The Japan Rail Pass allows unlimited travel on trains operated by Japan Railways (JR) Group throughout the country including the world famous Shinkansen Bullet Train. This main JR Pass gives you the freedom to explore Japan with no area restriction.
The Japan Rail Pass is valid on the following railways, buses and ferry boats: Trains Shinkansen super express (except "Nozomi" class) Limited express trains Express trains Rapid and local trains Buses JR Hokkaido Bus JR Bus Tohoku JR Bus Kanto JR Tokai Bus West Japan JR Bus Chugoku JR Bus JR Shikoku Bus Company JR Kyushu Bus ... And other JR Highway Bus Lines Ferry JR Ferry (Miyajima-Miyajimaguchi), except Beetle II (Hakata-Pusan)
Many JR trains have Green cars (first class equivalent), however all trains also have ordinary cars. With a Green type Japan Rail Pass you can use either Green or Ordinary cars. With an Ordinary JR Pass, you may only use Ordinary cars, unless you pay an additional charge to upgrade to first class.
The Japan Rail Pass is valid for either 7, 14 or 21 consecutive days beginning with the date that the pass is first used. When you hand in an Exchange Order for a full JR Pass, it is necessary to specify the date that you wish the pass to be valid from. This date can be any date from within three months of when the original Exchange Order was issued. Once a pass and been exchanged and the start date decided however, these dates cannot be changed.