Best departing time from Ikebukuro, Osaka, Kyoto, Takayama.

Hi there, here are some thoughts for you:

The rush hour times in Japan are between 6-9am, and between 5-7pm. If you can avoid these times then you'll have the smoothest travel. Certainly on your long distance travel between Ikebukuro and Osaka and Osaka and Kyoto I recommend avoiding the rush hours, but for the other legs I don't think you'll have as much trouble.

The best validity period for a 7 day pass will be from the 1st to the 7th :). I recommend activating your rail pass before the 1st of Dec (specifying the 1st of Dec as the start of your validity period) if you can as you'll be travelling early. You can activate your rail pass on arrival in Narita or Haneda, or at many mainline JR stations in Tokyo including Ikebukuro JR station. Here's a list of JR stations where you can activate your rail pass.

Here is a breakdown of your best routes to and from your destinations. Note that the best way between Osaka and Kyoto will be on a local train rathe than a Shinkansen, and that only parts of your journey to and from Takayama will be by shinkansen.

1. Ikebukuro > Osaka: ¥13,950 (225mins, 565km)
2. Osaka > Kyoto: ¥540 (29mins, 42km)
3. Kyoto > Takayama: ¥9,380 (193mins, 314km)
4. Takayama > Ikebukuro: ¥14,000 (304mins, 541km)

JR ticket cost: ¥37,870 for 4 legs

• 7 day Japan Rail Pass (¥28,300) saving: ¥9,570

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!