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Budget Travel Hints Welcome Cards

Welcome Cards

Use Welcome Cards or website page printouts to have more fun and get great discounts when you travel in Japan.

What is a Welcome Card?

Welcome to Japan! There is an exceptional variety of truly interesting cultural heritage sites and sightseeing attractions in Japan, and shopping and dining out are experiences not to be missed. In order to make your visit to Japan as exciting and worthwhile as possible, some special cards have been created for your use in a number of cities and areas. These cards come with a guidebook for overseas visitors to Japan to enable you to get discounts and special services at art galleries, museums, sightseeing attractions, shopping areas, restaurants and transportation facilities. Although called the Welcome Card, there are also places where you can receive discounts by presenting a website page printout instead of a card. Welcome Cards are our way of saying thanks and extending our greeting to you as our overseas travelers who have made your long trip to Japan. In the following, we are pleased to introduce 9types of Welcome Cards, in the hope that you will make the most use of them for your more enjoyable and economical stay with us in Japan.

*TIC=Tourist Information Center

1. Northern Tohoku Welcome Card

Valid users:
All non-Japanese visiting or living in Japan for less than 1 year and foreign students living in the Northern Tohoku area.
Area of use:
The Northern Tohoku region (Aomori, Iwate and Akita Prefecture)
Type:
Card printed out from website
Availability:
Card printed out from website :
http://www.northern-tohoku.gr.jp/welcome/index.html
Use:
This card may be used in 151 affiliated facilities throughout the region. (The service varies per shop)

2. Narita Welcome Card

Valid users:
All non-Japanese visiting or living in Japan for less than 1 year.
Area of use:
Narita City, Sakura City, Katori City, Shibayama City and Sakae City
Type:
1) Pamphlet
2) Printout of the web page
Availability:
Pamphlet at
·JNTO Tokyo TIC
·TIC in Narita Airport (1st fl. of Passenger Terminal 2 Bldg.)
·Narita City TIC (JR Narita Sta.), Narita Kankokan
·Narita City, Sakura City, Katori City, Sakae City and Shibayama City
Use:
Or Card printed out from website:
http://www.chiba-tour.jp/eng/airport/index.html
When you show this pamphlet, you can obtain a 5 to 20% discount or a souvenir at 115 affiliated restaurants, shopping, sightseeing and hotel facilities.

3. Tokyo Handy Guide / Tokyo Handy Map

Valid users:
All non-Japanese
Area of use:
Tokyo
Type:
Card
Availability:
·Tokyo Tourist Information Centers (in Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Haneda Airport and Keisei Ueno Station)
·Tokyo Tourist Information Offices (151 offices in Tokyo)
·JNTO (Tokyo TIC, Overseas Offices And others)
Use:
You can receive a discount on the entrance fee at 37 affiliated facilities in Tokyo by showing this card (or using one of the enclosed coupons).

4. Mt. Fuji Welcome Card

Valid users:
Non-Japanese. You may be asked to show your passport when you use this service.
Area of use:
The Fuji/Hakone/Izu region in Yamanashi, Kanagawa and Shizuoka Prefectures
Type:
Card printed out from website page
Availability:
Card printed out from website:
http://www.mtfuji-welcomecard.jp/
Use:
Although called a "Welcome Card", this is actually a website page printout-based service covering the Fuji/Hakone/Izu region (Kanagawa, Shizuoka and Yamanashi Prefectures), which is a must-see for overseas travelers. When you bring a printout from the website, you can obtain discounts or special services at 205 hotels, restaurants and sightseeing facilities in the Fuji/Hakone/Izu region of Yamanashi, Kanagawa and Shizuoka Prefectures.

5. Tokai Welcome Card & Stickers

Valid users:
All non-Japanese. You may be asked to show your passport when you use this service.
Area of use:
The Tokai region (Aichi, Gifu, Mie and Shizuoka Prefectures), including Nagoya City
Type:
1) Card printed out from website
2) leaflet "card"
Availability:
Leaflet "card" at
·Several travel agents overseas (JTB, Meitetsu World Travel, etc.) with an information leaflet.
Or Card printed out from website:
http://www.j-heartland.com
Use:
If you bring a printout from the website or the leaflet "card", you can obtain a discount or special services in 234 hotels, sightseeing facilities, and restaurants and transportation facilities in Aichi, Gifu, Mie and Shizuoka Prefectures.

