Japan Rail Scraper — JR, Shinkansen & Metro Timetables

Query Japan's national and metropolitan rail network for point-to-point journeys or station departure boards. Covers JR, Shinkansen, private railways, and metro lines across the country — returning fares, IC card prices, seat fees, JR Pass eligibility, and segment-level operator data. Hyperdia was the dominant English-language Japan rail journey planner until it shut down public access in 2022; this actor fills that gap.

What does the Japan Rail Scraper do?

• Journey search mode — Returns route options between any two Japanese stations with fares, IC card rates, seat fees, Shinkansen flags, JR Pass eligibility, and segment breakdowns
• Station board mode — Returns upcoming departures from a single station with train type, destination, operator, and platform
• Covers JR, Shinkansen, Toei, Tokyo Metro, Osaka Metro, Kintetsu, Hankyu, and all major private operators
• Returns both Japanese and romanised station names
• Uses Japan-based residential proxies to access the source API reliably

What data does it extract?

Journey search fields (mode: journey_search)

Field	Description
mode	journey_search
route_id	Unique route identifier
origin_station	Origin station name (Japanese)
origin_station_en	Origin station name (romanised)
origin_line	Departure line at origin
destination_station	Destination station name (Japanese)
destination_station_en	Destination station name (romanised)
destination_line	Arrival line at destination
departure_time	Scheduled departure time (HH:MM)
arrival_time	Scheduled arrival time (HH:MM)
duration_minutes	Total travel time in minutes
transfers	Number of transfers
segments	Array of legs: operator, train type, departure station, arrival station, times
total_fare_yen	Total cash fare in yen
ic_card_fare_yen	IC card (Suica/PASMO) fare in yen
seat_fee_yen	Reserved seat surcharge in yen
distance_km	Total distance in kilometres
train_type	Primary train type for the route
train_name	Named train service (e.g. Nozomi, Hikari)
operator	Primary operator
operator_type	Operator category (JR, private, metro, etc.)
is_shinkansen	Whether the route uses Shinkansen services
jr_pass_eligible	Whether a JR Pass covers this route
source_url	Source URL for this result
scraped_at	Scrape timestamp (ISO 8601)

Station board fields (mode: station_board)

All journey search fields above, plus:

Field	Description
direction	Departure direction or line terminus
station_id	Station identifier code

How to use it

For journey search, provide origin and destination as romanised station names (e.g. Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto). For station board, provide the station name. Set date and time to query a specific departure window; leave empty for the next available departures.

Field	Type	Default	Description
mode	string	journey_search	journey_search or station_board
origin	string	—	Origin station name (romanised). Required for journey_search.
destination	string	—	Destination station name (romanised). Required for journey_search.
station	string	—	Station name for departure board. Required for station_board.
date	string	today	Date in YYYY-MM-DD. Empty = today.
time	string	now	Departure time in HH:MM. Empty = current time.
includeShinkansen	boolean	true	Include Shinkansen routes in journey search results
maxItems	integer	10	Maximum route options or departures to return (max 500)
proxyConfiguration	object	JP residential	Japan-based residential proxies — required for source API access

Use cases

• Tourism and travel planning — Japan is on track for 60 million annual tourists by 2030; travel agencies and booking platforms need reliable rail fare and route data to build Japan itinerary tools without reverse-engineering the HAFAS API.
• JR Pass route optimization — Filter routes where jr_pass_eligible: true to help travellers determine which journeys are covered and calculate pass break-even points against individual ticket costs.
• Transit comparison and research — Query the same city-pair across different times of day to compare duration_minutes, transfers, and ic_card_fare_yen across route options.
• Shinkansen data feeds — Pull all Shinkansen services between major hub cities (is_shinkansen: true) for integration into travel apps, fare comparison tools, or rail price monitoring dashboards.
• Academic transport research — Build a dataset of fare-per-km ratios across private vs JR operators, or study the frequency and timing of departures from major interchange stations using station board mode.

FAQ

What happened to Hyperdia? Hyperdia was the leading English-language Japan rail search tool used by tourists and researchers worldwide. It shut down its public consumer product in 2022 citing data licensing costs. This actor provides equivalent journey data with English station names and JR Pass eligibility flags.

Can I get IC card fares vs cash fares? Yes. Every journey search result includes both total_fare_yen (cash fare) and ic_card_fare_yen (Suica/PASMO rate). The IC rate is typically 1–5% lower than cash on most JR routes.

Do I need to enter station names in Japanese? No. Use romanised station names (e.g. Shin-Osaka, Nagoya, Hakata). Major stations are recognised by their English spellings. For smaller regional stations, the Japanese station name in romaji works reliably.

Results are available for export in JSON, CSV, and Excel formats from the Apify dataset tab.

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Further reading: How to Get Airbnb Data, Hotel Prices, and Transit Feeds in Bulk