New Rail Passes for Japan

JR West announced that three new rail passes will become available to foreign tourists from March 2015. Two existing passes will be improved at the same time, while two older passes will be discontinued:

Three New Passes

Three new rail passes will become available to foreign tourists from March 2015:

1) JR Sanyo Sanin Area Pass (more details)
Covers regular JR trains and shinkansen in the Chugoku Region and part of the Kansai Region on seven consecutive days for 19,000 yen. More details about the JR Sanyo Sanin Area Pass.

2) JR Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass (more details)
Covers regular JR trains and shinkansen in the Kansai Region and along the Sanyo Coast as far as Hiroshima on five consecutive days for 13,000 yen. More details about the JR Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass.

3) JR Hiroshima Yamaguchi Area Pass (more details)
Covers regular JR trains and shinkansen in Hiroshima and Yamaguchi Prefectures and the shinkansen to/from Fukuoka on five consecutive days for 11,000 yen. More details about the JR Hiroshima Yamaguchi Area Pass.

Two Improved Passes

The JR Kansai Area Pass and JR Kansai Wide Pass will have enlarged coverage areas, but will also become more expensive:

1) JR Kansai Area Pass (more details)
The coverage area will be enlarged considerably and the price will increase slightly. More details about the JR Kansai Area Pass.

2) JR Kansai Wide Area Pass (more details)
The coverage area will be enlarged, the period of validity extended from four to five consecutive days, and the price will be increased. More details about the JR Kansai Wide Area Pass.

Two Passes Discontinued

Due to a lack of popularity, the JR Sanyo Area Pass and JR Sanyo-Shikoku-Kyushu Pass will be discontinued on February 28 and March 31, 2015, respectively.