Train travel

Hello Detty,

It does indeed depend on the distance traveled and the period of days traveled whether the JR Pass is useful. In general this can be reached very quickly, just a return Tokyo - Osaka will quickly pay of and that's generally only 2 days of travel.

In your case I would advise normal tickets as you travel one way Tokyo - Osaka using the Shinkansen. Travel within Tokyo and the Kansai area is all low cost and a JR Pass is better used when traveling longer distances. If you would for instance add a visit to Hiroshima, then a JR Pass would be perfect.

In Hyperdia just look at the total, this is the price you will for a ticket. The price is made up of the fare (price for the distance traveled) and seatfee (extra charge for high speed trains).

Hope this helps,
Daniel