Seishun 18 - Ticket for unlimited rides on local JR trains

The holiday season is coming. As I wrote before, Hamamatsu is located halfway between Tokyo and Osaka. Between these two cities, there are other major cities such as Yokohama, Nagoya, and Kyoto. From Hamamatsu, you can make a day trip to each of these cities even by local trains.

JR Hamamatsu Station 

Seishun 18 is a seasonal ticket sold by JR or Japan Railway. It allows you to ride on local and rapid trains unlimitedly in a day (until 23:59) for five occasions. You can use it for five days all by yourself or can share it with other people. As “Seishun” means “youth”, there is misunderstanding that you have to be 18 years old or younger to use this ticket. But it can be used by people in all ages. It is sold and used in spring, summer, and winter, and now the ticket for the winter period valid from December 10, 2018 to January 10, 2019 is available. For details, you can search with “Seishun 18.”

I often use Seishun 18. Last spring, I traveled to Osaka with this ticket. I took the first train that went westward. It was around six o’clock, and I saw some other people passing through the ticket gate with Seishun 18 in hand. There we got a date stamp from the station attendant.

Seishun 18 used five times

The train was almost full. I managed to have a seat, but people who came after me had to stand. Some were talking about temples in Kyoto and others Osaka Castle. They were going to see cherry blossoms. Though I had other things to do there, I thought it was perfect timing to travel, because it was a beautiful day and cherry blossoms were surely in full bloom.

When you go to Osaka or Tokyo from Hamamatsu by local trains you have to change trains 1-3 times and it takes around four and a half hours. It may sound bothersome, but I enjoy it. I like to hear dialects of local people on the trains. They are different from our dialect in Hamamatsu, making the trip more exciting.

A round trip to Osaka from Hamamatsu by local trains usually costs 10160 yen. Seishun 18 costs 11850 yen, only 2370 yen per day. Isn’t it amazing? I got one today and started planning trips.