How to Use the JR Kansai WIDE Area Pass | 5-Day Price, Area Covered (Amanohashidate, Kinosaki Onsen, Shirahama, Tottori, Okayama, Takamatsu), Trains You Can and Cannot Ride, Seat Reservations, and Whether It Pays Off

Overview

The Kansai WIDE Area Pass is a pass sold by JR West for people who hold a passport issued by the government (or a similar authority) of a country other than Japan and who entered Japan with the "Temporary Visitor" status of residence. For 5 consecutive days from the day you start using it, you can ride JR West lines, and the lines and buses of specified other railway companies, as many times as you like within a set area centered on Osaka and Kyoto. You can also use the pass to reserve Ordinary Car reserved seats on the Sanyo Shinkansen and limited express trains within the area, as many times as you like. However, when the number of seat reservations you have made with this pass reaches 7, that reservation and every one after it must be made at a station ticket office. The price is ¥12,000 for adults (age 12 and over) and ¥6,000 for children (age 6 to 11). The prices and rules in this article were checked on the official websites of JR West and the other companies on October 26, 2026. JR West's English page states that its information is "as of August 1, 2024".

The map is a simplified summary of the lines running from Osaka toward the edges of the area the pass covers. The numbers do not show an order to visit; they point to the following places.

1. Kansai-Airport Station. A station inside Kansai International Airport, where you can board the HARUKA limited express.
2. Amanohashidate Station. From Kyoto Station, you can get there without changing trains on the HASHIDATE limited express. Amanohashidate Station is a Kyoto Tango Railway station.
3. Kinosaki Onsen Station. From Shin-Osaka Station or Osaka Station, you can get there without changing trains on the KONOTORI limited express.
4. Tottori Station. From Osaka Station, you can get there without changing trains on the SUPER HAKUTO limited express. This limited express runs on the Chizu Express line for part of the way.
5. Okayama Station. You can get there from Shin-Osaka Station on the Sanyo Shinkansen. With this pass, you can ride the Sanyo Shinkansen only between Shin-Osaka Station and Okayama Station.
6. Takamatsu Station. From Okayama Station, you can get there on a JR line that crosses the sea on a bridge. Takamatsu Station is in Kagawa Prefecture, on Shikoku.
7. Shirahama Station. From Shin-Osaka Station or Tennoji Station, you can get there without changing trains on the KUROSHIO limited express.

• The railway companies and buses you can ride, and the trains you cannot ride, are summarized under "Lines and buses you can ride" and "Trains you cannot ride, and things you pay for separately".
• You cannot ride the Tokaido Shinkansen. This also applies between Shin-Osaka Station and Kyoto Station. To go from Shin-Osaka Station or Osaka Station to Kyoto Station, take a JR train that is not the shinkansen.
• Hiroshima is outside the area of this pass. A pass that covers JR lines all over Japan is explained in JAPAN RAIL PASS (JR Pass): Prices and How to Use It | Prices on the Official Website and from Agents Outside Japan, How to Buy, and How to Ride Nozomi and Mizuho.
• JR West stopped selling the Kansai Area Pass on September 30, 2026.

Prices

Prices

• Whether you count as an adult or a child is decided by your age when you pay for the pass. If you bought an exchange voucher from a travel agency outside Japan, it is decided by your age when the exchange voucher was issued.
• One person with an adult or child pass can bring up to 2 children aged 1 to 5 without a pass. From the third child, each child needs a child pass.
• Even a child aged 1 to 5 needs a child pass of their own when the child uses a reserved seat of their own, or when the child rides alone, without an adult or an older child.
• A person with an adult or child pass can bring babies under 1 year old without a pass. The official information does not say whether these babies count toward the "up to 2" children mentioned above.
• The price table shows only the price for 5 days.

Period of use

• The pass can be used for 5 consecutive days from the day you start using it. You cannot use it on non-consecutive days.
• It can be used from 0:00 on the first day until 24:00 on the last day (Japan time). If midnight (24:00) passes while you are on a train on the last day, the pass still covers the fare until you leave the station, and the charges until you get off the train.
• One person cannot buy 2 or more passes whose periods of use overlap. If the periods of use do not overlap, you can also buy a second pass.
• After you exchange an exchange voucher for the pass, you cannot change the start date, the number of days or the type of pass.
• Even if trains are stopped or delayed, the period of use is not extended.

Conditions

Lines and buses you can ride

• JR West lines, on the sections inside the area shown on the official map. You can ride Ordinary Car reserved and non-reserved seats on limited express, Special Rapid Service, Rapid Service and local trains.
• The Sanyo Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka Station and Okayama Station. You can also ride Ordinary Car reserved and non-reserved seats on the Nozomi and the Mizuho.
• JR Shikoku lines, on the sections inside the area shown on the official map. You pass through them when going from Okayama Station to Takamatsu Station.
• Kyoto Tango Railway, between Toyooka Station and Miyazu Station, between Miyazu Station and Fukuchiyama Station, and between Miyazu Station and Nishi-Maizuru Station. Amanohashidate Station is a station on this line.
• Wakayama Electric Railway, between Wakayama Station and Kishi Station.
• Chizu Express, between Kamigori Station and Chizu Station. Chizu Express states that the reserved seat charges for limited expresses running on the Chizu Express line are also included in this pass.
• West Japan JR Bus local route buses within the area. The West Japan JR Bus official website lists the Kyoto routes (such as the Takao-Keihoku Line) and the Jakko Line between Omi-Imazu Station and Obama Station as routes you can ride with this pass. You cannot ride highway buses. On local route buses, take a numbered ticket when you get on, and show the pass to the driver when you get off.
• Adults with this pass can also use Ekirinkun, JR West's rental bicycle service. It cannot be used with a child pass.

