Japan Is Offering Free Bullet Train Tickets — And It’s the Push You Need to Explore Kyushu

Japan just announced free Shinkansen bullet train tickets for foreign tourists. It’s aimed squarely at a part of the country most Western travelers have never even considered.

The catch? It’s not open to North Americans yet. But it’s coming, and Kyushu deserves your attention whether the free ticket happens or not.

So What Is Kyushu?

Japan’s third-largest island and genuinely one of its most underrated. While everyone piles into Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, Kyushu sits quietly to the southwest doing its own thing, with a fraction of the crowds and none of the tourist fatigue.

A few things that set it apart:

• 🌋 Sakurajima: an active volcano that literally rains ash on the city of Kagoshima
• 🧖 Ibusuki sand baths: you get buried up to your neck in naturally heated volcanic sand
• 🌲 Yakushima Island: ancient cedar forests that inspired Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke
• ♨️ Onsen towns: hot spring resorts locals have been visiting for centuries

Fukuoka, Kyushu’s largest city, is actually closer to Seoul than it is to Tokyo. The food scene alone is worth the trip.

What’s the Free Ticket Deal?

Kagoshima Prefecture is fully subsidizing one-way Shinkansen tickets for foreign tourists. Here’s what that looks like:

• 🚄 Route: Fukuoka (Hakata Station) to Kagoshima-Chuo Station
• ⏱️ Journey time: 90 minutes
• 💰 Ticket value: ~$100-105 CAD (~$73-76 USD)
• ✅ Currently eligible: South Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong
• 🇨🇦 North America: Expansion planned. No date confirmed yet.

When it opens to Canadians, I’ll post the full guide: where to stay, what to eat, and how to build the trip around it.

Why Pay Attention Now?

Because Kyushu is still under the radar. And that won’t last. We spent time in Fukuoka during our 202 days across Asia and it was one of the highlights of the whole trip. Japan is already seeing record tourist numbers, and the crowds are creeping further south every year.

This is Japan off the beaten path. Get there before everyone else figures it out.

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Follow along on Instagram at @chasing.jenny. I’ll post the moment this deal opens to Canadians. And if you want to see how we travel Japan, start with our 72-hour Japan food tour on YouTube.