CalcJapanJAPAN TRAVEL COSTS, WORKED OUT ON PAPER

Tool · Rail

JR Pass Break-Even Calculator

The nationwide JR Pass is a bet: you pay a fixed price up front, and it only wins if the JR rides you squeeze into one 7-, 14- or 21-day window would have cost more as single tickets. List your long-distance rides below and we will do that sum with the real fares.

Fares and pass prices checked 8 November 2026 · Adult, regular season, reserved seats · Read the full guide

Your itinerary vs the pass

All figures in Japanese yen, per person unless stated
Start from a sample:

Working…

The one catch: the pass does not include the fastest Nozomi and Mizuho trains. Pass holders ride the Hikari, Sakura or Kagayaki instead — the fares in this calculator are for those pass-covered trains — or buy a special Nozomi/Mizuho ticket on top (¥4,960 one way Tokyo–Kyoto or Tokyo–Shin-Osaka; ¥6,500 Tokyo–Hiroshima). If you buy single tickets, the Nozomi fares in the table below are what you would pay.

Where to buy the pass

Since 1 October 2026 the same pass has two prices. The official online price is the cheaper one, and the JR Group says it is held only "for a limited time".

JAPAN RAIL PASS official reservation site · Check the agency price on Klook · Check the agency price on KKday

Booking links above are marked-up slots in this draft build; destinations are assigned in LINKS.md before launch.

Current JR Pass prices

Adult prices in yen. Children aged 6–11 pay half on the official site; agency child prices are listed in the source. Source: JAPAN RAIL PASS official site, "Types and prices", checked 8 November 2026.
PassOfficial online — OrdinaryOverseas agency — OrdinaryOfficial online — GreenOverseas agency — Green
7 days¥50,000¥53,000¥70,000¥74,000
14 days¥80,000¥84,000¥110,000¥116,000
21 days¥100,000¥105,000¥140,000¥147,000

Fare table used by this calculator

Adult, one way, regular season. "Pass-covered reserved" is the fare on a Hikari, Sakura, Kagayaki or similar train the JR Pass includes — the basis of the calculator. "Nozomi reserved" is what a single-ticket buyer pays on the fastest train. Fares are the same in the reverse direction. Compiled from JR fare tables (see Sources); checked 8 November 2026.
RoutePass-covered reservedNozomi reservedGreen Car (pass-covered train)
Tokyo → Nagoya¥11,090¥11,300¥14,750
Tokyo → Kyoto¥13,850¥14,170¥18,720
Tokyo → Osaka (Shin-Osaka)¥14,400¥14,720¥19,270
Tokyo → Hiroshima¥18,910¥19,760¥26,170
Tokyo → Fukuoka (Hakata)¥22,750¥23,810¥30,010
Tokyo → Kanazawa¥14,600—¥21,060
Nagoya → Kyoto¥5,700¥5,910¥7,970
Nagoya → Osaka (Shin-Osaka)¥6,470¥6,680¥8,740
Kyoto → Osaka (Shin-Osaka)¥2,870¥3,080¥3,640
Kyoto → Hiroshima¥11,300¥11,940¥14,960
Kyoto → Fukuoka (Hakata)¥15,930¥16,780¥22,000
Osaka (Shin-Osaka) → Hiroshima¥10,420¥10,950¥14,080
Osaka (Shin-Osaka) → Fukuoka (Hakata)¥15,280¥16,020¥21,350
Hiroshima → Fukuoka (Hakata)¥9,100¥9,630¥12,760

How the maths works — and its limits

The calculator adds the reserved-seat fares of the rides you list, on the trains the pass actually covers, and compares the total with the pass price for the length and class you chose. Three honest limits:

Season. Reserved-seat fares are ¥200 lower in the off-peak season, ¥200 higher in the busy season and ¥400 higher at the New Year, Golden Week and Obon peaks. The table uses the regular season; on a long itinerary the swing is a few hundred yen per ride, not enough to flip most verdicts — but it can flip a close one.

Local rides count for something. The pass also covers JR local trains, the Tokyo Monorail to Haneda Airport and the JR ferry to Miyajima. We do not price those in, so a verdict within roughly ¥2,000 of the line is genuinely too close to call on fares alone.

Children. Passes for ages 6–11 are half price on the official site, and child rail fares are roughly half too, so the break-even point barely moves. This calculator prices adults; children under 6 ride free if they do not occupy a reserved seat.

Sources