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[Miata_mx5]

Originally Posted by PortedRotorTuner

What is JR pass?
And is Nozomi and Hikari two different bullet trains ?

Thanks.

JR Pass is something you buy outside of Japan that gives you access to all of the Japan Railways Train lines (80 percent of japan) local city trains and Kodama and Hikari Bullet Trains. When you purchase a JR pass you can pick 1, 2 or 3 week passes and pick if you want a "GREEN car pass" (First class compartments access).

Basically what you get is a booklet (pass) when you redeem the JR Rail Ticket at Narita Airport or a large Train Terminal. Then you don't need to buy tickets for trains, just show the attend your pass, and you are ok.

There are 3 Series of Bullet trains in the Sanyo/Tokaido Bullet Train line (covers most major cities near tokyo and around).

Kodama, Hikari/Hikari Rail Star and Nozomi are all "speed classes" of the Bullet Trains.

-Kodama: Slowest, stops at almost all stations. Covered by JR Rail Pass
-Hikari: Makes fewer stops than Kodama and is still covered by JR Rail Pass.
-Nozomi: Fastest ones (do 290-300 km/h avg speed), make the fewest stops and are not covered by JR Rail Pass.