Ultimate 7-Day JR Pass Itinerary 2025, Whole Japan Rail Pass Route

[@taoliu2920]

Just came back from Japan today. Thank you so much for all the info I got by watching your videos. Very helpful.

[@KenshoQuest]

You're very welcome! Hope you had a great trip!

[@taoliu2920]

@@KenshoQuest Yes, I did. It was a great trip, except sore feet due to 20K+ steps a day. Thanks,

[@JustinHO-no7xm]

Thank you for sharing! Very helpful as I am going for 7 days in Japan in march! Going to visit some of the places you mentioned.

[@KenshoQuest]

Glad it was helpful! I hope you visit some of the places mentioned before Osaka as those are the hidden gems 💎

[@thehaines618]

We are heading to Japan next month, your family's videos have been so helpful!! I ordered the JR Pass yesterday for all 4 of us...I'm not sure it will save us any money with our itinerary, but I think it will certainly help make our journeys less complicated. Thank you!

[@KenshoQuest]

It’s great for flexibility and convenience! Have a wonderful time in Japan.

[@WizardOfOss]

Not sure how I feel about this....in itself I think all places you mentioned are great. I have visited most of them, and think they are absolutely worth visiting......just not all within one week. This to me very much feels like a 3-4 week trip crammed into a single week. Extremely rushed, only hitting a few highlights while skipping so many more places worth visiting that don't require yet another long shinkansen ride. As a result, it seems more like an attempt to make a now massively overpriced JRP worth it than an actual route you'd actually want to travel within that time span. Apart from the pace I would probably start with two fundamental changes: 1) get the Hokuriku Arch Pass instead, only 30k yen also for 7 days, but use those just to get from Tokyo to Kansai, and 2) book your flight home from Kansai instead of Tokyo. That not only saves you travelling back to Tokyo, but after those 7 days of "free" travel you can actually spend some time in that area before flying home. As much as like Nagoya, it doesn't rank that high on my "must visit" list of Japan so don't feel bad about skipping it. Hiroshima ranks quite a bit higher, but then get a JR Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass, 17k for 5 days of unlimited travel between Kansai and Hiroshima. So combined with the Hokuriko Arch pass, still cheaper than the JRP, yet now you have a total 12 days of unlimited travel (in specific areas), and if you want to, with a gap inbetween. And considering those extra days, I would suggest a stay at Kurashiki and/or Onomichi, although I haven't been to the latter yet. And Kure was one of my favorite places I visited last year, but that might be a bit too specific for the average first time Japan visitor....

[@jacobrosendahl1680]

Going for 14 days in April! Your channel is super helpful.

[@KenshoQuest]

Awesome! Are you going to visit any of the places in this itinerary? I hope you have a fantastic trip!

[@jacobrosendahl1680]

@@KenshoQuestdefinitely! Hadn't heard of a few of them!

[@KenshoQuest]

Great! It's going to be a night and day difference in crowds for the lesser known places.

[@busayawanstillwell4319]

We are going to Kyoto on January 2025.. thank you for all information.

[@darrylk808]

7:20am! Already not interested.😂 I was thinking about that forge your own knife course, but it was in Kifu and kind of out-of-the-way. It's a commitment. Never been to a World Expo...🤔

[@KenshoQuest]

You're not a morning person!? 🤪 Neither am I but I do make exceptions, especially in Japan when it can make a difference between serenity and chaos! The knife course is definitely a commitment but I think it will be an amazing experience. I hope to do it in the spring. We'll also be at Expo for the first month. See you there?

[@darrylk808]

@KenshoQuest should be back in Malaysia by April, after taxes.

[@JuwiiTata]

Hi! Can you please make a video about which Japan airline is the best for domestic flight ☺️ It would be nice for travellers to know which has the best bargain (in terms of price, few delay flights, luggage). Thank you 🙌🏻

[@KenshoQuest]

Hi, thanks for the recommendation. Fortunately, we have never had any flight delays with any domestic carrier in Japan. However, the low cos carriers can be very strict about luggage and carry-on. For instance, If you fly on Peach, while their prices can be cheap, they will count every single piece of luggage and weigh every piece, not fun and can really slow down the check-in process. But in general, airlines such as Peach and Jetstar are cheaper.

[@jonogata]

Thank you for a very detailed itinerary. We are going to Japan in October 2025 for 2 weeks. I will be using this and will try to expand it for our time in Japan. If you have any recommendations to add to this itinerary, I would greatly appreciate it. We are flying in and out of Haneda.

