TS Japan Rail – Japan Rail Enthusiast Updates : October 2024

Welcome to October 2024 Japan Rail Enthusiast Updates

This month has been very busy for us here at TSJR as we prepare for a group of 16 rail enthusiasts from the UK, Europe & Australia who will touring many aspects of Japan’s railways in November.

This is the type of tour that TSJR can add a lot of value for our clients with both our own and other local knowlege. We also work closely with a Japan based travel agent so that we can provide the whole package. Our process means that we can add flexibility into the tour agenda, so on several days there are 2 or more options that participants can follow.

In this edition we have an update on the popular (at least with local rail enthusiasts in Japan) Seishun 18 Kippu. The JR Companies have announced a big change as to how these tickets will work.

On our main site we recently published an article on “Exploring Hokkaido by Train”. Hokkaido is also interesting for rail fans and we suggest some ideas to Explore Hokkaido’s Railways later in this article.

There are also two new tourist trains that we high light in this edition.

Seishun 18 Kippu – big changes starting from the 2024-25 Winter season ticket

The JR companies have announced big changes to the popular Seishun 18 Kippu starting with the 2024-25 winter season ticket.

For those who are not aware, Seishun 18 Kippu literally means “Youth 18” and was designed to allow college students to travel around Japan using JR local and ordinary rapid trains. Interestingly, there is no age limit on the ticket and in fact one group of people who often use it are retired people, as well as rail enthusiasts of all ages.

Another interesting feature was that it was valid for 5 non consecutive days or could be used by 5 people for one day or any combination thereon.

A summary of the changes:

• There will be two versions of the ticket – 1 valid for 3 consecutive days costing Y10,000 and one valid for 5 consecutive days costing Y12,050 (change: no longer valid for 5 non consecutive days).
• One ticket can no longer be used by multiple people (so you cannot for example use the 5 day ticket for one day with 5 people)
• The new tickets can be used in automatic ticket gates, no need to have to go through a manned ticket gate. (This is actually the main reason for the change; ticket gates cannot manage the non consecutive days, and why the use by multiple people is stopped).This of course means that the tickets will be the same size as normal (shinkansen, Limited Express tickets), and you will no longer get a stamp for each day you use it.
• The Hokkaido Shinkansen Option ticket (Y4,500) will be able to be used on the Hokkaido Shinkansen between Shin Aomori and Kikonai and on the South Hokkaido Railway between Kikonai and Goryokaku (ticket can only be used once each way)

Of course this means that you will need to plan more on how to get best value out of the ticket!

For more information (in Japanese) please click here for the JR Group News Release

Exploring Hokkaido’s trains…

Hokkaido is not the easiest place to explore by train, but it is does have some interesting routes and the nature of Hokkaido, being the northern most island and prefecture, with harsh winters means that its railways are also fairly unique, but also a good place to capture the JNR KiHa40 series trains.

You can read more about a recent TSJR visit to Hokkaido in this article,

Our tour took us on two off the beaten track routes and also to the mostly northerly Japanese railway station, Wakkanai.

The off the beaten track routes, both of which need a bit of planning are both on the Hakodate Main Line; the quicker but slower route that takes you via Niseko, Kutchan and Otaru to / from Sapporo and the Sawara branch between Onuma and Mori.

We cheated on the Wakkanai trip, taking the 5 hour Limited Express Soya in each direction. We also visited the Hakodate and Sapporo Trams. We also travelled on the South Hokkaido Railway. You can read more in our article.

It is no secret that JR Hokkaido is not in the best financial health and particularly with the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen extension to Sapporo in the 2030s a lot more lines will close. Therefore if you plan to Explore Hokkaido’s Railways, best not to leave it for too long!

New Tourist Train – JR West’s “Hana Akari” 観光列車「はなあかり」

JR West debuted a new premium tourist train this month – the Hana Akari 「はなあかり」The route the train will travel will depend on the season, but initially will run between Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture along the Obama Line and Kyoto Tango railway line to Kinosaki Onsen.

The train has been formed from a remodelled KiHa 189 formerly used on the Hamakaze Limited Express. The premium nature of the train means capacity of the three car train is only 54 passengers.

Although probably the type of train hard core rail fans are not likely to be riding on, tourist trains are an aspect of Japan Railways which are worth photographing. So if your purpose is just to photograph them, TS Japan rail can help you with schedule planning!

Organising a rail tour to Japan – want to see something different? Interesting trains or routes?

Contact us to find out more! mailto:info@tsjapanrailcom We are happy to set up a call to discuss more about how we can help you!

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