What is the difference between IC card and JR Rail Pass?
The Difference Between the JR Pass and IC CardsThe most important is that rail passes let you travel between different regions around Japan, whereas IC cards don't let you travel outside or between IC card areas (in most cases).
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No visitor to Tokyo should be without a Suica card and no visitor to Japan should be without a JR Pass. The Suica card is convenient for intercity trains and buses while the JR Pass saves you time and money when traveling through the country. Here are the deets.
Just touch your IC card to the ticket gate and board the Shinkansen. A payment for the Shinkansen fare will be made from your registered credit card when making a reservation (not deducted from the balance of your IC card).
An IC card can be used for almost any public transportation in Japan. Both JR and private railway companies use IC cards, subways use IC cards, and most buses accept IC cards.
Just touch your Suica to the ticket gate and the fare is automatically deducted from your Suica. The Suica can be used not only for JR East trains, but subways and buses as well. See the Suica Map for transportation systems you can use with the Suica.
If you calculate that your travel costs will be lower if you buy individual tickets for each journey, then it's not worth buying a JR Pass. However, if you take into account journeys on Shinkansen high-speed trains or other means of transport, the savings you make become substantial.
For a limited time only, you can buy a Japan Rail Pass from certain train stations and airports in Japan. Travelers should be aware it is more expensive to buy a JR Pass in Japan than to purchase the pass online.
If you are traveling to multiple cities in Japan and plan on using the bullet train (Shinkansen) or other long-distance trains (local, express or limited-express trains), then the JR Pass can be a cost-effective option.
JR East operates the most convenient train lines for moving around central Tokyo, and you can use your JR Pass on all of these metro services. The rest of the 13 Tokyo subway lines that run in and around the Yamanote line are operated by companies other than JR East.
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With your Japan Rail PassThe Hikari and Kodama trains on the Tokaido Shinkansen lines are covered by the Japan Rail Pass, and they can take you from Tokyo to Osaka in about 3 to 4 hours. In Tokyo, you can catch the Shinkansen either at Tokyo Station or Shinagawa Station, and then arrive to Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka.
Suica is the prepaid IC card by JR East for JR trains in the Greater Tokyo, Niigata and Sendai regions. A special version of Suica, called Welcome Suica, is available to foreign tourists.
Where to buy a My Suica card? You can purchase a “My Suica” at any JR East station ticketing machine or booth, including the ones located at Narita and Haneda airport.You can also buy it at some tourist information centers.