Most travellers planning a Kansai-and-Hiroshima trip click straight to the national Japan Rail Pass. They see "unlimited rides for seven days" on the JR Group homepage and assume that's the answer. Then they pay ¥50,000 a head for a route that a ¥23,000 regional pass would have covered, with the same Shinkansen, the same reserved seats, and one important upgrade most people miss.
Here's the trap in numbers. A 7-day national JR Pass costs ¥50,000 in ordinary class (purchased outside Japan; ¥55,000 inside). The JR-West Sanyo-San'in Area Pass covers Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Himeji, Okayama, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Tottori, Matsue and Hakata for ¥23,000. The Kansai Wide Area Pass covers Kansai plus Okayama, Tottori, Kinosaki and Amanohashidate for ¥12,000 over five days. Both let you ride Nozomi and Mizuho on the Sanyo Shinkansen with a reserved seat, which the national JR Pass actively forbids. If your trip never crosses east of Shin-Osaka, the national pass is the more expensive option that gives you fewer trains.
This is the JR-West regional pass family. There are seven of them, and the choice between them is your first real travel-planning decision once you've committed to West Japan. I'll walk through the math, the routes, and the redemption logistics, with three concrete itinerary scenarios at the end. Pricing is verified against westjr.co.jp on 6 May 2026; JR West tends to revise prices in March, so check the official site before you commit.
In This Article
- The seven JR-West pass options at a glance
- Why the Nozomi rule changes the math
- Kansai Area Pass: the weekend-in-Kyoto pass
- When the Kansai Area Pass is right
- When to skip it
- Kansai Wide Area Pass: the most-versatile mid-range option
- The fairly powerful Kansai Wide loop
- What it does not cover
- Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass: when Hiroshima is on the list and Tottori isn't
- Sanyo-San'in Area Pass: the seven-day workhorse
- The full Sanyo-San'in loop
- Where it stops being the right pass
- JR-West All Area Pass: when you want Hokuriku too
- Hokuriku Arch Pass: the quietly clever Tokyo-to-Kansai loop
- The case for the Arch Pass
- The case against
- The other two passes, briefly
- How redemption actually works
- Eligibility, validity, and the things that catch people out
- Three concrete itinerary scenarios
- Scenario A: Kansai-only weekend
- Scenario B: Kansai + Hiroshima 5 days
- Scenario C: Tokyo to Kanazawa via Hokuriku, returning through Kyoto
- How JR-West passes compare to non-JR options
- Where to buy and what it costs you
- What the data says about value
The seven JR-West pass options at a glance
Before the deep dive, the comparison table. All prices are 2026 adult fares from the official JR-West site (the Hokuriku Arch revision listed below takes effect 14 March 2026; current price still applies until then).
| Pass | Days | Adult price | Sanyo Shinkansen | Hokuriku Shinkansen | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansai Area Pass | 1, 2, 3 or 4 | ¥2,800 / ¥4,800 / ¥5,800 / ¥7,000 | No | No | Kyoto + Osaka + Nara weekend |
| Kansai Wide Area Pass | 5 | ¥12,000 | Shin-Osaka to Okayama | No | Kansai plus a side trip to Okayama, Tottori, Kinosaki or Amanohashidate |
| Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass | 5 | ¥17,000 | Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima | No | Kansai plus Hiroshima and Miyajima |
| Hiroshima-Yamaguchi Area Pass | 5 | ¥15,000 | Mihara to Hakata | No | Western half of the Sanyo line, Hakata included |
| Sanyo-San'in Area Pass | 7 | ¥23,000 | Shin-Osaka to Hakata | No | The full Kansai + Chugoku + San'in coast loop |
| JR-West All Area Pass | 7 | ¥26,000 | Shin-Osaka to Hakata | Tsuruga to Joetsu-Myoko | Hokuriku + Kansai + Hiroshima in one trip |
| Hokuriku Arch Pass | 7 | ¥30,000 (rises to ¥35,000 from 14 March 2026) | No | Tsuruga to Tokyo | Tokyo to Kanazawa via Hokuriku, returning through Kyoto |
The columns that matter most are the Shinkansen ones. The Kansai Area Pass covers no bullet train at all; it's a local-and-rapid pass for the Kyoto-Osaka-Nara triangle. The Wide and Hiroshima passes start cutting into Sanyo. The Sanyo-San'in is the workhorse for a full Kansai + Hiroshima trip with the San'in coast thrown in. The Hokuriku Arch is the only one that covers Tokyo, and it does so via the long way round.
