Japan transport before you fly: Suica, JR Pass and train tickets you can (and can't) buy in advance

An iPhone is the one thing you can fully prepare before you fly. JR West says ICOCA can be added to Apple Wallet on an iPhone 8 or later with iOS 16 or later, and that if you live in a country or region that supports Apple Pay you can issue an ICOCA there, topping it up with a Visa, Mastercard, JCB or American Express card. PASMO can also be created directly in the Wallet app, on an iPhone 8 or later with iOS 14 or later. JR East's visitor app, Welcome Suica Mobile, works only on devices that support Apple Pay, is for users aged 13 and over, and stays valid for 180 days; JR East notes that laws in some countries may stop you setting it up or adding money until you arrive in Japan. JR West says ICOCA can't be refunded through Apple Wallet, and JR East says money left on Welcome Suica Mobile is not refunded, so top up in small amounts.

Android is different. PASMO says that, in general, Android phones bought outside Japan cannot use Mobile PASMO, and JR East's joint notice with PASMO describes Welcome Suica Mobile as iOS-only. If you use Android, plan on a physical card.

Physical cards are bought in Japan. Welcome Suica is sold at Narita Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2·3 stations, Haneda Airport Terminal 3 station on the Tokyo Monorail, and several big JR East stations including Tokyo, Shinjuku and Sendai, in principle one per person. It lasts 28 days from purchase, can be topped up only with yen cash (up to ¥20,000), and is not refundable. TOURIST PASMO, also valid for 28 days with no deposit and no refunds, is sold by Keikyu at Haneda and by Keisei at Narita. In the Kansai area, JR West sells a visitor-only ICOCA design at the JR ticket office at Kansai-airport Station for ¥2,000, including a ¥500 deposit, to holders of a foreign passport visiting as Temporary Visitors. Ordinary unregistered Suica and PASMO cards went back on sale on 1 March 2025 after a shortage.

Whichever card you use, it covers the basic fare only. JR East reminds riders that limited express trains, shinkansen and Green Cars need a separate ticket, and that an IC card cannot be used for a single journey that crosses from one IC area into another, for example from Tokyo to Sendai. A practical tip from JR East's own page: if a gate won't read your card, something else in the card holder may be blocking it, so keep one IC card per holder.

The nationwide JAPAN RAIL PASS is sold by the six JR companies as 7-, 14- or 21-day passes, for Green Cars or ordinary cars. The official site lists online prices of ¥50,000 (ordinary) and ¥70,000 (Green) for 7 days for an adult, and slightly higher prices for exchange orders bought from an overseas JR-designated agency (¥53,000 and ¥74,000 for 7 days). Children are 6 to 11.

Buying on the official site is the only way to reserve seats before you collect the pass. You need your passport and a credit card in the purchaser's name, and one purchaser can add up to six eligible companions. The site is open from 4:00 to 23:30 Japan time. When you land, make sure your passport receives a Temporary Visitor stamp or sticker, then collect the pass at a JR-designated ticket office or at certain reserved-seat ticket machines in the JR East and JR West areas, showing the passports of everyone in your group.

One rule to know before planning a Tokyo–Kyoto–Hiroshima trip: the fastest NOZOMI and MIZUHO shinkansen need a special extra ticket that only pass holders can buy. A nationwide pass is also not the only option. If your onsen trip stays in one region, the regional passes below may cover it.

The JR EAST PASS (Tohoku area and Nagano/Niigata area) costs ¥35,000 for 5 consecutive days or ¥50,000 for 10 days for an adult, according to JR East. It covers JR East lines, including the shinkansen, plus some partner lines. For onsen trips, note that it also covers Tobu trains to Kinugawa-onsen on through limited expresses and Tobu local trains from Shimo-imaichi. It does not cover the Tokaido Shinkansen, the Izu Kyuko Line or the Fujikyu Line. You can buy it on JR-EAST Train Reservation and collect it in Japan with your original passport (an IC-chip passport at the ticket machines), or buy a voucher from an overseas travel agency. Online purchases can be refunded free of charge until 23:50 Japan time on the day before the pass starts.

For Kanazawa and the Kaga hot springs, JR West sells a Hokuriku Area Pass for unlimited travel within Toyama, Ishikawa and Fukui, including non-reserved seats on the Hokuriku Shinkansen between Tsuruga and Kurobe-Unazukionsen, a stretch that includes Kaga-Onsen Station. A Kansai-Hokuriku Area Pass adds the Kansai area and reserved seats on the Thunderbird and Haruka limited expresses, but not the Hokuriku Shinkansen east of Joetsu-Myoko towards Tokyo. Both can be booked on JR-WEST ONLINE TRAIN RESERVATION from one month before use and collected with your passport; virtual and numberless credit cards are not accepted. JR West's pass pages also carry a note that prices and how passes are reserved and received will change, so check the page on the day you buy.

Two more things to check: JR West's own pass page says sales of the Kansai Area Pass ended on 30 September 2026, and JR East says its Hokuriku Arch Pass cannot be bought in Japan, so it has to be bought before you travel. Eligibility is similar for all of these: a passport issued by a country other than Japan and entry as a Temporary Visitor.

