In this study, a deterministic mathematical model involving the transmission dynamics of Japanese encephalitis (JE) is presented and studied. The biologically feasible equilibria and their stability properties have been discussed. This study investigates a series of solutions to the system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) in the transmission dynamics of JE. To get approximate series solutions of the JE model, we employed the differential transform method (DTM) and variational iteration method (VIM). DTM utilizes the transformed function of the original JE model, while VIM uses the general Lagrange multiplier to develop the correction functional for the JE model. The results show that the VIM solution is more accurate than the DTM solution for short intervals of time. In addition, the fractional compartmental model of JE is briefly discussed. We illustrated the profiles of the solutions of each of the compartments, from which we found that the fourth‐order Runge–Kutta method solutions are more accurate than the DTM and VIM solutions for long intervals of time.