Why the Hokuriku Arch Pass
This trip, I decided to try the Hokuriku Arch Pass and Kansai Wide Area Pass. Usually people get the National JR Pass and that gives almost unlimited access to JR trains, including the Shinkansen (Nozomi and Mizuho Shinkansen trains). While you can use this pass to go everywhere that is JR, often times people focus on the “Golden Route”, which focuses on Tokyo to Osaka/Kyoto. This is the most common route with this pass. With the cost increase, it seems that the 7 day pass isn’t worth it if you are only going to that route.
I usually get the national JR pass and use it to do my personal Golden Route (which includes Nagoya, Kawagoe, Tochigi, Takamatsu, Fukuoka and Shizuoka on top of the Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto) with a couple days to go explore other places, taking advantage of that unlimited JR access.
Everything has changed as the price increased in October 2023 to be over double of the cost. A 7 day pass is now 50,000 yen, when the price of a 14 day pass BEFORE the increase was 47,000 yen.
UPDATE – The pass is now known as the Osaka-Tokyo Hokuriku Arch Pass.
Hokuriku Arch Pass
After the increase, people have decided to use the more regional passes. I was one of those that decided to use this. In my last 8 trips, I have always moved region to region because I love exploring and meeting up with friends in different areas. That means I usually don’t use regional passes.
This trip, I decided to try the Hokuriku Arch Pass and Kansai Wide Area Pass. The Hokuriku Arch Pass will give me access to move between Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto with cities that I usually don’t go to. This route has access to Nagano (station only) and I have friends in that region I wanted to meet with.
The Hokuriku Arch Pass gave me access to the main Shinkansen stations before Toyama, but nothing outside of that. Going to Matsumoto, Komoro and Joetsu cities… I had to pay out of pocket.
The other hitch, which is a big deal, is when you get to Tsuruga station. This is where the Shinkansen terminates and to access Kansai is done by Limited Express Thunderbird (Kyoto/Osaka) or Limited Express Shirasagi (Shiga). *You have a limit of 6 times you can use a reserve seat.
When you get off, you immediately head to either platform of the respective Express train. The snag is, these trains are RESERVE SEATS ONLY. So when you get off, you immediately have to get to the limited ticket machines available. If there is a small line, which I experienced, I ended up missing that train and had to wait an hour.
Another hitch is that you cannot use the Shinkansen between Kyoto station and Osaka.
While the Hokuriku Arch Pass is really good for the price, I would hope just a bit more access to local lines before Toyama. If it had a bit more flexibility, I think it would be worth it to people that really want to explore that area before heading to Osaka and Kyoto. I know that the main focus is Hokuriku region, which is Toyama, Fukui and Kanazawa.
I didn’t use this pass in Tokyo besides the Narita Express between Narita airport and Tokyo station. Looking at the limited stations on the JR website, while it doesn’t show the stations in detail, it shows that it covers all of the Yamanote line (loop line) with a few extension outside and within the loop line. I mapped out the stations and I have to say, it is pretty good coverage.
When I used the Hokuriku Arch Pass in Osaka, I used it on all the Osaka Loop Line stations and Namba station. There were other stations in Osaka and Kobe that could be reached with the Hokuriku Arch Pass.
I did use the pass on the Shiga side of Lake Biwa with no issues. The local line, rapid express.. no issues at all. Between Kyoto and Osaka, no problems using the rapid and local service train. I used my Hokuriku Arch Pass to go around Osaka when I arrived and for an extra day.
Besides those hitches aforementioned, especially the Tsuruga station transfer, it’s not that bad of an option. The criticisms for the pass not covering some of the local lines that are before Toyama aren’t a big deal, but it would make people want to use the pass if they knew they could spend time in Nagano and have access to going to Matsumoto, which is a popular destination.
To be honest, people typically want to go from Tokyo to Kyoto/Osaka. Giving this option does bring people to the region and gives exploration to this side of Japan that isn’t as busy. That will in turn bring tourism to those areas. The more people find out how great the other areas are, the more word will spread.
What stations does the Hokuriku Arch Pass cover?
Going by the JR guide and Navitime, I was able to verify the stations that were covered by the HAP. If you wanted to take a slower route from Tokyo station to Takasaki, you could take the regular train instead of the Hokuriku Shinkansen.
I was kind of impressed that Tokyo’s Yamanote line (which is a loop) and Osaka’s Loop line stations are covered with the HAP with a few more additional stations in both cities. Again, why not add some local lines along the Hokuriku Arch path.
Conclusion
This pass worked great for this recent trip. While I do find the issues I mentioned to be annoyances, I actually had a good time using it. Being complacent with the JR Pass, made me just go where I wanted to. If I didn’t feel I needed to go to areas, I wouldn’t go. The Hokuriku Arch pass made me look at how I could use the pass to explore. I did explore places I would never have gone. That I am very thankful for. Now I have a better idea of how to go about regionally.