Why the Nozomi rule changes the math
This is the single fact that most JR-West-pass guides bury or skip. The national Japan Rail Pass excludes Nozomi and Mizuho, the two fastest Sanyo Shinkansen categories. National JR Pass holders ride Hikari, Sakura, or Kodama instead, which adds 25 to 50 minutes between Shin-Osaka and Hiroshima depending on the timetable.
The JR-West regional passes do not have that exclusion within their valid area. The Sanyo-San'in Area Pass and the JR-West All Area Pass both list Reserved seats on SANYO SHINKANSEN (Shin-Osaka to Hakata) as their valid trains, with no Nozomi/Mizuho carve-out. The Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass says the same thing for Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima. So if you're running a Kansai-and-Hiroshima itinerary on a JR-West pass, you ride the same trains a paying passenger does, and you take the fast ones.
For travellers crossing the country, the national JR Pass still wins on raw geography because it covers the Tokaido Shinkansen (Tokyo to Shin-Osaka), which no JR-West pass touches. But the moment your trip stays west of Shin-Osaka, the JR-West passes are both cheaper and slightly faster. That second part rarely makes it into comparison articles. It should.
Kansai Area Pass: the weekend-in-Kyoto pass
The Kansai Area Pass is the simplest one. It's a local-and-rapid pass covering the Kyoto-Osaka-Nara-Kobe-Himeji-Wakayama box, plus Kansai-Airport Express HARUKA service in reserved seats. No Shinkansen at all. You'd use it for Special Rapid Service trains between Kyoto and Osaka, the JR Nara Line to Inari and Nara, and the JR Sanyo Line to Himeji as a day trip from Osaka.
The price ladder is ¥2,800 / ¥4,800 / ¥5,800 / ¥7,000 for one to four days, in non-consecutive blocks. The breakeven against pay-as-you-go is generous because the HARUKA reserved seat from Kansai Airport to Kyoto alone costs ¥3,640 standard. Buy the 1-day at ¥2,800 just for the airport transfer to Kyoto and the pass has paid for itself before you even start sightseeing.
When the Kansai Area Pass is right
You arrive at Kansai Airport, take HARUKA into Kyoto, base yourself there, do day trips to Osaka, Nara, Himeji and back, and fly out from Kansai Airport. Total trip: 4 to 6 days. The 4-day pass at ¥7,000 covers four solid days of unlimited rides; days 5 and 6 you can use IC card top-ups since the heavy travel is already done.
When to skip it
You only do the Kyoto-Osaka shuttle and one day at Nara. Three round trips on Special Rapid Service Kyoto-Osaka cost ¥570 each way (¥3,420), and Kyoto-Nara on the JR Nara Line is ¥720. You'd be ahead with an ICOCA or Suica card and pay-as-you-go. The pass starts to pay back once you add an airport transfer or a Himeji day trip.
Kansai Wide Area Pass: the most-versatile mid-range option
This is the pass that most travellers should default to if they've got five days and want more than the Kansai triangle. Five days, ¥12,000, and the coverage stretches from Wakayama in the south to Kinosaki and Amanohashidate in the north, plus Okayama and Tottori in the west. It includes reserved seats on the Sanyo Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Okayama (Hello Kitty Shinkansen included on that stretch), all the relevant Limited Express services (HARUKA, KUROSHIO, KONOTORI, SUPER HAKUTO, KINOSAKI), and the local and rapid services in the whole valid area.
Five days at ¥12,000 is ¥2,400 a day, which beats almost any single round trip you might combine. A round trip Kyoto-Amanohashidate via Limited Express Hashidate is around ¥9,400 for one day alone, and that's before you add any other rides.
The fairly powerful Kansai Wide loop
Day 1: HARUKA from Kansai Airport to Kyoto. Day 2: Limited Express Hashidate to Amanohashidate, return same day or sleep at the local ryokan. Day 3: Kyoto down to Wakayama on the KUROSHIO. Day 4: Sanyo Shinkansen to Okayama and Bizen pottery towns. Day 5: HARUKA back to Kansai Airport. Even allowing for non-pass days at the start and end of the trip, ¥12,000 covers everything that costs real money in five days of intercity travel.