[@KenshoQuest]

Hi, what are you interested in doing or where else to you plan to go? We might expand this to a 14 day itinerary.

[@jonogata]

@@KenshoQuest Hi, we would like to see some spots along the golden route since this is our first time in Tokyo. I think before starting your itinerary, we would like to stay in Tokyo for a few days. Right now, I have 6 days in Tokyo, then heading to Nagano, Kanazawa, Kyoto (3 days), Osaka (2 days), Hiroshima and wrapping up the trip in Nagoya. Do you think 6 days is too much for a first time visit? We do want to hit Disney Sea (which takes a whole day).

[@KenshoQuest]

6 days in Tokyo if fine. In fact, you could stay a whole month and still have so much left to see! I do agree that it's a good idea to stay in Tokyo for a few days to start. It will help you acclimate to the culture and the time difference :)

[@jonogata]

@@KenshoQuest Mahalo! Also, didn't know you had ties to Hawaii, too! haha!

[@PoshPaperCreations]

Hello! Your content is so precise and easy to follow THANK YOU for that! Going to Japan for 28 days in May (after Golden week 😊) we are landing in KIX…do you think this trip is easily reversed so we would start in Osaka and end in Tokyo? TIA!

[@arare5678]

Great video! Planning a trip utilizing the hokuriku arch pass myself. Just wondering why you don't do kanazawa followed by fukui and then move on to Osaka from fukui, instead of doing Fukui as a day trip from kanazawa.

[@KenshoQuest]

Hi, great question about the route choice. The reason behind visiting Fukui first is for two reasons: 1) The ability to spend two nights in Kanazawa vs one. 2) Since we have the JR Pass we can ride the shinkansen as much as we want and it's so fast that Fukui is less than an hour away. So by spending two nights in Kanazawa we don't have to move our luggage each day, giving us more time. Also, Kanazawa has more accommodation options.

[@madhavparimi193]

Planning to visit in May 2025. Yours and your wife’s videos are amazing with great information. Question on JR Pass. If I buy a green car pass and miss a train then can I just board the next one and sit in the green car ? How does it work if i have a JR pass for green car and miss a train?

[@KenshoQuest]

Thanks! If you miss your train you can either make a new reservation for Green Car, or ride in an ordinary Non-Reserved car where seating is on a first-come-first-served basis. If there is no available seat in the Non-Reserved car, you will need to stand. Green Car is reserved-only, so it always requires a seat reservation. Here's our introduction to riding Shinkansen: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGStdYWZatifa6s 🌸 Heidi

[@madhavparimi193]

@@KenshoQuest Thank you so much for your reply.

[@jonathanchan7448]

If I purchase a 14 day JR pass, will this get on any bulletin train? Do I still need to check in at the counter? Thank you.

[@KenshoQuest]

Hi, yes, it doesn't matter if 7-day, 14-day or 21-day, all the same rules apply. You can ride on any shinkansen bullet train with the exception of the Nozomi and Mizuho ( as explained in the video you can upgrade ), you must pick up your passes at the counter.

[@KenshoQuest]

Also, here's an introduction to riding Shinkansen bullet trains in Japan: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGStdYWZatifa6s

[@jonathanchan7448]

@@KenshoQuest thank you.

[@arveyjimenez0704]

Hi it is worth it to buy 7 day JR each with my wife for these trip: Tokyo to Gala Yuzawa (vice versa) Tokyo to Mt Fuji (vice versa) Tokyo to Osaka Osaka to Kyoto (vice versa) Osaka to Nara (vice versa) Osaka to Tokyo Thank You for your help

[@KenshoQuest]

Hi. I wouldn’t recommend the 7-day Whole Japan Rail Pass (JR Pass) for that itinerary. Instead, you might want to use the Tokyo Wide Pass for visiting Gala Yuzawa and Mt. Fuji. Then buy individual single journey Shinkansen bullet train tickets for visiting Osaka. You can take local transportation to Kyoto and Nara. Here’s one of our videos on buying Shinkansen tickets: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5CqqXyoopWZmsksi=U9u_NHWGtmSIAM8y 🌸 Heidi

[@arveyjimenez0704]

@@KenshoQuest Hi , tokyo wide pass is 1 each per person? Thank you for noticing my comment ❤️

[@KenshoQuest]

@@arveyjimenez0704 Yes. Each person needs their own pass. We talked about the JR Tokyo Wide Pass near the end of this other video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHyxqax9oLRlbMk

[@arveyjimenez0704]

@@KenshoQuest thank you so much I did not finish the video ahaha sorry and thank you for replying. Really appreciate it