Question re: Japan rail passes. My 19-year-old son will be spending seven days in Japan this spring (thanks to the amazing deal Chris found!). He will be in Tokyo for four days, then Kyoto for three days. He'll be travelling between the cities by train, and also plans to make a couple day trips out of the cities. My question: What's the best rail pass deal for him? I've compared the different options online, but I'd love to hear from anyone with recent personal experience. Thanks!

Get 7 days pass!
I think price starting $300?
Tokyo station-Kyoto station one way cost more than $150 so just using between these cities will be worth for JR pass!
Hopefully he will catch beautiful cherry blossom time in Kyoto !!

The JR Pass would be your best bet. You can buy it online or thru any travel agent here.

we got the jr pass in Canada before we went- you just activate it in japan when you want it to start, We used it everyday and it was great. We stayed in Kobe and traveled around daily from there. Went to Hiroshima one day and that was fabulous highly recommend it! Loved Kyoto too- wished we had spent longer there!

Yes i found that the price Tokyo Kyoto return is about the same as the JR pass...get it in Canada and read the fine print, as you can only activate it in certain stations and there usually a line up.....and then you have to go to another location/line to make your reservations...you can do all the research at home..its only good on certain bullet/Shinkansin trains. But you still get there fast!

Depending on where else he is planning to take the train, we found it was cheaper to get the voucher to Kyoto through Japanican rather than buying the 7 day pass.

Thanks for mentioning Japanican - it's quite an interesting web site. I know he'll need round-trip travel from Tokyo to Kyoto, plus transportation to Haneda airport. He wants to go to Mt.Fuji, too. Time to start doing the math....

Honestly... just get the Japan Rail pass and be done with it. It covers the whole country. As a side benefit, he'll be able to take a day trip to Himeji from Kyoto ( Highly recommended). He'll also get free passage on the Yamanote line around Tokyo, but that's cheap to ride.
If he was going to and from Narita, that's covered as well, but since it's Haneda, he'll be on the Monorail or the Keikyu or Keisei line... not JR.
The JR Pass also gives you free reservations. Make sure you take advantage of them. Note that West of Osaka on the Sakura service, reserved trains have nicer seats. Between Tokyo and Kyoto, it's all the same.
If you are 100% certain that he will ONLY go between Tokyo and Kyoto and that's IT... then just buy the bullet train tickets in Japan. He'll have the advantage of being able to take any service including Nozomi, which is the fastest and most direct... as well as having the most number of trains.
The JR Pass only covers Hikari and Kodama service between Tokyo and Osaka. Kodama stops at every station. Take Hikari if you use a JR Pass... and Nozomi if you buy the ticket in Japan.

One more thing. There isn't much difference in price. It's not like European trains. Prices are set at a consistent rate and don't really go on sale. Advantage is that you can buy a last minute train ticket and it won't cost you an arm an a leg like in Europe. Note: From March 8th to March 31st, you will be able to buy the JR pass in Japan with a foreign passport. Probably can pick one up at Haneda.

Karleen If he's going to Mt. Fuji, he'll be stopping at Odawara (most likely) or maybe Shizuoka. Tokyo(Shinagawa) - Odawara - Kyoto - Tokyo(Shinagawa) will cost 28,960¥ the JR Rail Pass will cost 33,000¥ JR pass won't help you from Haneda, but definitely would help from Narita. JR Pass will get you on the Yamanote line, which is the life blood of Tokyo... maybe save about 1000¥. A day trip from Kyoto to Osaka can be as cheap as 1500¥ return ( not bullet train ). Bullet train will cost 5700¥ return (but doesn't get you downtown Osaka).
Himeji Castle is 45 minutes by bullet train and costs > 10,000¥ return by bullet train ( regular express is 1/2 that price and half as slow ).
I guess it comes down to whether he's going to be making a lot of day trips to places where JR trains are convenient.

You can look into the Horkuriku arch pass for 24,000 yen which is around $220 Cad. It's good for 7 consecutive days of travel. The JR pass is $335.
http://hokuriku-arch-pass.com/en/
HOKURIKU-ARCH-PASS.COM
Hokuriku Arch Pass

Interesting. Of course, the leg from Kanazawa to Osaka is NOT a bullet train, but it could be a way to save 5000¥. Then again, if you're planning on stopping to see Mt. Fuji, or travelling to Nara or Himeji, this pass doesn't save you much.

There's a site with JR fare calculator you can try to see if it's worth your while. https://www.jrpass.com/fareca.../138.427734/35.712616/8/i9i=
JRPASS.COM
Japan Rail Pass - Buy your JR Pass online

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If he's only doing 2 trips back and forth to Kyoto and Tokyo. Jr pass would not be worth it.
Japan has at least 5 train/subway/bus companies and not all tourist spots or places are on the JR line. So regardless, you'd be availing their IC cards (their equivalent of the compass cards) that you can also use for stores or vending machines for merchandise
If he's going to be only using most of the JR lines and will be using the bullet trains frequently, the JR pass would be the best deal

He plans to do day trips outside of the cities, though. Depending on where he's going, it could be. Price is about the same as a round trip ticket anyhow. The only disadvantage is that he can't ride the Nozomi and Mizuho service.

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https://www.japan-experience.com/japan-rail-pass
JAPAN-EXPERIENCE.COM
Japan Rail Pass for travel in Japan | Japan Experience

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JR Pass is more for convenience and you will find uses for the pass easily within your itinerary. JR Pass is 29,110 yen. (selling @ JTB.ca for Cdn $335) We will use yen for calculations. Round trip by bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto is currently 27,820 yen, so you need 1,290 yen fare more to break even. First let's use the Yamanote Line in Tokyo to reach popular JR sight see stations like Shinjuku, Tokyo, Akihabara, Ueno, Shibuya. Then if you wish to see Mt. Fuji from the Five lakes area take JR to Kawaguchiko station (it's around 1,500 yen). Now you have more than break even. Another day/night trip from Tokyo can be Yokohama. Then from Kyoto you can do a day trip to Nara.

4 days in tokyo is not enough but 7 days or longer is perfect. So much to ser there. Or do 7 days between kobe osaka kyoto and nara

Agreed, but he only has a week off between semesters, so he'll make do. He has been to Osaka, Kobe, and Nara before; he's been to Kyoto, too, but wants to spend a bit more time there. I encouraged him not to be too ambitious with his agenda; it's no fun when you feel like you're rushing from place to place.

P.S. He LOVED Nara, especially the tiny deer!