The Seishun 18 Ticket (青春１８きっぷ Seishun jūhachi kippu) is a discount rail ticket offered by Japan's JR network. When available (three times a year), it is easily the cheapest way to get around Japan, costing only ¥11,500 for five days of unlimited travel.

JR argues that "in general, the Japan Rail Pass offers a much better deal to almost all foreign travelers." However, the two are hardly comparable for a number of reasons. The Japan Rail Pass, which offers unlimited travel on almost all JR trains for a 7, 14, or 21-day period, caters to tourists who are planning to visit various points in Japan, and who want to save as much time as possible along the way. It costs much more than the Seishun 18 Ticket, but allows holders to use express and Shinkansen trains that can be many times as fast.

The Seishun 18 Ticket, on the other hand, caters to budget conscious travelers who are willing to sacrifice speed for the ability to get just about anywhere in the country for under ¥5,000. In fact, its name literally means "Youth 18," and its main target audience is college students. However, anyone can purchase the ticket, regardless of age, student status, or nationality.

Using the ticket

The ticket is actually five one-day passes condensed onto a single piece of ticket stock. When using the ticket for the first time, the passenger presents it at the manned ticket gate, and the employee on hand stamps the ticket, making it valid on every non-express JR train until midnight. After midnight, the ticket becomes invalid unless it is stamped again. The ticket has spaces for five stamps, after which it is invalid.

More than one person can travel on the same ticket: each of the five spaces on the ticket allows one person to ride for one day. For instance, if two passengers were using the ticket, the ticket would be stamped twice; at the end of the day, both passengers could use the ticket for another day and have one stamp space left over, or one of the passengers could use the ticket for three days. Likewise, a group of five could travel for one day on a single ticket.

The ticket cannot be used on super express, limited express, express or sleeper trains, including any train on the Shinkansen network. This is the main catch to the ticket, and the main reason why many travellers may prefer to use the Japan Rail Pass. When using the Seishun 18 Ticket, you are restricted to local (普通 futsū), rapid (快速 kaisoku) and super/special rapid (新快速 shin-kaisoku) trains, which are designed for regional trips, not cross-country travel. Traveling from Tokyo to Kyoto, for instance, takes as little as two and a half hours on the Shinkansen, but takes nine hours on rapid trains. The upshot to this is that you can stop in various towns along the way: taking a full day to travel from Tokyo to Kyoto, you would have enough time to visit Odawara, Nagoya, and other cities along the Tokaido Line. Using overnight trains can also help dull the effect, and possibly save on lodging expenses (see below).

There are a few exceptions to the above rule, which allow passengers to travel across two areas that have no local rail service. In both cases, the Seishun 18 Ticket can only be used to travel in non-reserved cars between the designated stations.:

• Limited expresses on the Tsugaru-Kaikyo Line between Kikonai and Kanita stations; this is a very useful exception because it allows Seishun 18 holders to cross between the main island of Honshu and the northern island of Hokkaido through the world's longest undersea tunnel, the Seikan Tunnel.
• Limited expresses on the Sekisho Line between Shintoku and Shin-yubari, part of the route between Sapporo and Obihiro in Hokkaido.
• Some other express trains in remote areas may also be ridden for the price of a seat reservation. Typically, this is around 250 yen, and would be noted in the timetable books.

The JR ferry between Hiroshima and Miyajima is covered by the ticket, but JR buses are not.

Availability

Seishun 18 tickets are effective during Japan's three major school holiday periods, which are generally as follows:

The tickets must be purchased from a JR ticket window (みどりの窓口 midori no madoguchi).

Usage

Most Japanese people using a Seishun 18 ticket consult a national railway timetable to determine which trains to take and which connections to make. For tourists who can't read Japanese, the best alternative is the Hyperdia website, which provides electronic railway, airline, and bus schedules for the entire country in both English and Japanese. (Be sure to uncheck the boxes for Shinkansen, limited express, and express trains before running your search, or else your itinerary will probably include trains that you can't take with the Seishun 18 ticket.)

