 Japan Rail Travel
Seishun Juhachi Kippu I Night Trains
The Seishun Juhachi Kippu
I'd like to let you in on one of Japan's best kept travel secrets - the Seishun Juhachi Kippu.
This literally translates as "Youth 18 Ticket" but there are no age restrictions on its use. It is perhaps the most interesting and certainly the best value way to travel on Japan's extensive rail network. Here's the deal.
For 11,500 yen you get a ticket entitling you to 5 days of unlimited travel on all JR services including night trains but excluding limited express and Shinkansen services. That's five separate 24-hour periods of travel on all local trains throughout Japan.
You don't have to book when you want to travel, you just have to turn up to any JR station and get your ticket stamped with the date at the barrier. If there is more than one of you travelling, you can use one ticket as long as there are enough unused portions of the ticket remaining. Thus, on one ticket, one person can travel for five days and 2 people could five travel for 2 days with one day left over. You can buy the Seishun Juhachi Kippu at any JR station. The major disadvantage is that this ticket is only valid during certain times of the year as shown below.
Period |
On Sale |
Valid |
| Spring |
February 20 - March 31 |
March 1 - April 10 |
| Summer |
July 1 - August 31 |
July 20 - September 10 |
| Winter |
December 10 - January 10 |
December 20 - January 20 |
To plan your trip call the superb JR East Infoline (03 0423 0111). They have all the timetables at their fingertips and speak excellent English. They will be able to give you a number of alternatives to help you minimise your transfer time.
Of course, tourists are also eligible for the Japan Rail Pass which already entitles you to unrestricted use of all JR services including the Shinkansen. The catch is that a 7-day pass it is more than twice the price, making a Seishun Juhachi Kippu an option well worth considering for the budget traveller.
Why it's worth using the Seishun Juhachi Kippu
Apart from saving you money on your transportation costs, there are other good reasons to travel with the Seishun Juhachi Kippu.
You tend to meet more people, mainly Japanese students and foreign residents of Japan, doing exactly the same as you. This is especially true if you stay at youth hostels along the way.
It encourages you to be more adventurous when planning your itinerary. Since you can't use the Shinkansen, it is as easy to get to Kanazawa as it is to Kyoto, thereby giving you the perfect opportunity to get off the beaten track.
Slow can be interesting! Many local trains take scenic routes through the countryside and along the coast. From Tokyo to Osaka, local trains give you a lot longer to see Mt. Fuji than the Shinkansen!
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Night trains
Night trains are a great way to cover long distances when you are travelling on the Seishun Juhachi Ticket with the added advantage that they leave you with the following day to explore your destination or continue your journey even further.
Night train tickets need to be reserved at a cost of 500 yen per person in addition to one day of your Seishun Juhachi ticket. Tickets go on sale at 10am, one month before the day the train departs. You can reserve seats at the ticket offices of any major JR railway station. Reservations for more popular routes (*) tickets sell out quickly, sometimes within hours of going on sale. For more details call the JR East Infoline on 03 3423 0111.
Moonlight Nagara*
Tokyo - Nagoya - Ogaki
Moonlight Echigo*
Tokyo - Nigata - Murakami
Midnight* Hakodate - Sapporo
Moonlight Kyushu
Kyoto - Osaka - Hakata (Fukuoka)
Moonlight Sanyo
Kyoto - Osaka - Hiroshima
Moonlight Kochi Kyoto - Osaka - Kochi
Moonlight Matsuyama
Kyoto - Osaka - Matsuyama
Moonlight Yaegaki
Kyoto - Osaka - Matsue - Izumo
NB. Because the Seishun Juhachi Ticket is valid from midnight to midnight, to use a night train you need to do one of two things:
either
1. Buy a ticket for as far as the first station where the train stops after midnight,
or
2. Use up two days on your Seishun Juhachi Ticket.
 The Japanese rail system is second to none in the world for efficiency, as is attested to by what in any other country is the impossible feat of running the trains on time, all the time.
