JRPass

Hi Nick,

For Urayasu from Narita the JR Pass will help you get as far as Nishifunabashi. From Nishifunabashi you'd need to transfer to non-JR lines to get you to Urayasu with overall savings of around ¥1000. The JR Pass is also helpful to get you to Maihama station where you can get the Disney shuttle service to the park gates.

That said, to make a 7 day pass cost effective you need to spend over ¥28,300 on JR tickets. if you are planning on staying within the Tokyo metropolitan area, then I think it will be hard to spend that much and so I recommend you look into purchasing standard Metro passes and regular tickets rather than a JR Pass.

However, if you do intend to travel outside Tokyo to Suzuka circuit then the decision is less clear. A return from Tokyo to Suzuka will cost ¥23,640 return in standard tickets. This would mean you would only need to spend a further ¥4660 on JR travel to make purchasing a 7 day JR Pass worthwhile. Whether you do this really depends on your itinerary plans, but a return to Nikko or Hakone (for example) would easily reach this level.

To get to Suzuka circuit from Tokyo you should aim to get to JR Kawarada near the Suzuka circuit (sample itinerary). From Kawarada station you'll need to use the local non-JR Ise Testudo operated line to get to Suzuka Circuit Ino (sometimes written 'SuzukaSakittoIno' (sample itinerary). As this is not covered by the rail pass you will have to pay the standard ticket fare of ¥300 each way. From Suzuka Circuit Ino you can easily walk to the circuit.

Please note that the JR Pass is only valid for holders of the 'temporary visitor' visa (normally issued for up to 90 days). As your niece is working in Japan she will hold a different visa to this and will therefore not be valid for the rail pass.

Hope this helps!