6. Kobe Welcome Coupon

Valid users:
All non-Japanese. You may be asked to show your passport on issuing this card.
Area of use:
Kobe City
Type:
1) Flyer
2) Printout of the web page
Availability:
Flyer at
·"Visit Japan Information Network" Tourist Information Centers in Kobe
·Kansai Tourist Information Center (in Kansai International Airport)
Or Printout of the web page:
http://feel-kobe.jp/english/guidemap/index.html
Use:
If you bring the Kobe Welcome Coupon, you can obtain a discount or special services in 69 sightseeing facilities, and transportation facility "City Loop Bus" and "KOBE-KANKU Bay Shuttle" in Kobe.

7. Kagawa Welcome Card

Valid users:
All non-Japanese. You must show your passport to obtain this card. If you bring a printout, you may be asked to show your passport when you use this service.
Area of use:
Kagawa Prefecture
Type:
1) Leaflet "card"
2) Card printed out from website
Availability:
Leaflet "card" at
·Kagawa Tourist Association
·Ritsurin Park Tourist Office, Takamatsu City Tourist Information Center, Tourist offices in Shodoshima (Tonosho Port)
·Kagawa Tourist Information Office in Tokyo
·Kagawa International Exchange Center
·Kagawa Prefectural Office in Osaka
·Takamatsu Airport, Shionoe Hotsprings and Kotohira
·Takamatsu Convention &Visitors Bureau
·22 Kagawa lodging facilities, 7 restaurants and souvenir shops, 14 sightseeing locations, 3 transportation facilities
·Kagawa Systematized Goodwill Guide.
Or Card printed out from website: http://www.21kagawa.com/visitor/kanko/index.htm
Use:
The Kagawa Welcome Card allows visitors from overseas to receive discounts and other special benefits at 151 various sites and facilities around Kagawa Prefecture. This card is provided free of charge and can be used at hotels and Japanese inns, when dining out or buying a souvenir, seeing the sights and when traveling around the prefecture.

8. Kitakyushu Welcome Card

Valid users:
Non-Japanese except permanent residents in Japan and volunteer guides of the Kitakyushu Welcome Card users.
Area of use:
Kitakyushu City
Type:
1) Booklet
2) Printout of the web page
Availability:
Booklet at
·Tourist Information Office of Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka City
·Tourist offices in Mojiko station, Kokura Int'l Passenger ship Terminal and Fukuoka Airport
·Kitakyushu Convention Bureau, Kitakyushu Int'l Association
·Kitakyushu Airport
·Publication hotels, tourist facilities
Or Printout of the web page: http://www.pysih.net/welcome_card/en/wel_05_index.html
Use:
You can obtain discounts, free drinks or small gifts at 77 sightseeing locations, hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops in the city. The card comes with an easy-to-use guidebook in English, Korean, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified). The current card is valid through June 30, 2009.

9. Fukuoka Welcome Card

Valid users:
All non-Japanese visiting or living in Japan. You must show your passport to obtain this card.
Area of use:
Fukuoka City
Type:
1) Guidebook "card"
2) Printout of the web page
Availability:
Guidebook "card" at
·JNTO Tokyo TIC
·TIC in Narita Airport ( 1st fl. of Passenger Terminal 2 Bldg.)
·Tourist offices in Fukuoka Airport, Hakata Station, Tenjin, Tenjin Chikagai, Fukuoka Tower
·Kitakyushu City Tourist Information Center
·Canal City Hakata, Fukuoka International Association Rainbow Plaza, ACROS Fukuoka, Hakata-Machiya Furusatokan
·JAL Resort Sea Hawk Hotel Fukuoka
·Fukuoka Convention and Visitors Bureau
·Dazaifu Tourist Association
Or Printout of the web page:
http://www.welcome-fukuoka.or.jp/
(Click your language, then click "Welcome Card Information".)
Use:
The Fukuoka Welcome Card is a discount card designed to express our hospitality and help our increasing number of overseas visitors reduce your expenses while staying in Fukuoka City. You can receive special discounts when you show the guidebook "card" at 60 affiliated sightseeing facilities, hotels, stores and restaurants. The card comes with an easy-to-use guidebook in English, Korean and Traditional Chinese. The current card is valid only through March 31, 2009. From April 1, 2009, you must get an updated card valid through March 31, 2010.