Everything you need to know about the JR East Tohoku Area Rail Pass
What is the JR East Tohoku Area Rail Pass?
The JR East Tohoku Area Rail Pass offers foreign tourists unlimited travel on JR trains within the Tohoku region for five or ten consecutive days.
This includes shinkansen, limited express trains and local trains, as well as BRT buses and several private railways.
How much does it cost?
- 5-day pass:
- Adult: 30,000 yen
- Child: 15,000 yen
- 10-day pass:
- Adult: 48,000 yen
- Child: 24,000 yen
Child passes are only available for those between 6 and 11 years old.
Where can it be used?
- Unlimited use of JR trains in the Tohoku Region (Fukushima, Miyagi, Yamagata, Akita, Iwate, and Aomori Prefectures).
- Includes Shinkansen, limited express trains, and local trains.
- The following lines are included:
- JR EAST (including BRT*)
- Tokyo Monorail
- Aoimori Railway Line
- Izu Kyuko Line
- Iwate Galaxy Railway (IGR) Line
- Sendai Airport Transit Line
- Reserved seats on certain express trains running between JR EAST and Tobu Railway lines.
- *BRT refers to the Bus Rapid Transit system along the Sanriku Coast.
Important information
- May require a separate fare for travel on non-JR lines within the pass area.
- Valid for five or ten consecutive calendar days (midnight to midnight) from the date of your choice.
- Exclusively for foreign visitors to Japan (on temporary visitor status).
- Not valid for Japanese residents.
- The age of a child is defined as the age on the date of purchase. A passport or other such document is required to prove a child’s age.
- Children under 6 years old who do not require seat reservations do not need a pass.
- A separate fee is applicable if you wish to use the Green Car or GranClass.
- Youth fares (including student discount) are not offered for this pass.
- You can only use one JR East Tohoku Area Rail Pass at a time while travelling in Japan. (You cannot purchase two of the same type of pass if their validity periods overlap)
Where to buy
- Purchase through online or offline travel agents outside of Japan.
- Available at major railway stations and airports within the pass area. If purchased outside Japan or online, collect the physical pass at a JR East Travel Service Center in the pass area.
- Available for purchase on the official JR East website. Pickup options include passport reader-equipped ticket machines.
- Can also be purchased at passport reader-equipped ticket machines within Japan.
For a full list of JR East Travel Service Centers, or for ticket machines locations for collection of passes booked via the official JR East website, the JR East website has a full list of locations and facilities.
How to reserve seats
Free seat reservations available at:
- Seat reservation ticket machines.
- JR ticket offices.
- JR East Train Reservation website (collect physical tickets at a ticket machine or ticket office).
How to use
Insert only your rail pass into the automatic ticket gate.
Make sure to pick up your rail pass after passing through the gate. The rail pass cannot be reissued even if it is lost or stolen etc.
Value
The pass offers value for those making multiple long-distance journeys within the Tohoku region.
It is not good value for those seeking to make one or two short journeys within the pass area, however it can be cost saving if you plan to make multiple journeys within the timeframe and predominantly use the Shinkansen or Limited Express trains to do so.
Combining multiple Shinkansen and Limited Express journeys with daily use on local lines and buses would likely give good value for the ticket price and in many cases exceed the cost of the pass.
As an example, traveling from Narita Airport Terminal 1 to Tokyo Station via the Narita Express, then taking the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Sendai, followed by a round trip on the Akita Shinkansen between Sendai and Akita, and finally returning to Narita Airport Terminal 1 from Tokyo Station using the Narita Express again with reserved seats will cost approximately 41,000 yen.
This example itinerary would be covered both the 5-day and 10-day passes. The 5-day pass costs 30,000 yen while the 10-day pass costs 48,000 yen.
You would save 11,00 yen if using the 5-day pass, while the 10-day pass would also likely save you money once local train travel to other destinations at various stages of your trip are factored in.
