About Nippon Passage

I worked for JR East for three years — not as an engineer, but in customer service at Tokyo Station. I answered the same questions every day: Which side for Mount Fuji? How do I get to the Nozomi platform? Is my JR Pass valid on this train?

After leaving JR, I spent two years riding every scenic railway line in Japan. All of them. The famous ones and the forgotten ones. The Hayabusa at 320 km/h and the Hisatsu Orange Railway at 40 km/h.

Nippon Passage is what I wish existed when I was a traveler — not a booking site, but a planning tool. Route maps that actually show the scenery. Station guides that tell you which exit to take. A calculator that answers the most common question: is the JR Pass worth it for my trip?

Every route on this site has been ridden by our team. Every station guide has been walked. Every price has been checked against the latest JR fare tables.