The JR East Service Center at Tokyo Station Makes Japan Train Travel Easy

[Marian Goldberg]

Tokyo Station shines brightly with its new Japan Rail (JR) Travel Service Center (open 7:30am – 10:30 pm everyday). Here, you can ask anything you want about Japan Railways trains. You can purchase a JR East travel pass (available only to foreigners), by JR train tickets, and exchange your “All Japan” rail pass voucher or “exchange order” (purchased only outside Japan) for the actual 7, 14, or 21-day rail pass.

You will even find the service center convenient for holding and delivering luggage and for money exchange!

The center's foreign-card-friendly ATMs are open from 7:30 am to 10 pm.

Japan Rail Passes

The Japan Rail passes are a big savings and very convenient, but note, because Japan's sales tax increases from 5% to 8% on April 1, 2014, the rail pass price is going up April 1^st. An “ordinary”: seven-day pass was 28,300 yen, but will increase to 29,110 yen ($288.20), 14-day pass was 45,100 yen, but will increase to 46,390 yen ($459.30), and a 21-day pass was 57,700 yen, but will increase to 59,350 yen ($587.60).

The Service Center also provides information on rail tour packages in areas around Japan from Tohoku to Kyushu and helps in planning independent itineraries, such as a spring cherry blossom viewing itinerary in Northeast Japan or a 1 ½ hour, 4 km, on-your-own hiking excursion with views of Mt. Fuji! The former tells you the best dates for maximum blossoms per area, and the latter is available from April 11-May 31. The Fuji region hike departs from Fuji Kyuko Station, where you can also get additional hiking information, a free English-map, and get a free gift. Register online at this link.

Free WiFi

Finally, there is free WiFi at the JR East Service Centers at Tokyo Station, Narita and Haneda Airports, and now also at major JR train stations in and around Tokyo. This includes the following stations on the JR Yamanote Loop line in Tokyo: Shinjuku, Yoyogi, Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinagawa, Tamachi, Hamamatsucho, Tokyo, Kanda, Akihabara, Okachimachi, and Ueno. It also includes Maihama Station on the JR Keiyo Line in Chiba, and Yokohama Station. When at these stations near the WiFi hotspot, as indicated by the "JR East Free WiFi logo", 

the signal indication will appear on your device, enter your name and email address on the entry page and select the Wifi service option. Each login is good for three hours; then you must re-register for another three hours of use.

For assistance, visit the JR East Service centers at either the airports or Tokyo Station.