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If you’re the students who live in Japan, maybe you can’t wait for a long summer vacation coming soon.
Do you know “Seishun 18 pass”? This is very reasonable price train pass and very useful for traveling in Japan.
If you haven’t decided yet your plan for summer coming this year,
how about travelling around Japan by train with Seishun 18 pass?
Here are the 5 details of what exactly Seishun 18 pass is and how you can use it for trip with reasonable.

1. What is Seishun 18 pass?

Seishun 18 pass is reasonable free train pass you can buy from JR Line in limited terms.
If you buy this pass, you can have unlimited ride for a day.

□What is origin of this name?
“Seishun” mean as teenage, students.
“18” mean as growing increasingly successful. Because the shape of the kanji 8 looks like spreading wide toward the future,   which is believed as a symbol of prosperity in Japan. The number 18 is used for 18 years old as teenager.

□Who can buy the pass?
There is no limited age for buying this pass. You may think only 18 years old people can affordable from the pass name but everybody can.
However, the price is across the board even for the kids so no special discounts for the elementary or nursery kids.

□What’s the price and where we can buy the pass?
Price:
11,850 yen for one pass (5 times available)/Person.
Whenever in use period, you can use the pass in different date.

Where:
・JR ticket office
・Reservation ticket machine
・JTB ( major tour company)

Basically, you can buy the pass at JR ticket office in other words, what we call the name as Midorino-Madoguchi in Japanese.
You can’t buy this pass after you get in the train so keep in mind to buy it in advance.

□Can we use the pass for all kinds of trains?
■Acceptable:
・JR line only with local, rapid, express, limited express and commuters limited express
・BRT (Bus Rapid Transit)
・JR West Miyajima Ferry

■Unacceptable
・JR line with first-class car with reservation seat
・Sleeping express
・Shinkansen (bullet train)
・Bus
・Any other line of JR

2. When you can buy the pass?

You can’t buy this pass everyday like buying normal train tickets. JR sales in limited terms every year.
The date will be different depends on the year so it will be safe to check the term every year.
They sale 3 terms of Spring, Summer and Winter which considered for holidays and here is the information for 2017 as follows:

□Spring Season
Sale Period: 2017/Feb/20th ～2017/March/31st
Use Period: 2017/March/1st ～2017/April/10th

□Summer Season
Sale Period: 2017/July/1st～2017/Aug/31st
Use Period: 2017/July/20th ～2017/Sept/10th

□Winter Season
Sale Period: 2017/Dec/1st～2017/Dec/31st
Use Period: 2017/Dec/10th ～2018/Jan/10th

※Important Reminder
You can buy Seishun 18 pass as much as you want since there is no limited number for sale.
However, the end of sale period date is quite close to the end of use period date,
so you must be careful buying the pass as early as possible not missing the date you want to use that pass.

3.  How to check the pass at the station?

Normally you get through the automatic ticket gate at the station in Japan.
However, when you use Seishun 18 pass, you need the date stamp from the station attendant.
There is a blanc space on the pass for date stamp to proof you get through properly the ticket gate.
Once you get date stamp on that day, you just show the pass at every station and no need for date stamp from each station.
This pass is not acceptable for automatic ticket gate at any stations.

4. What is the useful way for the pass?

You can use this pass 5 times for one ticket whenever you want in acceptable term.
You can use 5 times by yourselves or 5 people including you for only one pass.
However, you must be careful that if you travel around including your friends for one pass,
all of you must be get together if you all go pass through the ticket gate.
If one person is late and need to join afterwards, it’s not acceptable.
If you share with other people for one day trip everywhere by using train,
each person payment will be 2,370 yen so don’t you think it’s very reasonable price than buying train tickets every time to transfer other lines?

5. How to make nice trip with the pass?

Even you can go anywhere free for this pass, there are several points you should keep in mind.
Time limit is only one day so let’s make your trip very comfortable avoiding unnecessary tiredness!

□Try to be on the platform and in a line by 10 minutes early before the train leaves.
Standing all the time in the train makes you tired more than you think.
If you want to sit on the train, try to be the first one to get in the train to get seat.

□Prepare the time schedule to transfer the other lines.
If you want to travel far away from Tokyo and need some transfer to get there, try not to make too tight schedule for transfer.
Rushing all the time for the next train gets tired and it’s also little difficult to get seats.

□Try to choose to get in the last train car
Many people try to get in the train car which is near the exit on the platform for trying to save the time.
This makes normally that train car very crowded even it’s not the commuter rush hours.
If you avoid that train car, people don’t try to get in or out the train so often so you can have your own seats quite easily.

Hope you can imagine for your own trips with Seishun 18 pass now.
Not only going far away by train but you can also stop by the place you’re interested in everywhere for a day.
How about asking your friends for this magical train pass and plan for the long vacation?
Have a nice trip!

YAE
Japan