Train travels in Japan can be quite expensive due to its extensive railway network made up of a myriad of private and national railway lines running across prefectures throughout the country. So, when I found out about the Seishun-18 青春18切符, something like a seasonal train pass with 5 tickets to be used for five, non-consecutive days of travels on only Japan Railways (JR) Rapid or Local trains, you could have imagined how excited I was with the idea of travelling across prefectures, now with a budget! I love train travels. There's something romantic about looking out of the windows and watching the scenes roll by. Passing through the countryside, the coastal towns, the tunnels that lie beneath the mountainous region... to destinations that I have never been to, but am now heading towards. Maybe that's the romantic element of train travels. The slow-moving local train service, chugging along, rattling on the tracks. Watching the train conductor going about his/her duties. Train travels give me all that time and rhythm to people-watch and daydream. To give you an idea of how to utilise the Seishun-18, here is a brief outline of the routes that I took on the JR Rapid/Local service trains in Spring, from Sanda city (Hyogo Prefecture) to Wakayama, Mie and Okayama. Also, Hyperdia is a platform that I often use to plan train travels because it gives you several options with different routes, transfers and pricing! (Of course, we all aim for the cheapest route if time permits :p) Day 1: Sanda (Hyogo Prefecture) --- Toba (Mie Prefecture) Duration: 320 mins, 234.7km Actual price (without using Seishun-18): 4000¥ Using Seishun-18: 2370¥ Day 2: Toba (Mie Prefecture) --- Kumanoshi (Mie Prefecture) Duration: 246 mins, 144.2km Actual price (without using Seishun-18): 2590¥ Using Seishun-18: 2370¥ Day 3: Kushimoto (Wakayama Prefecture) --- Sanda (Hyogo Prefecture) Duration: 360 mins, 272.8km Actual price (without using Seishun-18): 4750¥ Using Seishun-18: 2370¥ Day 4: Sanda (Hyogo Prefecture) --- Kurashiki (Okayama Prefecture) Duration: 222 mins, 218.4km Actual price (without using Seishun-18): 3670¥ Using Seishun-18: 2370¥ Day 5: Kurashiki (Okayama Prefecture) --- Sanda (Hyogo Prefecture) *return journey Duration: 222 mins, 218.4km Actual price (without using Seishun-18): 3670¥ Using Seishun-18: 2370¥ For the pricing and usage of the Seishun-18, I believe that Japan Guide offers a more comprehensive bank of information. You can check out the details here. Train travellers all around the world unite! :D
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