What it does not cover
Hiroshima. The Wide pass stops at Okayama. If you want Hiroshima you need either the Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass (¥17,000, 5 days, same Wide footprint plus Hiroshima) or the Sanyo-San'in Area Pass (¥23,000, 7 days, much bigger).
Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass: when Hiroshima is on the list and Tottori isn't
The Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass at ¥17,000 for 5 days is the cleanest answer to a Kansai-plus-Hiroshima trip that doesn't need the San'in coast. It covers the same Kansai footprint as the Wide pass plus Sanyo Shinkansen reserved seats from Shin-Osaka all the way through to Hiroshima, the JR West Miyajima Ferry to the floating-torii island, and Limited Express HARUKA, KUROSHIO, KONOTORI and KINOSAKI services within the valid area.
The breakeven check: a one-way Sanyo Shinkansen reserved seat from Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima is around ¥10,400, so a single round trip Osaka-Hiroshima already covers more than the pass cost. Add HARUKA from Kansai Airport (around ¥3,640 each way reserved) and the pass is comfortably ahead before you've added any local rides.
What you give up versus the Wide pass: nothing in Kansai itself. What you give up versus the Sanyo-San'in: Tottori, Matsue, Izumo and Hakata, plus two days of validity. If your trip is Osaka-Kyoto-Hiroshima-Miyajima and you're flying out of Kansai Airport, this is the pass.
Sanyo-San'in Area Pass: the seven-day workhorse
Seven days, ¥23,000, and the valid area is the entire Sanyo and San'in lines from Shin-Osaka all the way to Hakata in northern Kyushu, including the San'in coast on the way back via Tottori, Matsue and Izumo. This is the pass for travellers who want to trace a loop from Kansai out to Hiroshima, west to Hakata, north to the San'in coast, and back through Tottori and Kinosaki to Kyoto.
It includes reserved seats on Sanyo Shinkansen (Shin-Osaka to Hakata, all train types including Nozomi and Mizuho), all relevant Limited Express services on conventional lines (YAKUMO from Okayama to Matsue, SUPER HAKUTO from Kyoto to Tottori, KINOSAKI from Kyoto to Kinosaki, plus HARUKA, KUROSHIO and KONOTORI), and the JR West Miyajima Ferry. The Hello Kitty Shinkansen runs Hakata-Shin-Osaka and is included.
The full Sanyo-San'in loop
This is the itinerary the pass was built for. Day 1: HARUKA from Kansai Airport to Kyoto, evening to Osaka. Day 2: Sanyo Shinkansen to Hiroshima, day on Miyajima. Day 3: Hiroshima to Hakata on Sanyo Shinkansen, afternoon in Fukuoka. Day 4: Sanyo back to Shin-Yamaguchi or Shin-Shimonoseki, then Limited Express Yakumo to Matsue and Izumo Taisha. Day 5: Matsue to Tottori via the San'in main line, evening at Tottori dunes. Day 6: SUPER HAKUTO from Tottori back to Kyoto via Himeji. Day 7: HARUKA back to Kansai Airport.
That itinerary at pay-as-you-go is roughly ¥48,000 in Shinkansen and Limited Express fares alone. The pass at ¥23,000 is less than half. And you ride Nozomi on the Sanyo segments where Hikari is slower.
Where it stops being the right pass
You're only doing Kansai and Hiroshima with no San'in coast. In that case the Kansai-Hiroshima at ¥17,000 is ¥6,000 cheaper for the same coverage. You're not crossing into Kyushu beyond Hakata. The Sanyo-San'in stops at Hakata; if you want Kumamoto or Kagoshima you'd need either a separate Kyushu pass or a national JR Pass.
JR-West All Area Pass: when you want Hokuriku too
The JR-West All Area Pass at ¥26,000 for 7 days is the Sanyo-San'in pass plus Hokuriku. Same valid area west of Kyoto, plus the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tsuruga to Joetsu-Myoko (Kanazawa, Toyama, Itoigawa) and the conventional-line Limited Express Thunderbird from Kyoto/Osaka up to Tsuruga.
