Seishun 18 miscellany

[bikkuri bahn]

With regular forumer gmat as well as miyakoji recently mentioning the JR group's discount rover ticket seishun 18 kippu, though I would chime in about this useful travel tool.  With most visitors to Japan using the Japan railpass, the s18 is probably not familiar to them, but to residents of Japan unable to use the railpass, it remains the most accessible and wide ranging way to get around by rail, albeit only if you're not in a hurry and are simpatico with the restricted use dates (holiday periods).  At 11,500 yen for five days worth of travel on local stopping trains as well as rapids, it's a good deal.  I find it useful for travel on the main lines, where the locals are frequent and relay transfers between them are reasonably convenient (i.e. the Sanyo Line between Okayama and Shimonoseki), but it's less useful on the lines in more sparsely settled regions or where distances between stations are great (i.e. Hokkaido), which requires some planning and a good timetable handy.  I used to use the s18 for a good portion of my railfanning outside the Kanto region, but I admit I haven't recently, relying more on the shinkansen, as it gets me to more places quickly to catch the last runs of old rolling stock (a trend that seems to be accelerating), and certain shinkansen trains themselves are being retired (like the 300 series), which makes me want to splurge on a "super express" ticket.  Another good thing about the s18 is that it allows you to get on and off trains at will, even in urban areas, something not possible with shorter distance single ride tickets.

[gmat]

I guess that you couldn't just pay the express fee to ride the express trains like the Azusa or Super View Odoriko.

The two day Weekend Holiday pass for 8,700 yen does.

You can ride the Moonlight Shinshu, though.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[miyakoji]

I guess that you couldn't just pay the express fee to ride the express trains like the Azusa or Super View Odoriko.

The two day Weekend Holiday pass for 8,700 yen does.

You can ride the Moonlight Shinshu, though.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

Grant, yeah, as I recall they won't let you use the seishun 18 as the basic fare ticket and then just charge you for the express fare, seat reservation, bed, etc.  There are some exceptions where there are no local trains.  This wikitravel link covers it accurately, I think, but you should confirm: http://wikitravel.org/en/Seishun_18_Ticket

 

A great and cheap way to prepare for a seishun 18 trip, or perhaps more importantly get ideas for different trips, is one of the several books that are published.  Some are updated each season to reflect timetable changes.  One example is Otona no Seishun Juuhachi no Tabi published by Gakken http://hon.gakken.jp/magazine/2702888042 .  That's the one for this season's seishun 18.  I have an edition of this from last year.  It first lays out an itinerary to travel all they way around Honshu in 5 days (so, one full ticket).  Then it has numerous plans for shorter regional journeys.  There's information about hotels, sightseeing from the train and at layovers, and local specialty food, both as ekiben and outside the station in regular restaurants.  This one is basically a magazine and is only 840 yen with tax, so I'd just go buy one  .  There are also paperback-size books, like this one http://calil.jp/book/486320471X published by Ikaros who also publishes J-Train magazine.  I had a copy of this, I think I prefer the Gakken publication, but it's an option.

[gmat]

Thanks Miyakoji. My trips are very budget conscious so no hotels nor sightseeing. Just interested in shooting the trains. I'm thinking about taking a sleeping bag to spend the night at some halfway station and would really like to get a folding bike to shoot the trains from outside the stations.

 

If it's anything in Japanese, I won't be able to read most of it, I'm afraid. But I'll take a look at the gakken for ideas. I get some ideas for destinations from the chatter here at JNS. The Gakunan trip was one. Some of my destinations come from looking at a rail map of the mid-Kanto area and some from the spur of the moment, especially if I miss a connection. I think that I'm going to follow BikkuriBahn and cover the Boso Peninsula. First off should be Tokawa.

 

Best wishes,

Grant