I went to Japan for vacation last month. Before then, I’ve never rode on a train before - I’ve never had the need to. So, I did some research on “how to” but didn’t really find any good instructions. Now that I’m back and I understand the JR Trains a bit more, I’ll try to explain how I traveled to Kyoto.
1. Get a JR Pass
Before leaving the country, I had to purchase a JR Pass voucher. The web site explains how much it costs and where to get it. For me, it meant going to my local Mitsuwa and talking to a travel agent. The agent should ask you when and where you plan to go in Japan (for me, it was Kobe and Tokyo, which is about 4 hours of travel in between) to help you determine which pass is better for you (and whether it’s worth it or not). The longer the distance traveled on the train, the more worth it it is to get the pass. I purchased the 14-day pass.
Upon entering the country, I remember I marked “sight-seeing” and “visiting relatives” and got the “temporary visitor” stamp on my passport. The Osaka Kansai airport happens to have a JR station right next to it. I think I went to the information counters in order to exchange the voucher to get the pass. Either way, most people are helpful and will direct you to the correct area. They will ask you when you will be using this pass because it will have an expiration date. After showing my passport, they verified the “temporary visitor” stamp, copied my passport # onto the pass (along with my name), and gave me the pass. Now, whenever you use the pass, you’re supposed to carry your passport with you so they can make sure you are you. They never asked to see my passport however - maybe I looked like a tourist. =)
From now on, whenever you see turnstiles and need to use the pass, you must go to the window with a human worker (or a worker will be standing near the turnstiles). Show your pass by opening it up so they can see its expiration date. It doesn’t matter which direction you’re heading - find that person! It’s usually a quick process - they’ll wave you through.
2. Figure out where you’re going
If you have Google (and relatives in Japan, like me) it helps A LOT! For me, I was traveling from Kobe to Kyoto and was able to track down the vicinity of where I was staying. It’s daunting when everything’s written in Japanese! However, I was able to zoom in to see stations written in English and figure out basic steps.
Park -> Kenchomae Station -> Sannomiya Station —- Kyoto. The “—-” means there are multiple routes to get to Kyoto. My relatives suggested I go from Sannomiya Station -> Shin-kobe Station -> Kyoto Station because it shaves off a couple of minutes vs the route Google Maps planned out below.
From the Park, my aunt and I walked to the Kenchomae Station. However, the ride from Kenchomae Station to Sannomiya Station was not covered by the JR Pass. This meant I headed towards the machines to purchase a ticket.
Notice the big map on the wall above the machines? It shows all the stations you can get to, and each station has a different price. The further away the destination is, the larger the price. I was bad at taking photos for this trip, so I’m borrowing some photos I found on the internet (and giving them link credit). The stations’ names are usually written in Japanese, but the popular ones have English written right next to it (here, it’s written vertically next to the Japanese).
The arrow (it’s Photoshopped on) is pointing to a station written in red, which means “the station we are at”. I know we need to get to Sannomiya Station, which is about 1 or 2 stations away. Once you find that station, you’ll see the fare amount (which is written above each station). I think the price was 160 yen per person. At the ticket vending machine, we place our order (the machine is similar if not the same to this).
On the left side, there are buttons for choosing how many people need a ticket. I pushed the button with two people on it. Towards the center are choices for different fares. I pushed 160 yen and either dropped in the coins or put in 1000 yen bill. The machine then gave me two tickets and change. There are many train platforms at the station. I figured I would ask a worker (they have uniforms) on which platform I should go to, and they were extremely helpful (not to mention saves me time from thinking).
At this point, I DID want to walk through the turnstiles (since they don’t accept the pass). Just look for a turnstile that’s green, drop in a ticket through the slot (it will punch a hole), and pick up your ticket at the other end of the turnstile. I walked to the platform and rode on the train that arrived. Once I arrived at Sannomiya station, I would go through the turnstiles again, but this time the machine keeps the ticket - I have nothing to collect, and then I walk through.
3. Reserve a seat
This is entirely optional. It’s better for you to reserve a seat if you think the trains are going to be crowded. During my trip, I think it saved us once or twice. Also, if you need to make transfers during your trip, having these reserved tickets help remind you.
We went to the information office and asked for reservations for two to Kyoto. There they printed out tickets that looked similar to these:
We had two different tickets: one for Sannomiya to Shin-kobe, and one for Shin-kobe to Kyoto. These reserved tickets can’t be used at the turn stiles, so make sure to show the JR Pass. At this point, we’ll be riding on the shinkansen (bullet train).
4. Train platform
The platform for the shinkansen looks like this. (This photo was for our trip to Hakata, that’s why the destination says Hakata, but it’s still useful for illustration purposes).
The trains here are very punctual. Notice the time is 9:20, the pictured train is the Nozomi that leaves at 9:22 for Hakata. Sometimes the workers may direct you to the train based on its time. You can’t see it well in this photo (there will be a better one in this post later) but it also tells you which cars are non-reserved. If you don’t have a reserved ticket, head for these cars. It is basically a free-for-all.
But if you DO have a reservation, check the ticket to see what car your seat is in. There are the car signs on the platform. You can see there’s a difference in seat # if you are waiting for the Hikari vs Hikari RailStar (in grey).
After you get on, finding your seat shouldn’t be a problem. If someone is in your seat, politely but firmly tell them that the seat is yours. This happened to us during one of our trips. You can point them to the non-reserved cars and wish them luck.
5. Riding the bus
We were trying to get to Kinkakuji, which is on the west side of Kyoto. At this point we had to ask directions from the station workers for the buses. I think they pointed us to central gate.
Be on a lookout for Kyoto bus pass vending machines. We happened to find one. It costs 500 yen per pass. Without it, a single bus ride could cost 200 yen so this is a good way to save money if you’re visiting multiple places (like we did) in Kyoto.
This pass has the date on it, so be sure to show that to the bus driver. For most of the bus rides in Kyoto, you show the pass when you’re getting off. This bus pass allowed us to go to Kinkakuji, Ryoanji, Ginkakuji, Kiyomizu-dera, and back to Kyoto station.
Anyways, we nearly got on the wrong bus! You can ask the driver just to make sure. He actually directed us to an underground mall (to avoid crossing the streets I think).
We were to look for bus “B” and saw signs we were going the right direction.
Then I saw even more signs that are reassuring. Remember, we are heading toward Kinkakuji. Based on this sign, we decided to take #205.
For the specifics of where we went in Kyoto, I’m going to leave that for another post since this post is gigantor monster already!
But here’s a clearer platform sign on our way back to Shin-kobe - notice the non-reserved cars. The ride back is a lot easier since we are basically retracing our steps.
Hopefully this was useful and not too confusing. I will probably redo this post next time I go to Japan and am able to take clearer photos for explanation.
One Comment
wow.. handy how-to.. i not good at public transportation.