For ¥3,000 more than the Sanyo-San'in, you add Kanazawa, Kenrokuen, Toyama's Tateyama-Kurobe access, and the option to drop into Niigata via the new Hokuriku Shinkansen extension. If your trip already includes Kanazawa or Tateyama, this is the obvious choice over Sanyo-San'in. If it doesn't, save the ¥3,000.
One important catch: the All Area Pass does not cover the Tokaido Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Tokyo. So you can't use it to get to Tokyo. For Tokyo you need either the Hokuriku Arch Pass (covered next) or a separate Tokaido Shinkansen ticket.
Hokuriku Arch Pass: the quietly clever Tokyo-to-Kansai loop
This is the pass nobody talks about that solves a specific problem brilliantly. The Hokuriku Arch Pass at ¥30,000 for 7 days (rising to ¥35,000 from 14 March 2026 per the official notice on westjr.co.jp) covers Tokyo to Kanazawa via the Hokuriku Shinkansen, Kanazawa to Tsuruga via the new Hokuriku Shinkansen extension, Tsuruga to Kyoto/Osaka via Limited Express Thunderbird, and HARUKA from Kyoto/Osaka to Kansai Airport. It also covers the Kansai zone in the same way the Kansai Wide does (without the Sanyo Shinkansen), and includes the Tohoku/Yamagata Shinkansen Omiya-Tokyo and Joetsu Shinkansen Takasaki-Tokyo segments for connecting from Narita.
What it does not cover: the Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. Which is the point. The pass exists because JR-East and JR-West share the Hokuriku Shinkansen revenue, and they want a product that incentivises tourists to take the longer Hokuriku-route loop instead of the direct Tokaido.
The case for the Arch Pass
You land at Narita or Haneda. Three days in Tokyo. Hokuriku Shinkansen up to Nagano or straight to Kanazawa. Two nights in Kanazawa with Kenrokuen and the Higashi Chaya district. Hokuriku Shinkansen extension or Limited Express Thunderbird down to Kyoto. Three nights Kyoto-Osaka-Nara. HARUKA out to Kansai Airport for the flight home. The whole thing on one ¥30,000 pass, and the Hokuriku route through the Japan Sea side gives you scenery the Tokaido Shinkansen never shows.
Pay-as-you-go cost of that route: roughly ¥14,180 Tokyo-Kanazawa Shinkansen reserved + ¥8,920 Kanazawa-Kyoto via Tsuruga + ¥3,640 HARUKA + Kansai zone rides = around ¥28,000 minimum, before any extras. The pass at ¥30,000 is roughly break-even on the headline route alone, and gives you unlimited rides within Kansai for free.
The case against
You actually want the speed of the Tokaido Shinkansen. Tokyo to Shin-Osaka direct is 2h 22m on Nozomi. Tokyo via Hokuriku and back is a full day each way. If your travel time is tight and Kanazawa is not high on your list, the national Japan Rail Pass at ¥50,000 makes more sense because it covers the Tokaido Shinkansen and gives you the direct route.
Note also that the Arch Pass price hike to ¥35,000 in March 2026 changes this calculation. At ¥35,000 the pass is ¥5,000 closer to the national pass, and the relative value depends entirely on whether you want the Hokuriku scenery or Tokaido speed. Run the breakeven yourself with current prices, not last year's.
The other two passes, briefly
Hiroshima-Yamaguchi Area Pass: 5 days, ¥15,000. Sanyo Shinkansen between Mihara and Hakata, plus the local lines through Yamaguchi prefecture. This is for travellers based in Hiroshima or Hakata who want to explore the western Sanyo coast and Yamaguchi, not for Kansai-Hiroshima trips. Niche.
Kansai-Hokuriku Area Pass: a 7-day pass covering Kansai plus the Hokuriku Shinkansen up to Joetsu-Myoko, but not Sanyo Shinkansen. Useful for a Kansai-and-Kanazawa trip without Hiroshima. The All Area Pass at ¥26,000 covers everything this one does plus Sanyo, so unless you're very price-sensitive and definitely not going to Hiroshima, the All Area is usually the better buy.
How redemption actually works
JR-West regional passes have shifted heavily to online purchase via JR-WEST ONLINE TRAIN RESERVATION over the past two years. The standard process now looks like this:
- Buy the pass online at westjr.co.jp before you arrive in Japan. Pay by credit card; virtual or numberless cards aren't accepted.
