Travel Tips– category –

A shinkansen fare is never one number: it is a base fare plus a limited express fee, calculated separately. This guide breaks down the price structure, compares ten major routes side by side from two official fare tools, and flags the two 2026 changes — the JR East fare revision and the abolition of the round-trip discount — that make most English price guides wrong.

Four ways to reach Miyajima from Hiroshima, with fares read off the operators' own Japanese pages: the ¥200 ferry, the flat ¥240 tram, the ¥2,400 boat from Peace Memorial Park. Plus the ¥100 Miyajima Visitor Tax that no pass covers, the torii sailing window, and what is still under scaffolding in 2026.

Sendai's sights are scattered across hills and river valleys, which is why the city runs a three-layer transit system: two subway lines, a loop bus called Loople, and JR for anything beyond city limits. This guide maps what to use for where, including the two Matsushima stations, the Airport Line's post-2026 timing, and the day passes worth having.

The Tokyo Wide Pass is 15,000 yen for three consecutive days across Kanto and reaches Nikko, the Izu coast, GALA Yuzawa in winter, Nasu-Kogen and Fuji. Two things make it unusual among JR East passes: you do not need a Temporary Visitor visa to buy it, and no travel agency outside Japan is allowed to sell it. Klook, KKday and the rest do not stock this one.

The practical Naha map: which of the 19 Yui Rail stations get you to Kokusai-dori, Shuri Castle, or the ferry pier for the Kerama Islands - and the four stations most visitors never use because they are in a different city. Plus the one-day pass math, the airport walk that is faster than people think, and when the rental car finally starts to pay off.

Fukuoka's transport is genuinely simple — three subway lines, one bus network, one IC card — but three traps still catch first-timers. The International Terminal is not on the subway; a Nishitetsu bus will not break a 10,000-yen note; and the Tourist City Pass does not cover the one bus most people take to Dazaifu.

Sapporo is a grid city, not a maze. One 3-line subway, one streetcar loop, three bus companies and an underground walkway called Chikaho cover almost everything, all meeting under Odori Station. This is the practical map: how the pieces fit, which one-day pass wins on which day of the week, when the ¥520 Donichika ticket pays for itself in three rides, and the four ways to get from New Chitose Airport to a downtown hotel.

The Nozomi is the only Shinkansen the JAPAN RAIL PASS does not cover. What the official NOZOMI MIZUHO Ticket costs on each route, why the price is identical in non-reserved, reserved and Green Car (so Pass holders should always upgrade), and why you cannot buy it from abroad — plus how non-Pass travelers should buy through Smart EX or a Midori-no-madoguchi.

Four routes to a reserved shinkansen seat, and which one applies depends on the line and the ticket. SmartEX handles Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu from abroad; eki-net is blocked to overseas residents; JR Pass seat reservations are free but must be picked up on a machine or at a counter; and the ticket window is always there as a fallback.

Guides tell you that you can bring your own router to Japan for 90 days. Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs answers that question directly, and the answer is no - routers need the giteki mark. Plus the return trap that catches people after security, and why the per-day price tables you see are not comparable.

A paper Shinkansen ticket is issued to the whole Tokyo ward zone and the whole Osaka city zone - so your ride to the station and onward to Osaka Station costs nothing extra. Smart EX drops that benefit entirely, which can wipe out its 200-yen saving. Plus the four seasonal fare tiers, and why Nozomi's free seating is two cars, not three.

JR East's Eki-net states outright that people living overseas cannot use it. EX Reservation effectively requires a Japanese credit card. And Nozomi's non-reserved seating is cars 1 and 2 - 165 seats - not the three cars every English guide claims. Here is how buying a Shinkansen ticket actually works, from the operators' own pages.