JR Pass
JR Pass price in 2026: the October rise only hit travel agencies
From October 1, 2026 the JR Pass costs more through overseas agencies, but the official online store kept the old price. Both price lists, and when it pays off.
Short answer
You have decided to buy a JR Pass
the official JR Pass site
The official online store still sells the 7-day Ordinary pass for ¥50,000. JR-designated travel agencies outside Japan charge ¥53,000 for purchases from October 1, 2026.
Buy on the official JR Pass site →Your trip is one Tokyo–Osaka round trip and not much else
SmartEX
Two reserved Hikari tickets at the regular fare cost ¥28,800. That is far below the ¥50,000 pass.
Book single Shinkansen tickets on SmartEX →
Your own route? Use the JR Pass calculator.
The JR Group raised the price of the Japan Rail Pass on October 1, 2026, but only for passes sold through JR-designated travel agencies and sales offices outside Japan. The official online store, run by the JR Group, kept its old prices. The date that counts is the day you buy the pass, not the day you travel. The gap is now ¥3,000 on a 7-day Ordinary adult pass and ¥7,000 on a 21-day Green Car adult pass.
This page sets out both price lists, what the JR Group has and has not said about how long the online price stays, and how many train rides you need before any JR Pass beats single tickets. The numbers come from JR Group pages and from JR Tokai Tours, the travel agency of JR Central, all linked at the end. We checked them on October 27, 2026.
The two price lists
The table shows adult and child prices in yen. "Online" means the official store at japanrailpass-reservation.net. "Agency" means a JR-designated travel agency outside Japan, for purchases made on or after October 1, 2026.
| Pass | Online (adult) | Agency (adult) | Difference | Online (child) | Agency (child) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 days, Ordinary | ¥50,000 | ¥53,000 | ¥3,000 | ¥25,000 | ¥27,000 |
| 14 days, Ordinary | ¥80,000 | ¥84,000 | ¥4,000 | ¥40,000 | ¥42,000 |
| 21 days, Ordinary | ¥100,000 | ¥105,000 | ¥5,000 | ¥50,000 | ¥53,000 |
| 7 days, Green Car | ¥70,000 | ¥74,000 | ¥4,000 | ¥35,000 | ¥37,000 |
| 14 days, Green Car | ¥110,000 | ¥116,000 | ¥6,000 | ¥55,000 | ¥58,000 |
| 21 days, Green Car | ¥140,000 | ¥147,000 | ¥7,000 | ¥70,000 | ¥74,000 |
For a family of two adults and two children on a 7-day Ordinary pass, the agency route costs ¥10,000 more than the official store (¥160,000 against ¥150,000).
If you are deciding between the Green Car and Ordinary pass, the extra cost per day is worked out in Is the Green Car JR Pass worth it?.
Agencies set the price in yen and convert it to your local currency at the exchange rate on the day the exchange order is issued, so what you pay in your own currency can move a little.
How long the online price lasts: no end date yet
The JR Group's notice of April 9, 2026 says prices through the online store "will remain unchanged for a limited time". It adds that the JR Group will announce when this price freeze ends. When we checked, neither that notice nor the official price page gave an end date.
So the online price is the cheaper one today, but the JR Group has not said for how long. If you are planning a trip for next spring, check the official price page shortly before you buy. We recheck it and update this page when it changes.
When the pass pays off at all
The cheaper price only matters if the pass beats single tickets for your route. A 7-day Ordinary pass at ¥50,000 has to replace more than ¥50,000 of JR tickets that you would otherwise buy.
Two examples from official fares, one way, adult, reserved seat, normal season:
- Tokyo to Shin-Osaka by Hikari: ¥14,400. A round trip is ¥28,800, which is ¥21,200 short of the pass price.
- Tokyo to Shin-Osaka by Nozomi: ¥14,720. JR Pass holders can ride the Nozomi only with an extra ticket, ¥4,960 each way on this route.
A Tokyo–Osaka round trip alone does not justify the pass (the Tokyo to Osaka Shinkansen price breakdown lists every seat type and season). Even Tokyo to Hiroshima and back by Nozomi (¥19,760 each way, ¥39,520 in total) stays below ¥50,000. A Tokyo–Osaka round trip plus a Shin-Osaka–Hiroshima round trip comes to ¥51,340 at Nozomi fares, just over the pass price, and a pass holder who rides the Nozomi still pays the extra ticket on top. Our JR Pass calculator adds up your own rides and shows the break-even point.
If your week runs through Kanazawa rather than along the Tokaido line, JR West sells a 7-day Hokuriku Arch Pass for ¥35,000 that does not cover the Tokaido Shinkansen. See Hokuriku Arch Pass vs the 7-day JR Pass for what it covers and when singles cost less.
The Nozomi and Mizuho extra ticket
Since October 1, 2023, JR Pass holders can take the fastest trains, Nozomi and Mizuho, by buying a "Nozomi/Mizuho Special Ticket" for each ride. The official amounts, one way:
| Route | Extra ticket |
|---|---|
| Tokyo – Nagoya | ¥4,180 |
| Tokyo – Kyoto | ¥4,960 |
| Tokyo – Shin-Osaka | ¥4,960 |
| Tokyo – Hiroshima | ¥6,500 |
| Shin-Osaka – Hakata | ¥4,960 |
| Hakata – Kagoshima-Chuo | ¥5,150 |
If you plan to ride the Nozomi often, add these to the pass price before you compare it with single tickets. The extra ticket cannot be booked online before your trip: you buy it in Japan at a station ticket machine or ticket office, from one month before the ride. Hikari and Kodama trains on the same line need no extra ticket. Prices for every main section are in Nozomi with a JR Pass.
JR Central and JR West announced on October 16, 2026 that the reserved-seat charge on Nozomi and Mizuho trains rises for tickets bought on or after July 1, 2027. Tokyo to Shin-Osaka by Nozomi goes from ¥14,720 to ¥15,420. When we checked, they had not said whether the extra ticket for pass holders changes too.
Where to buy
If you have run the numbers in the JR Pass calculator and the pass wins, the official store is the cheaper place to buy it as of October 27, 2026.
Buy on the official JR Pass site →
If single tickets win, SmartEX sells Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen tickets in English.
If you fly into Kansai Airport and are not buying a pass, JR West sells a discounted one-way Haruka ticket to visitors outside Japan; the old and new prices are in Haruka ticket price from Kansai Airport.
Book single Shinkansen tickets on SmartEX →
Sources
- JR Group notice on the price change, April 9, 2026: https://global.jr-central.co.jp/en/news/_pdf/2026/0001.pdf
- Official JR Pass prices: https://japanrailpass.net/en/purchase/price/
- JR Group notice on the Nozomi/Mizuho Special Ticket, July 26, 2023: https://japanrailpass.net/assets/pdf/JRP_pressrelease_en_230802.pdf
- Nozomi/Mizuho Special Ticket: https://japanrailpass.net/en/use/special-ticket/ and https://global.jr-central.co.jp/en/onlinebooking/contents/jrp_nozomi/
- JR Central and JR West press release on Nozomi/Mizuho charges from July 2027, with current fares: https://www.westjr.co.jp/press/article/2026/10/16/items/261016_00_press_shinkansen_ryoukin.pdf
- JR Tokai Tours, Tokaido Shinkansen seat guide (Tokyo–Shin-Osaka fares): https://travel.jr-central.co.jp/plan/tokushu/shinkansen/seat/
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