In spite of its name, anyone of any age can buy this discount ticket. It is however aimed at the high school and college market, i.e. students on a budget who have plenty of time to travel. This ticket covers only local and rapid local commuter-style trains. It does not cover any Shinkansen ‘bullet trains’ or Limited Express trains. This means that a simple trip from Tokyo to Kyoto (2 hours 20 minutes by Shinkansen) will take over 8 hours and require at least 3 changes of trains, all while sitting in ordinary commuter seats. This discount ticket (¥11,500) allows unlimited travel on any five dates within a fixed period and can be shared with more than one person. For more information please see JR East site.

This pass is a Senior Citizen discount pass: it is available to a married couple with a total age of eighty-eight. It comes only in a Green (first class) version and is available for five, seven or twelve consecutive days. The Full Moon Green Pass (Spring 2007) costs ¥80,500 (five days), ¥99,900 (seven days) or ¥124,400 (12 days). In comparison, two seven-day Green Japan Rail Passes cost ¥75,600 and two fourteen day Green Passes ¥122.400. The only real plus for the Full Moon is that it includes ordinary berths on overnight sleepers with no extra charge, but sleeper trains are very limited in number and usefulness.

You may well ask, “What is a Nice Midi?” This is Japanese-English for “Nice Middle Aged Lady,” and indeed this pass is aimed at small groups of ladies over age thirty using their leisure time to explore their own country. The pass is limited to Ordinary (coach) cars and is valid for only three consecutive days. The Nice Midi Pass (Summer 2007) costs ¥57,100 for two people or ¥85,650 for three. Two Ordinary Japan Rail Passes for seven days cost only ¥56,600 in comparison. If you are not-so-nice males, do not apply!

This discount ticket can be purchased either in Japan or Korea. It offers savings on travel between a specific point in Japan, and Seoul in Korea. Passengers must use unreserved Shinkansen train seating (Nozomi not included) in Japan, ferry or ‘jetfoil’ between Japan and Korea, and the high-speed KTX trains in Korea between Pusan and Seoul. It is very important to note that unlike the Japan Rail Pass and other JR passes, you cannot get off in route between your starting point in Japan and your embarkation point for Korea. Some sample fares (Summer 2007) are: Tokyo to Seoul with ferry from Shimonoseki (¥29,260), from Osaka to Seoul using the jetfoil from Fukuoka (¥24,560) or ferry from Shimonoseki (¥19,860).

Japan Railways offers a wide variety of excursion tickets for specific areas in Japan. These consist of rail (or sometimes rail and air) to and from a specific region or area and then unlimited travel within that area. For example, a Gururi Hokkaido Free Ticket costs ¥45,200 (Summer 2007) from Tokyo to Hokkaido and back with unlimited rail travel in Hokkaido over a five day period. (A seven day Japan Rail Pass costs only ¥28,300). There are also tickets for smaller areas such as a greater Tokyo. For example, the Tokyo Free Ticket allows unlimited one-day use of all JR trains and subways within Tokyo for ¥1,580. The long-distance excursion tickets are rarely as useful as a Rail Pass because they do not allow getting on and off trains while in route to the designated region, and the price and calendar length is generally not as good. The local day passes may be more useful, but always try to explain your day’s itinerary before buying one. If you are going several places the pass may save you money, but if your travel is limited regular tickets may be cheaper. All JR companies offer various Excursion Tickets; for examples go to JR East or JR Hokkaido sites.

Japan Railways offers no general discount for Senior Citizens. Men over age 65 and women over age 60 can join JR’s Jipangu Kurabu (Club) paying a modest annual fee of ¥3,670 that then gives them a rather moderate discount on tickets. The discount does not extend to some surcharges and in particular, Nozomi trains are not included in this pass. For foreign seniors visiting Japan, the Japan Rail Pass is decidedly more advantageous.

There is no general student discount on Japan Railways that can be utilized by foreign students traveling as tourists. Instead, you must be registered in a Japanese school or university to take advantage of ‘gakusei waribiki’ or student discount. Schools provide a form that the student fills out, submits at a station and then receives a discount on either regular or excursion tickets. Again, a foreign tourist with a student ID from overseas cannot take advantage of this discount; a standard Japan Rail Pass is actually probably less expensive in any case. Unfortunately students who have a Student Visa and have been studying in Japan cannot use a Japan Rail Pass during their stay due to their visa status. They will have to rely on the student discount through their school in Japan. Please note that the regional JR East Passes do have a youth rate ages 12 through 25. For student commutation tickets see below.

Japan is a nation of rail commuters: millions of people use trains every day to get to school, work or shopping. For this reason the rail companies offer a wide range of commuter passes (by the month) or discount multi-trip tickets. Among the most common of the latter are kaisu-ken which are a discount booklet of six tickets. For example, six tickets (three round trips) from Tokyo to Sendai cost ¥63,540; a kaisu-ken for the same route costs ¥59,100. These kinds of tickets are not likely to be of use to tourists, but if you have business requiring several repeat trips, a kaisu-ken may save you money. Commutation passes (teiki-ken) offer unlimited travel on a fixed route between home and school or office. If you need a student commutation pass you will have to present a student ID and fill out a form for purchase; for a regular commuter pass nothing special is required. Companies and schools in Japan are very familiar with this process and can assist you.All JR companies offer various commutation and multi-trip discounts; for an example of the latter go to JR Kyushu site.