Main stations on the official map

Trains you cannot ride, and things you pay for separately

• The Tokaido Shinkansen. You cannot ride it between Shin-Osaka Station and Kyoto Station either.
• The Sanyo Shinkansen from Okayama Station in the direction of Hakata Station. The section between Okayama Station and Hakata Station is outside the area.
• Sleeping cars, and the Sunrise Seto and Sunrise Izumo sleeper limited expresses.
• The S Work car on the Sanyo Shinkansen.
• Highway buses.
• Green Cars. To ride a Green Car on a shinkansen or limited express, you pay the Green Car charge and the limited express charge. To ride a Green Car on a rapid or local train, you pay the Green Car charge for local trains.
• Paid seats on rapid and local trains (such as the A-Seat). To sit in these seats, you pay the seat charge.
• Lines and buses of companies not in the list under "Lines and buses you can ride", and sections outside the area on the map. To ride them, you pay the fare and charges for that section. For example, Keihan, Hankyu, Kintetsu and Nankai trains, Osaka Metro, Kyoto City Bus and Kyoto City Subway are not in the list. The bus company that runs the local route bus from Amanohashidate to Ine also states that you cannot ride it with this pass.
• Neither JR West's information nor Kyoto Tango Railway's information says whether limited expresses and sightseeing trains that run only on Kyoto Tango Railway lines need a charge in addition to this pass. Check at a Kyoto Tango Railway station before you ride.

Costs

How to compare with paying fares and charges one by one (adults)

Add up the fares and charges for the trains you will ride during the 5 days. If the total is higher than the price of the pass (¥12,000), the pass is cheaper. The table below shows the total one-way adult fare and charges for the trains used as examples in this article. All are prices for Ordinary Car reserved seats, at the regular-season rate, not the rate for the seasons when charges are higher or lower.

• One round trip between Shin-Osaka Station and Kinosaki Onsen Station on the KONOTORI costs ¥12,280. This one round trip alone makes the pass ¥280 cheaper. One round trip between Shin-Osaka Station and Shirahama Station on the KUROSHIO costs ¥12,280, and this one round trip alone makes the pass ¥280 cheaper.
• If you ride the HARUKA from Kansai-Airport Station to Kyoto Station and, within the same 5 days, make one round trip between Kyoto Station and Amanohashidate Station on the HASHIDATE, the total is ¥13,590. The pass is ¥1,590 cheaper. If you make only one round trip between Kyoto Station and Amanohashidate Station and ride no other trains, the total is ¥10,000, so paying the fares and charges is cheaper than buying the pass.
• One round trip between Shin-Osaka Station and Himeji Station on the Nozomi costs ¥8,140. For a round trip to Himeji Station alone, paying the fares and charges is cheaper than buying the pass.
• One round trip between Shin-Osaka Station and Okayama Station on the Nozomi costs ¥12,920. This one round trip alone makes the pass ¥920 cheaper.
• In the season when charges are higher (peak season), the reserved seat charge is ¥200 more per one-way trip than in the regular season. In the season when charges are lower (off-peak season), the reserved seat charge is ¥200 less per one-way trip than in the regular season. In the busiest periods, such as the year-end and New Year holidays, it is higher still. Fares are the same all year round.
• JR West has announced that it will raise the limited express charge for Ordinary Car reserved seats on the Nozomi and the Mizuho of the Sanyo Shinkansen for tickets bought on or after July 1, 2027. The Nozomi prices in this article are for tickets bought before then.

The child pass is ¥6,000. The rules for children's fares and charges are explained in Child Fares on Japan's Trains and Subways | When Kids Pay Adult Fare, Free Rides for Young Children, Child IC Cards. How to get from Kansai International Airport is explained in Kansai Airport to Osaka and Kyoto: How to Get There | Choosing between the Kansai-Airport Express HARUKA, Nankai Rapi:t and the Limousine Bus, and trains between Osaka, Kyoto and Nara are explained in Getting Around Osaka, Kyoto and Nara by Train | Fares and Travel Times on JR, Hankyu, Keihan and Kintetsu, and Which Stations to Use.

