Is 21 Day Pass needed for our draft itinerary of 19 nights

Hi there,

Will you be taking the train to Fukuoka or fly? In the latter case, then you could start your 14-day JR Pass when you go to Nagasaki and finish the last day when going to Hakata.

I think you could also consider a 21-day JR Pass if you plan to use the train to Nagasaki, the cost difference with a 14-day JR Pass is minimal and would be worth it for travel to Hakone and Tokyo when using the Shinkansen.

I also recommend getting your seat reservations when arrive in Japan for the new year period. This is traditionally a very busy period when many Japanese visit their family. You won't have problems getting tickets when you arrive, but might have if you do so last moment.

Hope this helps :)
Daniel

Thanks Daniel, we won’t fly inside Japan so have bought the 21 day pass.
Will the JR Pass cover us to Nagasaki? Or only as far south as Fukuoka? Depending on your answer, we can either go Haneda to Fukuoka or Haneda to Nagasaki. In terms of the rail pass, does it make a difference?

Yes, we will book seats as soon as we arrive in Haneda and activate the pass. Much appreciated.

Yes, the JR Pass covers the entire route to Nagasaki (and anywhere else in Japan). It is just a long ride, that's why I wanted to double check but then again, you do get amazing value using the pass on this route.

Yes a long train ride but not compared to flights to Japan!

From Haneda, what’s the best route to either Fukuoka or Nagasaki? Bus to Yokohama? We can start our holiday in either city. I wonder if one is easier to reach from Haneda than the other. Thanks for your expertise.

True, and with the train you can take a stop at any moment, get food and drinks along the way and the views are generally much better!

With the JR Pass: Take the Tokyo Monorail to Hamamatsucho, then JR Yamanote line to Shinagawa station and from there Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka, at Shin-Osaka transfer to an other Shinkansen to Hakata station (this is the station for Fukuoka) and finally a ltd. express train from there to Nagasaki.

There's not that much difference between Fukuoka and Nagasaki as starting point, so either is fine I think. Fukuoka is a bit less travel though from Haneda which can be nice, at the same time, maybe you want to get as much ground covered from the start and from there take it a bit slower.