Spring break for me means escaping the snow and cold of northern Japan for a week to find cherry blossoms and warmer weather south. As I’m always on the lookout for cheaper ways to travel, I decided to test out the Seishun 18 ticket this time. I wasn’t disappointed. I only wish I had discovered it sooner.

First off, I like riding trains, especially in countryside areas where I can have a seat and look out the window, so this ticket was perfect for my trip. It is basically an unlimited train pass for five days that anyone, resident or tourist in Japan, can buy. The current cost is only 11,850 yen for the five days, which beats all other transportation I’ve used so far to get to and from the Tokyo area. The catch is, it is only available at certain times of the year (check the JR website for more details), and you can only ride Japan Railway (JR) trains, with a couple exceptions, and only the slower ones that usually stop at every station with unreserved seating. But JR runs the majority of the train lines in Japan, especially on the route I was taking, and I had lots of extra time. So I took this chance to try something new.  

My journey with the Seishun 18 ticket started in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, because that is where the JR lines start if I want to go south of Aomori prefecture. I bought it at the みどりの窓口, or green ticket office, in Morioka Station, then set off on the Tohoku Main Line, passing through Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima, finally arriving at my destination: Utsunomiya in Tochigi Prefecture. Yes, it took all day, leaving Aomori around 5:30 AM and arriving in Utsunomiya at 6:30 PM. I had 10 to 50 minute breaks at major stations while I waited for the next train to take me farther south, so I had time to grab snacks from the convenience store or eat at bakeries along the way. Unrelated side note, but I love Japanese bakeries.

That journey from Morioka to Utsunomiya was only the first day of using the ticket. The five days do not need to be consecutive. This means I could use the ticket one day to get to an area, then get it stamped for another day a couple days later to get to my next destination. Since my eventual destination was Haneda Airport so I could fly to Ishigaki Island of Okinawa, I needed this flexibility. I spent a couple days in Tochigi, then used day two of the ticket to get down to Tokyo, visit a friend, and fly out of Haneda Airport. Day three was stamped five days later when I needed to get from Haneda Airport to Mito City in Ibaraki. Then days four and five consecutively followed as I made my slow way back to Morioka and Aomori.

Thanks to the Seishun 18, I was able to travel not only to Tokyo and Okinawa during spring break, but also visit places in Tochigi and Ibaraki. Check out Picture in Every Prefecture for the updated places! I have only 19 prefectures left to go. With this trip, I also proved to myself that I can get from Aomori to Tokyo using only local trains. Before I had only used buses, flights, and the Shinkansen. I didn’t even know if local trains existed the whole way.

So here are my tips for using the Seishun 18 ticket based on my experience:

• Use it when it is available (Japan’s spring, summer, and winter school breaks) if you have lots of time for travel. For long distances, it is certainly cost effective, if not as time effective as night buses, flights, or the Shinkansen.  

• Use it when traveling with a group of five people. I didn’t try this, but as long as you are all together and show it at the ticket gates, the ticket can be used by five people for one day (rather than one person for five days). You could get your group from Morioka to Tokyo (or anywhere else) in a day for 2370 yen per person (price as of April 2019).

• Use websites or apps that show train times, routes, and costs, and allow you to search with conditions such as only trains with unreserved seating. Also double-check that the trains are run by JR. You want to make sure you don’t plan your route with trains or buses that require you to buy a separate ticket. See my Travel Resources page for what I use to plan my trips.

• Give yourself time to get to your destination. Trains can become delayed, you may miss a train or get on the wrong train and have to backtrack, or other unexpected events could happen (like finding a delicious bakery or import foods store). Especially in the countryside of Japan, the last train or bus to your destination could be earlier than expected. Plan ahead.

• Keep luggage minimal. Especially when you are closer to large cities and the trains get crowded. I had to wait for the next train in Saitama because the first one that came didn’t have room for me to get on with my small carry-on suitcase. But since it was a major train line in Saitama, the next train came just eight minutes later and there was room on it.  

My last bit of advice is be flexible and keep your sense of adventure. You may want to get out and explore an area you are passing through before continuing on. Since this ticket has no destination marked on it, you can stop wherever you want and get back on again at no extra cost. Although I do love driving through the countryside in Japan, too, trains are still my favorite way to travel. Comment below if you have any questions or have used the ticket before. Please recommend your favorite routes using the Seishun 18 ticket. And check out my Travel Resources page for help planning your next adventure around Japan.

More Information:

Information on buying and using the Seishun 18 ticket: https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/seishun18.html
Tested resources for transportation around Japan: https://www.communicatejapan.com/travel-resources