July in Japan with SUMO!

Hello there,

Osaka and Kyoto are on JR West, Narita is on JR East and Nagoya is on JR Central. The good thing about the JR Pass is that you don't have to think about these things, as all JR lines are included. Having reviewed your trip, I do think normal tickets would cost less than a pass.

JR Ticket lines can indeed be long, but this is not unique to the pass and applies to everyone in queue. Normal ticket or not. This is often the result of Japans aging population, elderly customers prefer to speak to a real person and make sure everything is correct. You can book multiple tickets at once though, saving you time if you plan ahead.

Kind regards,
Daniel

Thanks, Daniel-san,

I will fit right in with Japan's agin population, as I am 72 years old 😁.

Thanks for telling me about the different designations. We used the pass the last time which is why I didn't realize they were different.

Does the JR go directly from Narita to Ginza? Does it go directly from Kyoto to Osaka and from Osaka to Nagoya? We also plan to go to the Osaka expo. Would we use the JR for that or the local trains?

Mrs. Cross

Hi Mrs. Cross,

It's an interesting dynamic, where most of the world has become digital. Japan is surprisingly analogue.

For Narita Airport to Ginza, you can take the Narita Express train to Tokyo station. From there it is 15-20min walk to Ginza, personally I'd just take a taxi for the last part. You can also use the Yamanote line from Tokyo station to Yurakucho (just one stop) from where you walk into Ginza in just 5min.

There are all direct trains between Kyoto, Osaka, and Nagoya. You can also use the JR Pass on local trains around Osaka.

For the Expo, please see - it has a useful access guide
https://www.jrpass.com/osaka-expo-2025

Hope that helps!
Daniel