"peter" <peter@harumi.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message news:<c8f4f4$31t$1@news6.svr.pol.co.uk>...
> My family and I will come to Japan this August for five weeks (staying with
> relatives)
> What is the cheapest way to get around?
> We have four kids so we thought some kind of rail pass might be good as we
> don't want to drive.  And, since we have limited means, the train could be
> the best way to go.
> Any ideas? We will be in the Kansai area.
> 
There are regional passes that you might take advantage of, and
there's the national rail pass. You might want to look at the
newsgroup rec.travel.asia and search for travel in Japan to get some
good ideas and some good links.

If you have an idea where you want to go, use
<www.Hyperdia.com/cgi-English> to get point-to-point prices to see if
the rail pass makes sense. Usually it does, but again it depends on
what you're doing. For example, if you're staying in Kyoto and plan on
visiting Osaka, Himeji, or as far as Hiroshima or Tokyo then a rail
pass definitely makes sense. If you're just staying in Kyoto, maybe
not. The national-coverage rail pass is available in 7- 14- and 21-day
varieties, with no flex pass option; the Kansai regional pass (there's
also one for West Japan that would cover Hiroshima) come in different
varieties that are shorter and include flex passes.

Again, a lot depends on what you're doing and where you're going. It
might be cheaper to rent a car in certain situations since you have
six (correct?) people needing train tickets. But cars are not very
practical for a tourist in an urban area unless you're familiar with
the area, are comfortable driving in Japan (very narrow roads, driving
on the left, lots of traffic, etc.) and know where you're going.

John W.