Japan Rail Pass (You can freely take almost any train in Japan)

If you are interested in visiting Japan, the following information will be useful.

Have you ever heard of the "Japan Rail Pass"?

It's a kind of discount pass for railway in Japan, which enables you to take any Shinkansen(bullet train in Japan) or regular JR trains.
They offer 3 types of tickets, CA$360/ 7 days, CA$770/ 14 days, and CA$1100/ 21 days respectively*.
You may find that to be a little expensive but actually it's absolutely affordable and efficient. Of course if you plan to visit only Tokyo, it would be too expensive. But if you want to go to Tokyo and Kyoto, or Tohoku(the northern area), or Kyushu (the southern area), it would definitely pay itself off. Roughly speaking, the 7-day pass costs almost the same as going round-trip from Tokyo to Kyoto by Shinkansen. In addition, I want to emphasize that you can visit wherever you want by using this ticket, because the JR train system which includes the Shinkansen extends across Japan.
It doesn't require you to have a reservation, so this could free up your travel. If you hear about a hot spring in Kyushu, you can go to Kyushu the next day with the pass.

If I were to visit Hukuoka, Kagoshima, Okayama, Niigata, Yamagata and Tokyo in 7 days by Shinkansen, it would cost over CA$1000. I could save almost CA$700 if I had the pass, so I want it, but Japanese can't buy it!
I'm guessing it's probably because the pass isn't profitable for JR. I think the railway company receive subsidies from the government to offer the pass in order to encourage foreigners to visit Japan. It's a good deal, so you should take advantage of the pass when you visit Japan.

* The stronger the Canadian dollar gets, the more cost effective it is.

*CA$ Canadian dollar