7 day pass or 14 day pass

Hi there!

Hmmm... Your trip looks like it's borderline whether you should buy a pass or not actually. Certainly totalling all your legs a 14 day pass would not be good value for you:

• Narita -> Tokyo (¥3000)
• Tokyo (¥800 on JR Yamanote)
• Yokohama (¥900 return)
• Tokyo (¥800 on JR Yamanote)
• Tokyo -> Kyoto (¥13,420)
• Kyoto -> Nara (¥700)
• Nara -> koyasan (¥1000)
• Koyasan -> Osaka (¥200)
• Osaka -> Tokyo (¥13,950)

Approx. JR total ticket price: ¥34,770.

So I would certainly recommend you choose separate tickets over the 14 day Japan Rail Pass (¥45,100)

There are savings to be made if you use a 7 day pass, but only if you managed to include both Tokyo -> Kyoto and Osaka -> Tokyo legs into the rail pass. This would mean some alterations to your trip as your planned loop down to Kyoto and back is over 9 days. If you have booked Koyasan, then you could reduce your time in the Kyoto/Nara area to start on DAY 7 and spend more time in Tokyo? A difficult decision!

If your plans cannot be changed then I'd recommend you buy separate tickets as you will not be able to get full value out of a 7 day rail pass without including these legs.

We have a great post about what you can expect from Green Car / First Class seats on our blog. It also has lots of pictures to give you an idea of seat sizes and so on.

About restaurants in Osaka... If really depends on your price range, but if you are after something quintessentially Osakan, then I have to recommend you at least take a look at Dōtombori. Don't expect Michelin stars, but it's very good fun!

Hope you have a great trip!

Wow, that was incredibly precise.

Will have a chat with my husband and see if we can move a few things around. Will definitely make our way to Dotombori. Looks like a lot of fun :)

ども　ありがとう　ございます！

どいたしまして！

If you have any more questions, let me know!