Where to buy

Who can buy and use the pass

• Only people who hold a passport issued by the government (or a similar authority) of a country other than Japan and who entered Japan with the "Temporary Visitor" status of residence can buy and use this pass. People with Japanese nationality cannot use it, even if they have permanent residency in a country other than Japan. People who entered Japan with a status of residence other than "Temporary Visitor" cannot use it either.
• When you collect the pass, show the passport of the person who will use it. The condition is checked with the "Temporary Visitor" indication on the sticker attached to the passport or on the stamp in it. If it cannot be checked, the pass is not issued. However, JR West's Japanese information says that the pass can be issued if it can be confirmed that you entered Japan through the automated gates at immigration.
• To collect passes for several people together, you need the passports of everyone who will use them.
• The pass can be used only by the person who received it. Two or more people cannot share one pass. While you are using the pass, carry your passport with you and show it if staff ask for it.
• The Kansai WIDE Area Excursion Pass, which has a similar name, is a different 3-day ticket sold only by travel agencies. It is not covered in this article.

Three ways to buy

1. Buy it on JR-WEST ONLINE TRAIN RESERVATION, JR West's booking website. You can buy it from 10:00 (Japan time) on the day with the same date in the month before the day you start using it. You pay by credit card; you cannot pay at a station. After you arrive in Japan, collect the pass at a station.
2. Buy an exchange voucher (MCO or E-TICKET) for the pass from a travel agency outside Japan. Exchange the voucher for the pass within 3 months of the day it was issued. After you arrive in Japan, show the exchange voucher and your passport at an exchange point, fill in an application form, and exchange it for the pass.
3. Buy it at the offices of some travel agencies in Japan after you arrive in Japan.

A pass bought on JR-WEST ONLINE TRAIN RESERVATION is collected at a ticket machine or a ticket office at a station. To collect it, you need your reservation number, the 4-digit number you set when you made the reservation, the credit card you used for the reservation, and your passport. To collect it at a ticket machine, you need a passport with an IC chip. If your passport has no IC chip, collect the pass at a station ticket office.

You can collect and exchange the pass at JR West stations such as Kansai-Airport Station, Shin-Osaka Station, Osaka Station and Kyoto Station. Check the places and hours for collection and exchange in the list on the JR West official website. According to JR West's Japanese information, you can neither collect nor exchange the pass at JR East, JR Central or JR Kyushu stations, including those in Tokyo and at Narita Airport and Haneda Airport.

Refunds

• An exchange voucher that you have not yet exchanged is refunded by the travel agency outside Japan where you bought it. A fee is charged.
• A pass you received in exchange for an exchange voucher, and a pass bought from a travel agency in Japan, are refunded at the ticket office of an exchange point in Japan, if you have not started using them. 10% of the pass price (at least ¥220 per pass) is deducted as a fee. The travel agency outside Japan where you bought the exchange voucher cannot refund a pass after it has been exchanged.
• A pass bought on JR-WEST ONLINE TRAIN RESERVATION and not yet collected can be refunded, or have its start date changed, on the booking website. The refund fee is ¥560 per person. After you collect the pass, you cannot change the start date, and refunds are handled at the ticket office of the station where you collected it.
• After you start using the pass, or after its period of use has ended, you cannot get a refund. There are no refunds when trains are stopped or delayed, either.
• Lost or stolen passes are not reissued.

Booking

Reserving seats

• To sit in a reserved seat, reserve it at a ticket machine or a ticket office at a station before you board. People who bought the pass on JR-WEST ONLINE TRAIN RESERVATION can also reserve seats on the booking website. You cannot reserve a seat on the train after you board. If you board without reserving a seat, sit in a non-reserved seat.
• With this pass, you can reserve Ordinary Car reserved seats as many times as you like. However, when the number of seat reservations you have made with this pass reaches 7, you cannot make that reservation or any later one at a ticket machine or on the booking website; you must reserve at a station ticket office.
• On trains where all seats are reserved, you cannot ride unless you reserve a seat. JR West's list of all-reserved trains you can ride with this pass includes the KUROSHIO, the KONOTORI, the KINOSAKI, the MAIZURU, the HASHIDATE, the HAMAKAZE, the SUPER HAKUTO and the THUNDERBIRD. Separately, on the Sanyo Shinkansen, the Nozomi has days when all seats are reserved.
• The HARUKA is not on the list of all-reserved trains. The HARUKA also has non-reserved seats.
• When you ride the Sanyo Shinkansen with large baggage whose length, width and height total more than 160 cm and up to 250 cm, reserve a seat with an oversized baggage area for that baggage. The rules are explained in How to Bring a Large Suitcase on the Shinkansen | Reserving a Seat with an Oversized Baggage Area and Where to Put Your Luggage.

How to go through the ticket gates

According to JR West's English information, you go through by inserting the pass into the automatic ticket gate. After you go through, do not forget to take the pass back. On West Japan JR Bus local route buses, show the pass to the driver when you get off.

Good to know

• The nearest station to Universal Studios Japan is JR Universal-City Station. This station is inside the area on the official map. How to buy admission tickets is explained in USJ (Universal Studios Japan) Tickets: How to Buy | Studio Pass Types, Universal Express Pass, Area Timed Entry Ticket.
• You can get to Nara on JR lines both from Kyoto Station and from stations in Osaka. Kintetsu trains are not in the list under "Lines and buses you can ride".