Everything you need to know about the JR Kansai WIDE Area Pass
What is the JR Kansai WIDE Area Pass?
The JR Kansai Wide Area Pass is designed for foreign tourists and provides unlimited travel on JR trains in the Kansai region, including Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara and Wakayama, as well as some areas beyond such as Takamatsu in Kagawa Prefecture.
How much does it cost?
- 5-day pass:
- Adult: 12,000 yen
- Child: 6,000 yen
Child passes are only available for those between 6 and 11 years old.
Where can it be used?
- JR-WEST and JR-SHIKOKU lines within the pass area:
- Limited Express trains (reserved and non-reserved seats, e.g., HARUKA, SHIOKAZE, NAMPU)
- Special Rapid Services
- Rapid Services
- Local trains
- Sanyo Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Okayama.
- West JR Bus (local routes only)
- Wakayama Electric Railway
- Kyoto Tango Railway
- Chizu Express Railway
Important information
- May require a separate fare for travel on non-JR lines within the pass area.
- Valid for five 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 Kansai WIDE Area Pass at a time while travelling in Japan. (You cannot purchase two of the same type of pass if their validity periods overlap)
- The JR Kansai WIDE Area Pass cannot be used on the Tokaido Shinkansen or the Sanyo Shinkansen between Okayama and Hakata.
Where to buy
- Purchase through online or offline travel agents outside of Japan.
- Travelers must collect the physical pass at a JR West Travel Service Center, JR West Ticket Office (Midori-no-madoguchi) or at a passport reader-equipped ticket machine in a JR West station.
- Available for purchase on the official JR West website.
For a full list of JR West locations where passes booked via the official JR West website can be collected, the JR West website provides a search function that will find the all locations where the pass can be collected in their area.
How to reserve seats
Free seat reservations available at:
- Seat reservation ticket machines.
- JR ticket offices.
- JR West 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 planning on exploring the Kansai area.
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.
For one adult, a one-way trip on the Sanyo Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Okayama will cost approximately 6,540 yen.
If you turn this into a round trip or make multiple stops between Osaka and Okayama, or travel to/from Kyoto, you should easily save money using the Kansai WIDE Area Pass when compared to buying individual tickets.
