JR Pass

If you want to travel to lots of cities you should get the JR Pass. You can use the Shinkansen for free and get easily to lots of cities. You should buy them before, but as far as I know not earlier than 3 months before you want to use it, otherwise it expires. There are lots of sites where you can buy them from:

• https://www.jrailpass.com/
• https://www.jrpass.com/
• https://japanrailpass.net/

There are also some regional ones which are cheaper. I never used them myself, but could also be nice if you plan to only travel a specific area in Japan.

When you order it you only get something you’ll have to use at a designated ticket office in Japan to get the actual JR Pass ticket. Here is a list of where you can exchange it.

Suica

To comfortable use the trains I recommend getting a Suica (IC card) at the train station. You can charge it with money and just have to touch the gates with it to easily use trains without having to get train tickets all the time. It’s also slightly cheaper than buying tickets.

It costs 500 ¥ to get the card, but it’s a deposit you’ll get back if you decide to return it at the end of your vacation. Returning it will cost 220 ¥, though.

Due to a shortage of IC chips there are currently no IC cards sold, but you can get temporary usable “Welcome Suica” cards. Check this site for more information.