Around the Planet

With its beautiful landscapes, its many temples, shrines and gardens, its fabulous shopping, and excellent nightlife, Japan is a wonderful place to visit. Yet, unfortunately, Japan is hardly renowned as a destination for budget travellers. However, here’s a tip that may just put Japan a little more within your grasp - the Japan Rail Pass, which brings down the cost of traveling within Japan to something like manageable proportions.

The Japan Rail Pass is a discount ticket available to non-Japanese entering Japan on a tourist visa, and allows unlimited rail travel within Japan for seven, fourteen or twenty-one consecutive days, costing approximately US$283, US$451 and US$577 respectively.

The ticket is available in coach class, (”ordinary”), as quoted above, or first class, (”green class”) - but given the cleanliness, comfort and efficiency of the Japanese railway system, you will most likely find coach to be perfectly adequate.

Japan is well served by its railways, and it is possible to visit most parts of the country by rail, and certainly all the major cities and places of interest for the tourist. The places in Japan that are well worth a visit are the capital city of Tokyo, with its fine Imperial Palace and impressive Edo Castle. Visitors also flock to the ancient capital and cultural center, Kyoto, with its old Imperial Palace, Heian Shrine and gardens, and its numerous beautiful temples, including the Golden Pavilion, (Kinkakuji), and the equally popular Silver Temple, (Ginkakuji). Also worth a visit is Nara, where you can see Todaiji Temple and the many deer which live in the area.

If you have the time, you may wish to travel up to Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido - here you will find greenery and open spaces, as well as a more relaxed lifestyle compared to the hustle and bustle of much of Japan.

To buy a Japan Rail Pass you must first buy a voucher in your home country, which may then be exchanged for the Japan Rail Pass when you arrive in Japan.

You will be amazed by the sheer speed and efficiency of Japanese trains such as the world famous “bullet train” known in Japan as the shinkansen. With your Japan Rail Pass you can ride two types of bullet train - the hikari and the kodama. Only the new nozomi bullet train is unavailable on the Pass.

And finally, for today’s picture I could not resist that quintessential image of the shinkansen whizzing past Mount Fuji like a blue and white streak. There is even cherry blossom in the foreground - now what could be more Japanese than that? Many thanks to Swollib at Wikimedia Commons for that.

Full information is available about the pass from the website of the Japan Railways Group.