JJapan

Prices for Japan Rail Pass, popular with foreign tourists, to rise 6% from October

  • April 10, 2026

Prices for Japan Rail Pass, popular with foreign tourists, to rise 6% from October

by Jonnyboo234

19 comments

  1. Again? That pass was already useless when it got price rise last time.

  2. It went up in 2023, surprising it’s going up again only three years later 😰

    If anything it’s rising alongside the weak yen. If (huge if though) the economy somehow rebounds and yen gains traction, it’s going to be incredibly hard to make it cheaper 😰

  3. It has not been worth it for me after the original price hike, and now it is even more not worth it. But I guess someone must still be buying it.

  4. “Popular with foreign tourists”? Maybe it was popular before the price hike in 2023. Currently, the JRP does not make sense for 95% of tourists who only visit Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima.

  5. I went interrailing last year and it just wasn’t worth it, at best it was a negligible benefit over just buying individual tickets

  6. They’re raising the price to effectively kill the pass, without officially killing the pass.

  7. Pre-pandemic this was an unbelievable deal. Did some things and went to some new places I wouldn’t have without it. Haven’t considered getting it again since the initial price hike, and disappointed but not shocked at another price hike so soon.

  10. Interesting headline tbh.
    Considering that people living here can’t buy it, ofc it’s ”popular” with foreign tourists. Who else???

  11. We had the pass before the last price hike. It was a relative bargain then, We even paid extra for the Green pass and it made all our trips amazing. Even Kyoto<->Tokyo trips, the car was less than half full. But even then, it was a questionable value unless you really traveled a lot. In fact, it made me to something that most people would find questionable: a day trip to Hakodate from Tokyo. We made it work, got around 5 hours at Hakodate itself, but looking back, probably not something I’d repeat. But hey, we got “value” from the JR Pass purchase. LOL.

  12. they are already so expensive that it’s near impossible to get a decent value out of them. unless you’re visiting Japan and taking one shinkansen per day for a an entire week.

    and if you are… RIP. that is not a good way to enjoy Japan.

  13. Still cheaper than 2:30 hour roundtrip ticket Eurostar train. What a racket that is.

  14. While the price was one problem, my other issue was the material of the rail pass itself. I bought it before travelling to Japan two years ago, and it was made of paper. While I made sure to keep it dry and protected in my wallet, I used it so much that the edges curled and frayed, and the ticket machines kept jamming when I inserted it. It was embarrassing trying to explain to station staff that the machine would jam if I put the rail pass in. They usually did not believe me, so I would insert it anyway, it would get stuck, and they would spend five minutes holding up everyone behind me while they tried to get it out.

  15. It used to be ridiculously underpriced. The last change was an overcorrection. This one is the “Stop, stop! He’s already dead” moment.

  16. The regional passes do not cover all areas. There is no Kanto/Kanagawa pass for example.

  17. Friend and I booked a car and drove from Matsumoto, Omachi, Hakuba, Fuji, Izo and finally to Tokyo over 4 to 5 days. Still cheaper than getting 2 rail passes, even with the gas, tolls and parking.

    Saw so much local stuff that had zero foreigners, even during this busy Sakura season. Will be doing this again next time

  19. Honestly unless you’re riding JR trains all day it usually makes more sense to just pay the regular ticket price. I haven’t found the JR pass to be worth it for years.

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