Everything you need to know about the JR Sapporo-Furano Area Pass

What is the JR Sapporo-Furano Area Pass?

The Sapporo-Furano Area Pass allows foreign visitors to Japan unlimited travel on JR trains within the Sapporo, Asahikawa, and Furano regions for four consecutive days.

The pass is particularly convenient for travel between New Chitose Airport, Sapporo, Otaru, Furano, Biei and Asahikawa.

How much does it cost?

• No green car option is available.
• Children aged 6-11 receive a 50% discount.

Where can it be used?

• Unlimited use of JR trains within the Sapporo, Asahikawa and Furano region.
• Includes local and limited express trains.

Important information

• Free seat reservations are available (see “Reserving seats”).
• Valid for four consecutive calendar days (midnight to midnight).
• Exclusively for foreign visitors to Japan (on temporary visitor status).
• Not valid for residents of Japan.
• You can take an ordinary car reserved seat and a non-reserved seat on the limited express, rapid and local trains in the valid area.
• If you get off outside of the valid area, you must pay the normal basic fare and charge for the additional section.
• The rail pass cannot be used for JR Hokkaido Bus, the streetcar and the subway in Sapporo.

Where to buy

• Purchase through online or offline travel agents outside of Japan.
• Available to purchase at Sapporo Station, New Chitose Airport Station, and Asahikawa Station.
• If purchased outside Japan or online, you can only exchange your order for the pass at New Chitose Airport, Sapporo Station and Asahikawa Station during the times below:

How to reserve seats

Free seat reservations can be made at:

• Seat reservation machines in Hokkaido.
• JR ticket offices.
• JR East Train Reservation website (collect physical tickets at a Hokkaido ticket office).

How to use

Insert only your rail pass into the automatic ticket gate. 

Make sure to pick up your rail pass after passing through the gate. The rail pass cannot be reissued even if it is lost or stolen etc.

Value

The pass may be slightly more expensive than a round-trip limited express ticket between Sapporo and Furano, however, it offers significant value for those looking to explore the wider Furano region, including Biei and Asahikawa, or adding day trips from Sapporo (such as to Otaru).

As with any pass, with some advance planning you can easily exceed the value of the pass if you plan on making multiple day trips.

If you are only considering a simple round trip between Sapporo and Asahikawa, alternatives include:

• The S-Kippu for limited express trains (5550 yen).
• Round-trip tickets for highway buses (4350 yen).

These options are generally more cost-effective than the Area Pass for shorter journeys.