Japan Trip Planning Q&A: Part I - Transportation

A series of posts on Japan trip planning, starting with Part I: Transportation—answered in ten questions.

Good afternoon,

The reason I’m visiting your inbox for a second time this month, soon after the February edition of Letters from Japan – Snow Falling on Cedars, is to share the first part of the Japan Trip Planning Q&A Series, focusing on (mainly train) transportation.

This series, first mentioned in the February letter and exclusive to monthly and annual subscribers, aims to provide practical tips for Japan trip planning, which, honestly—even for me as a resident—still feels overwhelming, all in a Q&A format.

My intention is to keep the posts in this series relatively short and precise, covering as much as I can in ten questions—without adding to the already taxing process of planning a trip to Japan. The next post in the series, coming next week, will focus on booking accommodations.¹

It’s difficult to cover every possible question, including any new ones that might come up after reading the answers below. So, I’ve focused on the most obvious and likely the most relevant ones. But as always, if anything is unclear, feel free to email me, use the chat option on Substack, or leave a comment below. I might not have all the answers right away, but I’ll certainly look them up for you.

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The most crucial question in Japan trip planning—the to be or not to be of the process—is whether to buy the once very popular and now a little infamous Japan Rail Pass. So, let’s start there.

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