- Reserve seats on the website at the same time, up to one month ahead of travel. The first six reservations are free; from the seventh onward you have to do them in person at a JR-WEST ticket office.
- On arrival in Japan, exchange the QR code at a JR-WEST Travel Service Center (Kansai Airport, Shin-Osaka, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Hakata stations all have one) for the physical pass and reserved seat tickets. Bring your passport and the credit card you used.
- Use the physical pass through manned gates, not automatic ones, on every train.
You can still buy in Japan from JR-West Travel Service Centers and authorised travel agencies, but the price is ¥500 to ¥1,000 higher for most passes. There's no real reason to wait unless you didn't plan ahead.
Eligibility, validity, and the things that catch people out
Eligibility is the same for every JR-West pass: passport from a foreign country, short-stay temporary visitor status. JR-West sometimes makes domestic versions of these passes available for residents (called Excursion Passes in Japanese), but they cost more and have different terms; the foreign-tourist version is what most readers of this site will buy.
Validity is consecutive days. There's no flexible day option on JR-West passes the way the Hokkaido Rail Pass and JR Kyushu offer. The Kansai Area Pass is the exception: it sells in one to four day blocks but each block is consecutive once you start using it.
The pass starts at the activation date you choose, valid 0:00 to 24:00 JST on each day. If you ride a train that crosses 24:00 on the last day, the pass remains valid until that train reaches its terminal. So an overnight Sunrise Izumo timed to land in Tokyo just after midnight at the end of day 7 still works; the staff are looking at whether the train you're on started before midnight.
The other rule that catches people: pass type, start date, and duration cannot be changed once you've exchanged the order for a physical pass. Refunds are 90% of price minimum ¥220 handling fee, but only before the pass starts to be used. Once you've put it through a gate, no refunds even if a typhoon shuts down half the network.
Three concrete itinerary scenarios
The math gets clearer once it's pinned to actual trips. These are itinerary shapes I see frequently.
Scenario A: Kansai-only weekend
Trip: Friday evening arrive Kansai Airport. Saturday Kyoto temples. Sunday Osaka and Nara. Monday morning fly out.
The right pass: Kansai Area Pass, 2-day at ¥4,800. Use it Saturday and Sunday, ride HARUKA from Kansai Airport on the Friday on a separate one-way ticket (¥1,840 unreserved local plus the Special Rapid alternative is ¥1,710), and use IC card top-ups for the Monday airport transfer.
Wrong pass: anything bigger. Even the Kansai Wide at ¥12,000 is throwing money away on a trip that doesn't need it.
Scenario B: Kansai + Hiroshima 5 days
Trip: Land Kansai Airport. Two nights Kyoto. Day trip Nara. Sanyo Shinkansen to Hiroshima for two nights with a day on Miyajima. HARUKA back to Kansai Airport.
The right pass: Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass, 5-day at ¥17,000. The HARUKA round trip alone is ¥7,280; one Hiroshima round-trip Sanyo Shinkansen reserved is ¥20,800. Pass is comfortably ahead.
The alternative: Sanyo-San'in at ¥23,000. Same coverage plus more, plus 2 extra days of validity, but if you're definitely not going to Tottori or Matsue you're paying ¥6,000 for nothing. The Kansai-Hiroshima is the sharper choice.
Scenario C: Tokyo to Kanazawa via Hokuriku, returning through Kyoto
Trip: Land Narita. Three nights Tokyo. Hokuriku Shinkansen to Kanazawa for two nights. Kanazawa down to Kyoto via the new Hokuriku extension. Three nights Kyoto-Osaka. HARUKA out from Kansai Airport.
The right pass: Hokuriku Arch Pass, 7-day at ¥30,000 (or ¥35,000 from 14 March 2026). This is exactly the route the pass was designed for. You activate it on day 4 when you leave Tokyo, it carries you through the entire Tokyo-Kanazawa-Kyoto-Osaka-Kansai Airport flow, and the ¥30,000 fare beats the pay-as-you-go cost of the Hokuriku Shinkansen segments alone.
