Reply To: Japan trains

[Alex G]

I got the JR pass the first time I went to Japan, but you need to travel a lot to get value from it. Internal flights in Japan are cheap (especially if you pay with Avios), and if you pay as you go for for short train journeys then you can use the private railway lines, which are sometimes more convenient. (Osaka to Kyoto for example.) The “bullet trains” are mainly 3+2 in economy class, and are not particularly comfortable. The trains from Osaka (Kyoto?) to Hiroshima are 2+2 and more comfortable.

Re “hopping on and off” a Shinkansen, there is usually only one carriage of unreserved seating. Reserving a seat is advisable, and you used to have to do this in person at a JR station. (Not been since 2019, so things might have improved?)