Trains are frequent, usually fairly new and comfortable, accidents are extremely rare, and ticketing is straightforward. However, station staff know little more English than numbers, and to the foreign traveler there are pitfalls. Here are 14 useful tips if you’re traveling by rail in Japan.
1. Consider buying a Japan Rail pass if you will using the trains in Japan for more than a week. (NB These are not available in Japan and must be reserved within 3 months of intended use. See Japan Rail pass information at the end of this article.)
2. If you will be in the same city for more than a few days and plan on using the subway a lot, buy a 1000, 3000 or 5000 yen subway pass, depending on how much you expect to be using it. You will save a lot of time spent otherwise calculating fares, stopping at vending machines, and fiddling with small change. (CAUTION: unused portions of these cards are not refundable. However, shortfalls in the amount remaining can be made with cash at the fare adjustment machine just inside the ticket wicket. Also, if your card is nearly finished, you can simply buy another card, put them on top of each other, and insert them in one of the ticket wickets - usually the one(s) nearest the station attendant’s booth - especially designed to take two. The new card will automatically make up for any shortfall in the old card.)
3. Buy any snacks or other items you may want while traveling beforehand at a convenience store. Stores inside stations are generally more expensive, especially for bento (i.e. traditional boxed lunches). However, while more expensive, station bentos are often better quality.
4. If possible, always carry a memo with the name of your destination and the name of the line it is on written in Japanese characters. Handing a piece of paper to station staff is a lot less traumatic for both parties than trying to exchange foreign tongues.
5. Locate the fare to your destination on one of the fare charts posted above the ticket vending machines. Sometimes these charts can be confusing. On occasions there may even be more than one showing different information. You may have trouble locating the right chart, or even finding your station on the correct chart if there are no English transliterations. If so, show your destination to the station staff and ask ‘ee-koo-ra?’ (‘How much?’). Staff can also be summoned by pressing the (usually) red ‘Call’ button located on each ticket vending machine. 
6. Insert your ticket in the ticket wicket opening and take it back out as you pass through. When exiting, insert your ticket in the ticket wicket and pass through. Paper tickets do not come back out when you’re exiting the ticket wicket; commuter passes and rail passes do.
7. Take careful note of where you keep your ticket. Do not lose it. Not only will you need it when you exit your destination station, but a guard may wish to see it, particularly if you're in a reserved seat.
8. Especially when traveling on local trains, calculate the number of stations you will stop at before reaching your destination, and keep a careful count when traveling. Many Japanese station platforms are sparsely signposted, most local trains do not have electronic in-carriage displays, and station announcements are often too brief and muffled to catch. A line information chart with the stations laid out is posted above at least one of the doors in each car.
9. Also, as much as possible, try to find out beforehand what train you can transfer to, if any, to speed your journey up. A combination of local and express trains will save you time, but knowing where to change and what train to transfer to is crucial. You can ask the station staff ‘No-ree ka-eh ga aree-mas-ka?’ (‘Are there any transfers?’)
10. Allow a couple of minutes to find the right departure platform. The information you need will usually be posted on an electronic bilingual bulletin board above the main ticket wicket. However, stations can be mazelike, are not always well signposted, station staff may be busy with other passengers meaning you’ll have to wait a little to enquire – if you have to. In other words, give yourself time.
11. Even once you get to the platform that staff have directed you to, confirm it by checking the platform bulletin board or by showing the name of your destination to staff on the platform, or to other passengers. This is because staff can sometimes get flustered when dealing with foreigners and sometimes make mistakes.
12. Allow plenty of time for changing trains. If you’re lucky the line you’re changing to will be on the adjacent platform; however be prepared to follow signs (hoping they don’t ‘fade out’ as they occasionally do) for up to 5 minutes, sometimes more, often up and down several flights of stairs.
13. Pushing and shoving is par for the course on crowded trains. Don’t take it personally or let it faze you. As with anywhere, a polite attitude gets a polite attitude back.
14. Put any backpacks up on the luggage rack, especially in crowded trains.
Book A JR Rail Pass Here
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