Is JR Pass valid for every stop that we planned

Hi Johnny,

Assuming you're going to stop at Kamisuwa station for Suwa Nagano, then the only part of your trip that won't have 100% coverage is the trip to Kawaguchiko. For this trip the JR Pass will get you as far as Otsuki station. From here you'll need to take the non-JR Fujikyu line up to Kawaguchiko itself (¥1410 each way).

From the looks of your itinerary a 7 day JR Pass will allow you to make some savings - lets take a look at your JR ticket costs and compare:

1. Narita airport terminal 1 > Shinjuku(jr): ¥3,310 (84mins, 89km)
2. Shinjuku(jr) > Tokyo: ¥190 (13mins, 10km)
3. Tokyo > Otsuki: ¥2,860 (85mins, 87km)
4. Otsuki > Kamisuwa: ¥4,180 (97mins, 114km)
5. Kamisuwa > Kyoto: ¥10,000 (195mins, 342km)
6. Kyoto > Tokyo: ¥13,420 (161mins, 513km)

JR ticket cost: ¥33,960 for 6 legs

• 7 day Japan Rail Pass (¥28,300) saving: ¥5,660

As you can see you'll make a saving with a 7 day JR Pass on the travel you list. You also gain the added benefit of any further JR travel you may do being free. (there are lots of JR lines within Tokyo you can use for example).

You can look up precise train timetables and costs at the Hyperdia travel planning website and learn how to use Hyperdia for JR Pass holders through our video blog.

Hope this helps!

Dear Mari,

Thank you for your reply, I found the website Hyperdia very useful !

I learned from related website that for some journey within JR line, we need to reserve our seat. Can you let us know:-
1) How do we know which line we are taking should require reservation for a seat and which line would not require any seat reservation?
2) To reserve a seat, are we going direct to ticketing office at the station (or even at the train platform)?
3) Or even to reserve seats in advance? If we plan our journey, just like the route we are discussing, which ticketing office shall we go if we are going to reserve seats in advance
4) With the JR Pass, can we just jump into a JR train without doing anything as long as we are willing to ride without seats?

Thank you in advance.

All the best,

Johnny

Great stuff.

Here are some answers:

1,2 & 3. For your trip, you'll only need to make a reservation for the narita express, which is quite easy to make on arrival at Narita by visting the JR ticket office or service center with your JR Pass.
4. Yes - with the JR Pass you can just jump on any JR train without doing anything as long as you are happy to use non-reserved seating.

Hope this helps!