Has anyone travelled with Seishun 18 Ticket?

10 comments

1. Go to [http://www.hyperdia.com/](http://www.hyperdia.com/) and check for a route from Shin-Osaka to Tokyo. This is a single shinkansen ride if you decide to use the shinkansen.

   Select a time in the morning, like 7 am, for the sake of comparing time. By shinkansen you can do it in 147 minutes to 174 depending on the speed of shinkansen (for reference you cannot use the fastest if you were to use a JR Pass).

   Now, go in the option and remove airplane, shinkansen, limited express and private railway. First option is 550 minutes (yes 9 hours) and a total of 7 trains.

   What could actually make more sense than wasting a full day in the train is to take a night bus (you can also save money on accommodation for a night) to do the ride between Tokyo and Osaka. Then local train between Kyoto-Osaka, for example, would be cheaper than the daily cost of the Seishun 18 (that is if you even us JR).

   ​

   Yes, it can be a good value, but it really depend on the situation and itinerary. You can use hyperdia to figure how if it is a good option for what you want to do.

2. The train are just normal non-express trains; I would not consider them bad, just slow. Going from Tokyo to Kyoto would take like more than 8 hours and 7 different trains for example, rather than 2.5 hours on a single shinkansen ride.
   https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2362.html

3. There’s not really a catch, but you will be sitting in a commuter train (so mostly long seat, especially Tokyo-Osaka section) for 9 hours, with multiple connections so you can’t really rest.

   If you are going to visit the golden route (Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka-Hiroshima), then it won’t be hard to organise as almost everything will connect to each other. If you are going off the beaten path, then yes, it might be a problem.

   But as other said, are you willing to spend entire day travelling? Night bus should be a better options. There’re even passes like Japan Bus Pass and JBL Pass for night bus.

4. If you’re handy with the kanjis Jorudan’s Japanese site has a search option for Seishun 18 kippu but the English side doesn’t.

   https://www.jorudan.co.jp/norikae/cgi/nori.cgi?Cmap1=&rf=nr&via_on=1&pg=1&eok1=R-&eki1=%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC&eok3=&eki3=&eok4=&eki4=&eok5=&eki5=&eok6=&eki6=&eok2=R-&eki2=%E5%A4%A7%E9%98%AA&Cway=0&Dym=202103&Ddd=25&Dhh=7&Dmn=0&Cfp=1&C6=2&S=%E9%9D%92%E6%98%A518%E3%81%8D%E3%81%A3%E3%81%B7%E6%A4%9C%E7%B4%A2

   If you’re not pressed for time and are somewhat of a train nerd you might like it. You can sit on the slow train writing haiku and sipping green tea from a plastic bottle as you watch the shinkansen blow past you. Doing Tokyo<>Osaka will cut about 18 hours from your schedule though.

   I used the ticket once ages ago but it took a good amount of planning to figure out a good schedule where I could use express trains and wouldn’t have to wait too long at stations. You might be able to buy a partly used Seishun 18 ticket at a discount ticket center but yeah, not sure if that’s how you want to spend your vacation.

   Night buses are a good option if you’re not a light sleeper. They stop every couple hours to give the driver a break and let people use the bathroom/smoke. Would recommend paying a bit extra for a bus where you don’t have to share an armrest with someone, that is, where there are three seats in a row instead of four.

5. > What is the catch?1

   The catch is that you would lose 2 full days (of 14) just to travel between Tokyo and Kansai, even with the earliest possible start.

   For most people on a slim budget, overnight highway buses may be a better option, as they do not cut into your sightseeing time.

   As far as organizing your route goes: you have basically two choices: go via main JR Tokaido line, mostly paralleling Tokaido shinkansen, or go via Chuo Main Line via Kofu, Shiojiri, Nakatsugawa to Nagoya, where it joins JR Tokaido main line. The latter goes through less urban areas, and visiting Kiso Valley and Lake Suwa might be worthwhile.

6. It can be a great deal if you: have a lot of time here, and are visiting more rural areas.
   Other than that, it is often not worth the hassle. As others have mentioned, overnight buses and even domestic airfare can be cheaper than shinkansen. Consider saving money by flying into Japan via Tokyo, and flying back home out of Osaka, which helps cut the cost of returning to the start point, as well.

7. We went with bullet trains when we went and got Airbnb’s. For me the possible terrible nights sleep in a bus wasn’t worth the cost savings. I’m also in my mid 30s and a light sleeper.

   While the night bus may work with you, also look at how much packing/unpacking several times takes as well. Even the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto felt like it took half the day with all the time we had to spend getting to and from the train.

   When we go back, we will likely only do two cities, as Tokyo/Kyoto/Hiroshima/Nara felt like too much at times

8. As others have mentioned, you’ll get more bang for your buck and have a much, much more pleasant travel experience if you utilize the highway buses rather than the Seishun ticket. The seats on highway buses are pretty comfy and once you get on at point A you can just sit back and relax til you get to your final destination. The expressway rest stops in Japan are next level too and something you only get to enjoy when traveling by bus/car.

   [JapanGuide.com has a helpful Budget Travel section ](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2028.html) and you may find the [transportation page ](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2028_transportation.html) particularly helpful.

   I really like referring first time travelers to Japan to [JapanGuide.com](https://www.japan-guide.com) as it presents very simple but helpful info on any city/region or topic that you may be interested in. For example, if you go to the page on [Osaka](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2157.html) and then click on the [Get There ](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4006.html) link in the menu bar under the main photo it will tell you the basic routes to get to/from Osaka from other major cities such as Tokyo or Kyoto. Not the flashiest site but a good starting point.

   Finally, price out the option of flying into Tokyo (NRT or HND) but departing from Osaka/Kyoto (likely KIX) at the end of your trip or vice versa. It may be a bit more expensive than a simple round trip Int’l flight but you’ll save on travel costs/time within Japan. Logistically (and often financially) this can pay off.

9. Writing from a train using seishun 18. I’ll say i’m liking the trains more than a overnight bus thats uncomfortable and you cant really enjoy the view on the way.

   Going to hiroshima, stopping midway at himeji to see the himeji castle. From Tokyo to himeji im saving 120$ compared to shinkansen and there are bunch of seats past yokohama so you wont have to stand the whole way (which i thought was a possible “catch”).
   + What everyone else said

   Edit: oh yeah and you can plan your trains with hyperdia

10. No one else has mentioned this, but the ticket is valid for only five days (albeit it can be non-consecutive days). However, you’d still need to pay for trains/transport on the other 9 days, assuming you need to use them on those days. A few trips per day could easily add about 1000yen/10usd a day. If you had a JR pass, it would be more expensive but at least you can use trains like the Osaka Loop line and Yamanote line inclusive. Also, it’s only valid for all of March and the first week of April, so you’d need to make sure your trip falls into those dates.

    The trains aren’t bad. If you plan it well it can be quite fun & efficient. I once had a day when I spent 7 hours on trains due to use the Seishun 18 ticket.