The alternative: a national Japan Rail Pass at ¥50,000 for 7 days. If you also want to use the Tokaido Shinkansen for fast Tokyo-Osaka access (e.g. you decide on the day to skip Hokuriku and just blast straight to Kyoto), the national pass gives you that flexibility. The Arch Pass forces the Hokuriku route, which is the entire point.
How JR-West passes compare to non-JR options
The cluster sibling here is the Kansai Thru Pass, which is the natural counterpart to JR-West regional passes. Kansai Thru is non-JR private rail across Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe, Wakayama and Koyasan: Hankyu, Keihan, Kintetsu, Nankai, Hanshin, plus most city subways and buses. JR-West passes don't cover any of those.
If your trip is heavily temple-focused in Kyoto and you're hitting Fushimi Inari (best on Keihan), Arashiyama (best on Hankyu), and going down to Nara (best on Kintetsu), the Kansai Thru is often the better pass than the Kansai Area. JR-West can get you to all those places too, but with a longer walk from the JR station to the temple. Most travellers who do a deep Kansai trip end up with both passes: a JR-West pass for the Shinkansen and intercity moves, a Kansai Thru for the dense Kyoto temple days.
The other comparison is the JR East Pass, which is the equivalent product for travellers focused on Tohoku, Hokkaido and the eastern half of the country. JR East and JR West each run their own regional pass families with no overlap: a JR-West pass doesn't cover Tohoku, a JR-East pass doesn't cover Hiroshima. The Hokuriku Arch Pass is the rare exception that spans the boundary, which is why JR East lists it on jreast.co.jp too.
Where to buy and what it costs you
Buy direct from the official site for the lowest price: westjr.co.jp. The buy-online-and-receive-in-Japan flow is straightforward and gets you the lowest tier price. Klook and Agoda both list JR-West passes at slightly higher prices but with their own customer service if you prefer dealing with a third party rather than the JR-West site directly.
Klook tends to bundle the activation voucher with WiFi rental or Kansai Airport pickup options, which can be useful if you're landing late and want to streamline the airport process. The Klook listings are at klook.com/jr-west-kansai-area-pass, klook.com/kansai-wide-area-pass, and klook.com/sanyo-sanin-area-pass.
The official redemption locations are listed on the same westjr.co.jp pass page. Kansai Airport Station has a Travel Service Center on the second floor of the rail terminal, open 05:30 to 23:00. Shin-Osaka Travel Service Center is on the second floor near the East Gate, 07:00 to 22:00. Kyoto, Osaka, Sannomiya, Hiroshima and Hakata all have similar centers; the one at Kyoto Station is on the second floor near the central gate.
What the data says about value
Pulling all this together: the JR-West regional passes are good value for any trip that stays west of Shin-Osaka. The breakeven is hit on a single round-trip Sanyo Shinkansen leg for the bigger passes, and on the airport transfer alone for the smaller Kansai Area pass. The Nozomi inclusion that the national Japan Rail Pass forbids is a quietly significant bonus that adds 25 to 50 minutes of free travel time on every Sanyo round trip.
The mistake to avoid: buying the national JR Pass for a trip that doesn't cross Shin-Osaka eastward. The right question to ask before clicking buy is whether you actually need the Tokaido Shinkansen. If yes, national pass. If no, JR-West regional. The geography of the trip dictates the answer; the price of the national pass since the October 2023 hike makes the wrong answer expensive.
If your trip mixes regions and a single pass doesn't fit, two passes back to back often do. The Kansai-Hiroshima at ¥17,000 plus a separate Tokaido Shinkansen Tokyo-Shin-Osaka ticket at ¥14,720 for one direction is ¥31,720, ¥18,000 less than a national JR Pass at ¥50,000, for a Tokyo-arrive, Tokyo-depart trip that includes Hiroshima. Pull the calculator out before you click.
Worth one final note: prices on the official site refresh in March most years. The Hokuriku Arch jump from ¥30,000 to ¥35,000 on 14 March 2026 is already announced. The Sanyo-San'in last bumped up from ¥20,000 to ¥23,000 in October 2023, which is why some older guides quote ¥20,000. Don't lock your pass choice in based on a number you read in a 2023 article. Verify on westjr.co.jp before you commit, and budget an extra ¥1,000 to ¥2,000 buffer if you're planning more than three months out.
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