20 years ago I was in Japan with a prepurchased tourist train pass. It worked on all non-local trains, including regional and Shinkansen, and all the JR local trains in Tokyo.
Compared to what I'm reading in the link and in this thread, it was ridiculously easy, except perhaps the initial awareness of its availability, buying it, and getting it stamped by customs to prove I was in fact a tourist.
All I did every time I wanted to travel was go to a train station ticket counter with an English speaking agent, show the pass, tell them where I want to go, and they'd print physical tickets. In effect this bypassed all the friction discussed here.
I have no idea what this pass was called or if there's still an equivalent today. My recollection was it was time limited. It had an activation date on arrival and was good for a set number of days decided on in advance, which formed the basis of the cost. I remember thinking it was ridiculously cheap. I might have paid $300 for a 21-day pass?
Compared to what I'm reading in the link and in this thread, it was ridiculously easy, except perhaps the initial awareness of its availability, buying it, and getting it stamped by customs to prove I was in fact a tourist.
All I did every time I wanted to travel was go to a train station ticket counter with an English speaking agent, show the pass, tell them where I want to go, and they'd print physical tickets. In effect this bypassed all the friction discussed here.
I have no idea what this pass was called or if there's still an equivalent today. My recollection was it was time limited. It had an activation date on arrival and was good for a set number of days decided on in advance, which formed the basis of the cost. I remember thinking it was ridiculously cheap. I might have paid $300 for a 21-day pass?