Sanyo-San'in Northern Kyushu Pass
Since the national JR Pass increased significantly in price in 2023, it hasn't made much sense for most visitors to buy the pass. Even if you were to travel enough to make the cost back, you would be left with barely any time in each location. However, there still is good value to be had with some regional JR Passes, and I can give you an example I used in 2024.
I think one of the best regional passes is the Sanyo-San'in Northern Kyushu Pass due to the size of the area covered, it's easy to reap savings.
Just one duration of the pass is available - 7 days for ¥26,000.
It covers the northern part of Kyushu and western Honshu as far as Kansai and can get you to Shikoku too. This covers the entire Sanyo Shinkansen and Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen line and northern section of the Kyushu Shinkansen line from Hakata to Kumamoto.
I managed to use it to travel on all these lines, as well as lovely sightseeing train, and some local trains in just 5 days, you may save even more in 7 days.
| Kumamoto to Nagasaki (via Shin-Tosu & Takeo Onsen) | ¥9,370 |
| Kyushu Two Stars | ¥5,000 |
| Takeo Onsen - Hakata | ¥3,410 |
| Hakata to Osaka | ¥16,020 |
| Shin Osaka to Kyoto return | ¥1,160 |
| Total Fares | ¥34,960 |
| Sanyo-San'in Northern Kyushu Pass | ¥26,000 |
| Saving | ¥8,960 |
When I bought the pass I didn't know the beautiful Kyushu Two Stars sightseeing train was included on the pass. It only travels once a day in each direction between Takeo Onsen and Nagasaki, but it managed to suit our schedule perfectly. Learning about it on arrival in Nagasaki, I was able to book it for the next day (seat reservations are required, but at no additional cost) in the station.
There is no Green Car pass sold - but you can buy separate Green Car upgrade tickets.
As always - I can't recommend paying extra for the Green Car on Shinkansen, the regular seats are plenty comfortable already.
The N700-8000 series trains on the Kyushu Shinkansen even offer 2+2 seats arrangement in the reserved carriage, the same as you usually get in the Green Car!
The area covered by this rail pass is huge, and it’s likely if you are going to travel between Fukuoka and Osaka you can use this pass to make savings.
© West Japan Railway Company
It’s worth putting your itinerary into this handy Japan Rail Pass Calculator to see if you can make savings, but also look on the JR website for the region you are visiting and see if any special trains are included on the pass.