Inside Hakone, the pass to know is Odakyu's Hakone Freepass, which covers eight kinds of transport in the area, including trains, cable cars, the ropeway, buses and the Lake Ashi sightseeing boats, and the version sold from Shinjuku includes a discounted round trip from there. Odakyu lists it from Shinjuku at ¥7,100 for 2 days or ¥7,500 for 3 days for an adult, and from Odawara (Hakone area only) at ¥6,000 or ¥6,400. The Romancecar limited express needs a separate reserved-seat ticket, ¥1,200 one way from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto. Both can be bought online through EMot Online Tickets and used as a mobile ticket on your phone, or as a paper ticket.

Check your ryokan's own arrangements before relying on the pass for the last stretch. Our reports note that KAI Hakone has no pick-up from the station, but runs a free shared taxi to Hakone-Yumoto Station at check-out if you book it by noon the day before. At Hakone Kowakudani Onsen Mizunoto, by contrast, the station shuttle runs every 10–15 minutes from 14:00 to 17:00 without a call.

For the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen (Tokyo, Atami, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Hakata), smartEX takes bookings with a credit card once you register as a member. Reservations open at 5:30 one year before the travel date, but bookings made more than a month ahead are not confirmed to a specific train and seat straight away. You can board with a QR-Ticket, which can be added to Apple Wallet or printed. Each passenger needs their own QR-Ticket, so send copies to your companions, and pick up the Seat Information slip from the gate. smartEX advises printing the QR-Ticket in case your phone isn't read.

Large suitcases need planning. On these lines, luggage with total dimensions of 160 cm to 250 cm needs a reserved seat with an oversized baggage area; otherwise a fee applies. These seats can't be booked in the one-year advance window, only from when tickets go on sale one month before travel.

For JR East shinkansen to Tohoku, Niigata and Nagano, JR-EAST Train Reservation sells Shinkansen e-tickets that you link to a transit IC card such as Suica or PASMO, one card per person, and then simply tap through the gate. Its Express Train e-tickets cover limited expresses including the Odoriko and SAPHIR ODORIKO to the Izu coast, the Kusatsu-Shima towards Kusatsu, the Aizu, the Akagi and the Narita Express. These cover the express ticket only, so you still need an IC card or a ticket for the basic fare. JR East says both can now be booked from Welcome Suica Mobile.

From Narita, the Skyliner runs to Ueno in as little as 36 minutes, and Keisei sells discount Skyliner tickets online in advance, including a set with a 24-, 48- or 72-hour Tokyo Subway Ticket. After paying you can register your face for Keisei's Face Check in Go boarding service. JR East's Narita Express reaches Tokyo Station in 53 minutes at its fastest and runs on to Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Yokohama. Its N'EX TOKYO Round Trip Ticket can be collected only at Narita Airport Terminal 1 or Terminal 2·3 stations; the ticket machines with passport readers there run from 6:30 to 21:45.

From Kansai Airport, JR West sells a discounted HARUKA One-way Ticket to Tennoji, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and Nara for foreign-passport holders visiting as Temporary Visitors. It can be booked on JR-WEST ONLINE TRAIN RESERVATION from one month before travel, or bought as an e-ticket from an overseas agency (exchange it within three months), and the page notes a new price for tickets sold from 1 November 2026.

If you arrive late, check opening hours before you count on buying a card or collecting a pass at the airport. At Narita Terminal 1, Narita Terminal 2·3 and Haneda Terminal 3 (Tokyo Monorail) stations, Welcome Suica is sold from dedicated vending machines as well as at the JR EAST Travel Service Center.

No pass covers the last few kilometres to a mountain inn, and many ryokan shuttles run only when booked. From our reports: Ginzan Onsen Fujiya's free shuttle from JR Ōishida runs only at about 13:30 and 15:30, timed to Yamagata Shinkansen arrivals, must be reserved after booking, and returns at about 10:30, so plan your trains around it. Zao Onsen Oomiya Ryokan asks you to book its free shuttle from Yamagata Station at least three days ahead. Akiu Onsen's Sakan takes shuttle bookings from Sendai Station online only, not by phone.

Around Tokyo, Ochiairo at Yugashima runs shuttles from Shuzenji station that must be booked at least three days ahead; Shukaen Yunohanazen in Atami has no pick-up without a reservation; and Yuyado Toki no Niwa in Kusatsu runs a free shuttle from Karuizawa Station that must be booked by phone three days ahead. In Kaga, Houshi at Awazu and Beniya Mukayu at Yamashiro both run free shuttles from Kaga-Onsen Station that need booking, Houshi's by the day before.

Some inns depend heavily on their own transport. Cars stop at the Meotobuchi car park for Hatcho no Yu in Okukinu, and guests ride the inn's shuttle about 30 minutes up a forest road; Lamp no Yado Aoni runs a reservation-only shuttle all year, and from December to March private cars are barred. Where there is no shuttle, book ahead too: Kyukamura Nyuto Onsenkyo has no shuttle, and the shared Airport Liner taxi from Akita Airport must be booked by 17:00 the day before.

A practical approach: book the inn first, ask about shuttle times, then book your seats to match. Some shuttles fill up or use small vehicles (Ochiairo's cars seat seven and may be shared), so sending a large case ahead and travelling with a day bag makes the ride easier.