Cheap way to travel within Japan::国内旅行を安くできる青春１８きっぷについて

(English follows)
　そろそろ冬休みが入りますね。今年の冬休みどのように過ごしますか？
　
　学生時代に、冬休みや夏休みが入るとよく国内旅に出ました。京都、大阪、奈良、広島、徳山、阿南まで遊びに行きました。もちろん、学生だったので、最も安い方法で旅をしました。泊まるのが友人のところや寮で移動は「青春18きっぷ」を利用して、普通か快速電車でした。
　
「青春18きっぷ」とは、JR線の全国普通列車・快速列車の普通車自由席および宮島航路が一日乗り放題となる、 期間限定の特別企画乗車券（トクトクきっぷ）である。「青春18」と言っても使用年齢に制限はありません（小人大人の区別もない）。しかも、このきっぷの使用期間は学生の休みの期間を中心に本当にお得なきっぷです。価格11500円でお１人の5日間連続、または利用期間内いつでも使えます。もちろん、同じ行く先または方向であれば、5 人分としても使用可能です。(写真はWikipediaより)

　このきっぷは時間かかるが、一日で途中で電車に降りてぼらぼらしてからまた乗れるのでとてもお得です。

　今年の発売期間及び利用期間は以下の通りになります。

発売期間
平成20年12月1日～平成21年1月10日

利用期間
平成20年12月10日～平成21年1月20日

発売箇所
JRの主な駅、旅行センター及び主な旅行会社

使い方など詳細な情報に関しては以下のサイトから確認してくださいね。
青春18きっぷの基礎知識
「青春18きっぷ」超基本ルール10 - ［鉄道旅行］All About




　Hurray! Winter vacation is coming!

Well, I guess students out there are now excited planning on how they would spend this years's winter vacation.

When I was in college (Toyama and Nagaoka), I travelled a lot and in fact I've been to Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Hiroshima, Tokuyama(Yamaguchi prefecture), Anan (Tokushima Pref) and so on during summer, spring and winter vacations. Of course as I was just a student and therefore poor enough for luxury travel,I was just taking local or rapid trains using "Seishun 18(Juhachi) Kippu".

"Seishun 18(Juhachi) Kippu"is a JR Seasonal Discount Ticket for unreserved seats at Local and Rapid Trains including JR ferryboat between Miyajimaguchi and Miyajima Island. Although it's name is "Seishun 18 kippu", there is no age limit and has the same price for adult and children. This seasonal discout ticket is especially available during spring,summer,and winter vacations.At the price of 11,500yen, it is good for 5 straight days or 5 days with any interval within the validity period or may be shared by 5 persons if a group travels on the same route.

It may be taking time to reach my final destination, but it was fun especially when with friends or even when I was alone as I kept reading books or enjoy the scenery behind the window. And while waiting for my next train during "norikae", I used to get off and have side trips.

If you are thinking of using this ticket, I recommend that you plan your trip, i.e. take note of the arrival and departure time/station name, because if you miss the train, you may have to wait for more than 1 hr.

Lets say from Yokohama, you want to go to Niigata, let's confirm the train schedule at yahoo.co.jp.
Earliest departure:
04:22 - 05:08 Yokohama Stn -> Ueno Stn
05:13 - 06:55 Ueno Stn -> Takasaki Stn
07:10 - 08:13 Takasaki Stn -> Minakami Stn
08:19 - 10:14 Minakami Stn -> Nagaoka Stn
10:38 - 11:53 Nagaoka Stn -> Niigata Stn
If you can read kanji, I would suggest you buy a jikokuhyou or JR time table - this is manual scheduling but really fun if you know how to use it.


So it would take 7hours by local train compared to 3hours by Shinkansen, but speaking of the money you would spend on one way trip, 2,300yen to 10,700yen!

Oh and by the way, you can refund the remaining unused tickets with a handling charge of 210yen.

This year's winter sale and validity of ticket is as follows:
Date of Sale: 2008/12/1～2009/01/10
Validity: 2008/12/10～2009/01/20
Available at all major JR Stations and travel agencies

For more information regarding the Seishun juhachi kippu - please check the Japan National Tourist Organization