes, we have changed staying for 7 days from sept 23 to 29 in Osaka, planed to take day trip to Nara, Kobe, Hemeji Kokoen garden, and Mt. Shoshas from Osaka you have recommended. we prefer stay at the same place rather than moving our luggage from place to place since Japan is our 2nd Asian Country to visit out of our 4 weeks vacation. we have a mid size luggage w each of us.

    then we will train from Osaka to Hiroshima, we will visit the Memory Park and the Island Shrine on Sept 30

    Sept 31 we leave from Hiroshima to Beppu and stay there until Oct 2 inclusive and take the train from Beppu to Fukuoka Oct 3 and fly from Fukuoka on Oct 4.

    What is the difference between Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass vs the Sanyo Sanin Area Pass? which one is more practical for us according to our itinerary above? And how may days should we get the pass for?

    When we arrive in Nagoya, should we buy the Kintetsu Rail Pass for 2 days? and we can use Kintetsu Pass from Nagoya to Kyoto with no additional cost?

    Should we buy ticket from Hiroshima to Beppu and Beppu to Fukuoka ,or is there a Rail Pass that you would recommend for these 3 location?

    We appreciated your precious time to look into this for us and your recommendation. Thanks again Tenjin.



  • Thanks to Faiyez as well for your information and recommendation not to take the JR Pass :)
  • Hi,
    Yes, you can use the Kintetsu Pass to get from Nagoya to Kyoto cheaply. See the link I gave as well as here:
    http://www.kintetsu.co.jp/foreign/english/ticket/

    The difference between the JR Sanyo Sanin Area Pass and JR Kansai Hiroshima area pass are coverage area, price and validity. You can compare both here:
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_kansai_hiroshima.html
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_sanyo_sanin.html
    You don't choose the pass length - it is fixed. Also since you mention you want to travel to Beppu, a JR Northern Kyushu rail pass is also an option:
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_05.html
  • edited September 2016
    We are finally here in Japan on our 5th day. The Japan Rail system is so confusing. On top of that , both the subway system and its Rail system is something a person need to have a university doctor degree to understand it or what. You can find many lost look individual in their Rail and subway system . Japan Rail company should list the major cities that their rail line can be reached just like air line company. visitors dont care which rail line they ride , we care which rail line will take us to our destination based on our itinerary just like we book our flight ticket. if we need connection flight , then we can pay extra to make it direct flight and we can use diff air line ..... same common sense we will do our home work and decide which rail system we take as long as we know which rail line will go to which cities. visitors dont care who owns which rail line . tell your visitors what cities your rail line serve . name the cities NOT the name of your RAIL SYSTEM NAME . we are familiar with the cities where we are going . we dont care about the name of your rail company , they are just like airline company. Japan Airline will not fly in domestic city in the States, nobody cares. if Japan Airline fly into NEW YORK thats what the visitor cares . we have another option to take Japan AIRLINE or AMERICAN airline . same concept.
    no wondered there were hundreds of Q&A repeat of asking for the same question which pass to get. do you see ppl ask which airline i should fly from Newyork to Tokyo?
    let me raise an example the Kintesus pass is very straight forward. i dont really care which rail system, i know this pass will take me to the destination that i want based on my 5 days itinerary . thats all we need for the info . the rail line , we will figure that out later when we do more homework and comparison .
    if you have the same experience , please add your comment by saying AGREE and reflect your experience to let the Rail Company kbow to improve for our future visitor to Japan .....Thanks
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