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TRAVELERS who want to vacation in Japan this fall should be prepared to pay more. Because, train operator Japan Railways (JR) will increase the price of JR Pass tickets for tourists starting next October.
Reported by the Straits Times, the Japan Rail (JR) Pass, which functions as a multi-use ticket for many tourists, will increase its price almost twice or around 70%. JR Pass is known as the mainstay of tourists if they want to travel to various cities in Japan, including using the shinkansen at an affordable price.
The Japan Railways (JR) Group, which runs the far-reaching railway, said there is still no exact date when the new JR Pass fare will take effect. They only confirmed that the JR Pass price increase will take effect from October.
Later, the price of a single adult ticket covering all JR lines for seven days will increase from 29,650 yen (IDR3.3 million) to 50,000 yen (IDR5.5 million), an increase of about 68.6%. The 14-day JR Pass that covers all JR lines will increase by more than 69%, from 47,250 yen to 80,000 yen. Then, for the 21-day JR Pass that covers all JR lines, it goes up from 60,450 yen (US$6.7 million) to 100,000 yen (US$11 million).
JR Passes are usually purchased based on the number of days a tourist wants to use, ranging from seven to 21 days, as well as specific regions, such as Hokkaido or Kansai. The price increase announced by JR Group currently only includes national train tickets. Regional train tickets have not yet increased.
Meanwhile, the transportation authority also said that it intends to include more ‘discounts’ for tourists at ‘certain tourist attractions’, without elaborating. [sources/photo special]