Daytime use

Tokaido Line

The Tokaido Line is undoubtedly the easiest line to travel with a Seishun 18 ticket, and probably one of the most convenient for tourists because it forms the shortest link between Tokyo and the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto-Nara region. Rapid service trains run every 15 minutes or so during the day, making it easy to take breaks en route without running over schedule. It takes about nine hours to get from Tokyo to Kyoto: this requires four transfers along the way, in Atami, Toyohashi, Ogaki, and Maibara (the last transfer is to the Biwako Line, which connects the Tokaido Line to Kyoto).

Chuo Line

Tohoku Line

Sanyo Line

Travelling to Hokkaido

To travel to Hokkaido, you must change to a limited express, the Hakucho or Super Hakucho, between Kikonai and Kanita. The train is only covered by the Seishun 18 if you ride in a non-reserved seat, and is only covered for the segment between Kikonai and Kanita. Some sample itineraries based around the schedule (note that there are more trains bound for Kikonai, because more trains in the other direction do not stop):

Be warned that the train schedules in northern Japan, particularly in Hokkaido, are rather scant, and that the lines north of Aomori usually have fewer than ten local trains per day. You'll want to use a timetable like Hyperdia to plan your itinerary, or else you may end up stuck en route for several hours, or even overnight. The basic routes to use:

• From Sapporo to Hakodate, take the Chitose Line to Tomakomai (1.5 hours), then the Muroran Line to Oshamambe via Higashimuroran (just over 3 hours), then the Hakodate Line to Hakodate (about 4 hours).
• From Hakodate to Kikonai, take the Esashi Line (1 hour).
• From Kanita to Aomori, take the Tsugaru Line (45 minutes).
• From Aomori to Akita, take the Ou Line via Hirosaki, Odate, and Higashinoshiro (1 hour to Hirosaki, 2.5 hours to Akita). You may have an extended layover at Hirosaki depending on your schedule.
• From Akita to Niigata, take the Uetsu Line to Shibata via Sakata and Murakami (5 hours), then change to the Hakushin Line for Niigata (30 minutes).

Note that if you take the Moonlight Echigo night train from Tokyo to Niigata, then take the earliest trains available through Akita and Aomori to Kikonai, you can theoretically reach the southern tip of Hokkaido in 24 hours at a cost of about ¥3,000... but you won't be able to reach Hakodate.

Use with overnight trains

Because of the great amount of time required to travel on rapid service trains, many Seishun 18 holders utilize JR's handful of overnight rapid trains. The two most well-known are the Moonlight Nagara for trips between Tokyo and western Japan (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima, Shikoku, Kyushu) and the Moonlight Echigo for trips between Tokyo and northern Japan (Niigata, Sendai, Aomori).

Moonlight Nagara

The Moonlight Nagara runs between Tokyo, Shinagawa and Ogaki, a city in central Japan between Nagoya and Kyoto. From Ogaki, it is possible to get as far as Fukuoka by the end of the day, although more relaxed travelers may prefer to stop at Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, or Hiroshima.

The train departs just before midnight. There is also a non-reserved train that you can pick up further down the Tokaido line without having to use a day of the Seishun 18 Ticket if it is your first day.

Moonlight Echigo

The Moonlight Echigo runs between Tokyo (Shinjuku) and Murakami, on the northern coast of Japan just north of Niigata. From Niigata, travelers can connect southbound to Toyama and Kanazawa; from Murakami, travelers can connect northbound to Akita and Aomori. This train is also a viable option for travellers wishing to travel to Hokkaido through the Seikan Tunnel, although you won't be able to reach Hakodate (the closest major city) without spending the night somewhere.

Taking rapid service trains north from Murakami, travellers can reach Akita around 9:30 am and Aomori around 4:30 pm, although it is possible to be significantly delayed en route as some stretches of the line only have one train every two hours or so.