Contribution from Jessica Leong

SUICA + N’EX PACKAGE

SUICA CARD
The Suica card can be used to pay for JR East trains, the subway, the Tokyo monorail buses and for shopping—you can use it to buy things at vending machines, convenience stores, etc. The Suica card is a smart card that comes preloaded with 1500 yen and can be recharged an unlimited number of times. Bought alone the Suica card costs 2000 yen (1500 yen preloaded on the card + 500 yen deposit).

N’EX TICKET
Then Narita Express (N’EX) train ticket is used to travel from the Narita Airport to the Tokyo/Yokohama area. The N’EX ticket is also valid from any N’EX station (ie. Shinjuku) to other areas of Tokyo; therefore, we should be able to use it to get all the way to Senshu University. When bought alone, this ticket costs 3110 yen to get to Shinjuku station (by ordinary car).

SUICA & N’EX PACKAGE
Only people who hold a foreign passport are able to by the Suica & N’EX package together, and it saves you 1610 yen (if you are going to Shinjuku station). Instead of paying 5110 yen to get the Suica card and the N’EX ticket separately, you can buy them together at the airport for 3500 yen.

WHERE TO GET THE SUICA & N’EX PACKAGE
You can buy this package either at Terminal 1 or Terminal 2 at the Narita airport when you arrive to Japan. I think the only downside to this deal is that you can only use the N’EX ticket on the day you buy it. Therefore, you can’t use it to go in the opposite direction, for when you leave Tokyo. As far as I know, there isn’t a discount ticket to get back to the airport.
If you want to view more information about the Suica and N’EX package you can visit this site: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/suica-nex/index.html

JAPAN RAIL PASS
WHAT IS IT?
If you are interested in traveling around Japan, you can buy the Japan Rail Pass, which comes in three types: 7-days, 14-days or 21-days. It is great if you want to travel around Japan a lot or even if you need to make a round trip between cities. With the Japan rail pass you can travel on railways (including Shinkansens), buses and the Miyajima ferry (a ferry route between Miyajimaguchi, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima and Miyajima).

HOW MUCH IS IT?
Here is a list of the ticket prices available. The green cars are first class (for those of you who want to experience the luxury car!)

SOME DISADVANTAGES
Although I think this pass is great for some uses, there are some disadvantages to the Japan Rail Pass. For example, you can’t ride the “NOZOMI” trains on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines. However, this shouldn’t be a problem within the cities. Another disadvantage of this pass is that you must always carry your passport with you when you want to use it because it is for foreigners only and they may check for your passport at the gate.

WHERE TO GET IT
If you need to travel a lot around Japan (and not just within one city), then this pass will probably save you a lot of money. If you’re interested in getting the pass you have to buy it outside of Japan. So buy it before you leave for Japan!!! In Calgary, you can get it at Nippon Travel (#104,1011 - 1st Street S.W). Here you can buy an ‘exchange order’, which you can then exchange for the Japan Rail Pass once you are in Japan. You don’t need to activate the pass right away—just for when you need it. And it can be activated at various train stations.
For more details on where to activate the pass and how to use the pass you can visit http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en001.html which provides a lot of information.