# most affordable way to see the country?



## sweenester

Hi Everyone, 

I have just moved to Tsukuba. I am here for 2 years, and during that time would really like to see Japan. 

When I visited a few years ago, I got the JR Rail Pass, which was brilliant, but obviously not available for residents. I then looked at train prices, and well, yikes. Anyway, is there a anyway to get cheaper tickets? If you buy them early, are they discounted etc?

I look forward to hearing your suggestions


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## larabell

Depends where you're going. For local sightseeing, you should be able to get a day pass that allows unlimited riding for a day (or 2 or 3, depending on the pass) but only on that particular line. For long-distance travel, like the bullet train, check to see if there are any private ticket vendors around. They usually buy tickets in bulk and then sell them at a slight discount (if I remember right, though, it's usually only 10% or so less than a regular ticket). I've never heard of discounts for buying tickets in advance but I've seen promotions for travel to particular areas and/or on particular days -- generally routes and days when not that many people would travel otherwise.


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## sweenester

thankyou! I thought it might be something like that... I just have to factor expensive travel into my seeing the country.


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## Woodwoc

If you have the time you might consider seishun 18kippu. Its not sold whole year round and if not mistaken they have it twice a year. I used it 10years ago while I was a student in Japan. It comes in a booklet of 5 tickets and it cost less than 5000yen. One ticket allows you to travel on all JR local train per day. During my student days I travel from Hiroshima to Tokyo using this but it took me about 16 hours! Dont think I could do that now.


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## ninjabinger

There is a good cheap range of buses available if you don't mind overnight trips. 
see Booking for highway and night buses in Japan / WILLER TRAVEL:The pink bus

I've taken them on a few trips and it's fine, as long as you don't mind overnight journeys...
some examples of prices from their site:-
- Tokyo-Akita 3600 yen to 10000 yen
- Tokyo-Osaka 3200-15800 yen
Booking early gets you the cheapest tickets

Also, you can get the boat up to Hokkaido from Oarai, which isn't too far from Tsukuba for 9000 yen.


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## cathykoman

When I lived in Japan 8 years ago I got my mother to buy me a train pass and send it over for me...It was much cheaper...Also if you are there for two years second hand cars are crazy cheap. My friend and I lived in Hokkaido and we bought a car for a weeks wages...


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## larabell

cathykoman said:


> When I lived in Japan 8 years ago I got my mother to buy me a train pass and send it over for me...It was much cheaper...


Unfortunately if you're talking about the JR Rail Pass, you're usually required to show your passport when you activate it in Japan. You could have someone on a tourist visa activate it for you because they don't actually check every time you board a train but anyone considering doing so should realize that the penalty could be 3 times the normal fare if you're caught. Residents have other discounts available -- check with a JR agent when you get here.


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## cathykoman

larabell said:


> Unfortunately if you're talking about the JR Rail Pass, you're usually required to show your passport when you activate it in Japan. You could have someone on a tourist visa activate it for you because they don't actually check every time you board a train but anyone considering doing so should realize that the penalty could be 3 times the normal fare if you're caught. Residents have other discounts available -- check with a JR agent when you get here.


Yeah sorry...i was talking about shinkansen but i supose that is a bit risky..


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## larabell

cathykoman said:


> Yeah sorry...i was talking about shinkansen but i supose that is a bit risky..


I guess I'm not aware of discount Shinkansen tickets sold outside of Japan. You can easily get discount tickets for the Shinkansen at most of the discount ticket shops. They buy them in bulk and sell them separately, passing on some of the savings. It's not much of a discount, though.


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## Clasevilla

I'm also thinking of the cheapest way to see country specially Osaka, the comments are useful indeed. I look forward to reading similar threads


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## Narue86

I was studying in Tokyo 5 years ago when some friends came over to visit the country with me. We used the overnight buses to go to Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Hiroshima and stayed at very cheap hostels (but incredibly nice!). Then we gave ourselves the luxury to take the Shinkansen from Hiroshima back to Tokyo. Over all we spent less than 700 € in the entire trip: 20 days visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Hiroshima (including transportation, accommodation and food). I think travelling is not very expensive in Japan if you are open to the "backpacker" option


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## larabell

I've done a bit of domestic travelling in the past 15+ years and I more-or-less agree with Narue86. Travel within Japan isn't all that expensive if you're willing to do a bit of research and accept lodging that's not "5-star private suite" level. Check out business hotels. The rooms are basically big enough to sleep and have a shower the following day. Salesmen who travel for a living use those kinds of places. The trick is that you don't want to stay where the rich retirees stay... you want to stay where the working stiff stay. Japan isn't any more expensive than any other country if you have a clue where to look for bargains (and the clue is to stick with places that the locals would frequent).


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