Same day activation & Shinkansen travel possible?

Hi there!

While I cannot offer any guarantees, I would think that you will be fine to travel from Tokyo to Kyoto on the same day (In fact, I often just turn up and jump on bullet trains in Japan when using a JR Pass). You can use the JR Pass to make seat reservations in advance if you want - check out our how-to guide here.

Hope this helps!

Thank you, Mari. I plan to travel to Kyoto on Thursday May 30, in the early to mid morning. Do you think it would be safer to activate my Rail Pass the day before? Also, if I am staying in Asakusa, where is the nearest or easiest station where I can get Shinkansen tickets?

I there,

Activating the rail pass and making reservations is very flexible. You can activate your rail pass on the 29th and specify a starting date of the 30th. On the 29th you will also be able to place reservations for the 30th, so you can get a bit of a head start on the seat reservation if you are concerned about this.

You will be able to make Shinkansen reservations at most JR stations near you, but Ueno station will be the closest station to Asakusa that has a bullet train platform.

I hope this helps!

Yes, this is very helpful info. Thank you!