Japan Cheap Travel By Train – Seishun 18 Kippu

If you are coming to visit Japan, there are two ways to ride the rails cheaply, one is the Japan Rail Pass which must be bought outside of Japan and gives you free use of Japan Railways managed trains and buses. The other is the seishun 18 kippu which is used by many people in Japan to travel during the school vacation periods.

The Seishun 18 Kippu is a great way to see Japan. If you’ve got time and you really want to see the people and local areas of Japan, the Seishun 18 Kippu (pronounced Seishun Juhachi Kippu) is the way to go.

Kippu is a good word to know. It means ticket and is generally used the same way as the English word.

The Seishun 18 Ticket then means Youth 18 Ticket. It was originally designed to appeal to high school graduates going on their graduation vacations, hence the 18, but there is no age limit.

Here’s how they work:

• The tickets cost 11,500 yen for five rides or days of riding.
• They are only available and valid for a short time before and during the Spring, Summer, and Winter vacations. 
• People of all ages can use them.
• Each ticket is valid for five rides.
• More than one person may use rides on a given ticket. (Meaning if two people use one ticket they can each ride twice and there will still be one ride left over.)
• Each ride is only one day. If you start riding on January 1st, and continue your trip on January 2nd, January 2nd will be your second ride. 
• One day is defined as beginning at midnight and ending at midnight. Osaka and Tokyo trains generally allow riders to ride until the last train which may depart slightly after midnight.
• Within a given day, you can get off and get on as much as you want. This is good if you have a lot of time to explore.
• You can use the information booths and station attendants to help you plan your trip. If you ask, they can help you figure out what trains to ride to get to your destination.
• You can only ride local trains, but express trains that can be ridden for no additional fair are also OK to ride. Some of these are quite fast.
• You can only use it on JR trains for the most part although you may find some lines related to JR that will allow you to ride.
• A few red-eye or moonlight trains may be used with the Seishun 18 Kippu. If you are interested, you may save some time and hotel expenses if you ask a JR attendant about this.
• When you ride, bring the ticket to the attendant in the booth. He will stamp the date on the ticket the first time you ride and check it each time you get off or get on after that.

It changes every year, but the Seishun 18 Tickets for Spring 2009 are available from February 20 to March 31. These tickets may be used between March 1 and April 10.

The Seishun 18 Kippu for Summer 2009 are available from July 1 to August 31 and may be used from July 20 to September 10.

The Winter Seishun Juhachi Kippu are will be on sale from December 1 to January 10, 2010. They can be used between December 10 and January 20, 2010.

The JR East page for the Seishun 18 Kippu is here. It’s in Japanese but if you don’t read Japanese yet, you can run it through Google Translate to get a general idea of what it says.

A big plus to this type of ticket is being able to get off and on at random tiny stations and just walk around “real” neighborhoods in Japan. It also gives you a good chance to see the people and the countryside.

Once when I took the Seishun 18 Kippu from Himeji in Hyogo Prefecture up to Shizuoka to stay at a business hotel near Mt. Fuji, I noticed several students who were taking the same route as me. You never know if you’re going to make some friends who are toughing through the same ride as you.

Also, if you have a question, feel free to ask something in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer!