Teikiken: The Commuter Pass
The Teikiken commuter pass is Japan's fixed-route rail pass for residents who ride the same trains almost every day.1 For a commuter with 15 or more round-trip days per month, it usually beats paying per ride and removes the daily ticket decision.
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at JR East, Tokyo Metro, the Toei Transportation Bureau, and PASMO official sites.
Overview
A teikiken covers unlimited travel between two specific stations on a designated route for 1, 3, or 6 months.1 The pass is loaded onto a registered IC card such as Suica, PASMO, or ICOCA, and only the registered holder may use it.12
The 定期券 (teikiken, "commuter pass") comes in two main kinds. The 通勤定期券 (tsukin teikiken, "work commuter pass") is open to any adult with no employment proof, while the 通学定期券 (tsugaku teikiken, "school commuter pass") requires school certification and follows a school-designated route.13
This guide covers resident work passes only. Tourist products such as the JR Pass and the Tokyo Subway Ticket in 24, 48, and 72-hour versions are visitor products and are out of scope here.1
What a Teikiken Covers
A pass is a contract for one section of track, not a city-wide flat rate. Gates open automatically for any ride inside that section and charge extra for anything outside it.4
The designated route rule
The route is fixed at purchase and cannot be used on other routes.1 Intermediate stations inside the section are included, so boarding or alighting mid-route costs nothing extra.4
Only the named holder may use the pass.1 Lending it to a friend or family member breaks the terms even when the route matches.
What it does not cover
Shinkansen, limited-express, Green Car, and reserved-seat travel need a separate surcharge ticket on top of the base pass.5 The pass covers the base fare portion only.
Tokyo Metro allows limited parallel-route flexibility inside named station zones, for example between Ginza and Kasumigaseki on either the Marunouchi or Hibiya Line when both fall inside the covered zone.1 Outside those listed zones the specified route binds.
School passes cover only the route between the school-designated nearest station and the home station, so club or cram-school detours need a separate work pass.1
Durations, Prices, and Savings Math
Every operator sells the same three periods: 1 month, 3 months, or 6 months.1 Longer periods cost less per month because the operator discounts the single-fare base more steeply (as of 2026-01; confirm current figures with the operator fare search).6
How the 1-month pass breaks even
A worked JR example makes the math concrete. On the Tokyo to Kichijoji run (JR Chuo Line, about 23 km), the regular IC round trip costs 812 yen per day (406 yen each way), while the 1-month pass costs 12,290 yen (as of 2026-01).6 Over 21 weekdays the IC total reaches 17,052 yen against 12,290 yen for the pass, a saving of 4,762 yen or 28% (as of 2026-01).6
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round-trip IC fare, Tokyo to Kichijoji | 812 yen | 2026-016 | 406 yen each way |
| 1-month pass, same route | 12,290 yen | 2026-016 | Unlimited rides in section |
| 21-weekday IC total | 17,052 yen | 2026-016 | 812 yen times 21 days |
| Saving vs IC total | 4,762 yen (28%) | 2026-016 | Before the March 2026 revision |
The break-even point on that route is about 15.1 days of round trips per month (12,290 divided by 812) (as of 2026-01).6 Commuting 16 or more days saves money, while 14 or fewer days favors pay-per-ride.
As a rough rule across operators, a 1-month pass typically saves 30 to 50 percent over single fares for 20 or more commuting days, but the exact band moves with distance and operator (as of 2026-01; confirm current figures with the operator fare search).6 Treat the band as typical, not guaranteed.
Every extra ride inside the covered section costs nothing, so weekend errands along the same corridor widen the saving without changing the pass price.4
JR East revised all-area fares on 2026-03-14, its first full revision since 1987 apart from tax and barrier-free adjustments (as of 2026-03).7 Worked examples priced before that date run on old fares, so check the current operator fare search before buying.
Why the 3-month and 6-month passes cost less per month
The same Tokyo to Kichijoji example prices the 3-month pass at 35,050 yen (11,683 yen per month) and the 6-month pass at 59,120 yen (9,853 yen per month), for total savings of 31 percent and 42 percent against 21 weekdays of IC fares (as of 2026-01; confirm current figures with the operator fare search).6
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-month pass, Tokyo to Kichijoji | 35,050 yen | 2026-016 | 11,683 yen per month |
| 6-month pass, Tokyo to Kichijoji | 59,120 yen | 2026-016 | 9,853 yen per month |
| Toei shortest band 1/3/6-month | 6,460 / 18,420 / 34,890 yen | fare table read 2026-093 | Same 5 and 10 percent step pattern |
| JR East work-pass revision average | Plus 12.0 percent | 2024-12 application, implemented 2026-038 | Single tickets plus 7.8 percent |
The cross-operator pattern matches. Toei's shortest fare band shows the 3-month pass about 5 percent below three single months and the 6-month pass about 10 percent below six single months (as of fare table read 2026-09).3 Secondary guides describe the same rule of thumb: 3-month passes run roughly 5 percent below three 1-month passes and 6-month passes run roughly 10 to 15 percent below six 1-month passes (as of 2025-12).6
JR East trimmed the 6-month discount at revision, lowering the trunk-line 6-month average discount against single fares from 60.3 percent to 59.0 percent (as of 2024-12 application, implemented 2026-03).8 A cheaper off-peak commuter pass continues at about 15 percent below the standard pass with an expanded Tokyo-area zone from 2026-03-14 (as of 2026-03).5
Buying and Loading the Pass
Buy where the route starts or at any counter that handles the issuing operator. The purchase flow below shows the standard choice points.
Adult commuter passes, new or renewed, are sold at multifunction ticket machines, while new child and new student passes require a pass-office counter.1 PASMO rail passes follow the same split: machines with pass functions handle adult renewals and new adult purchases, but new school or child passes and cross-fiscal-year student renewals go to the counter.2
Ticket machine and pass counter
New passes go on sale from 14 days before the start date, so set a future start date instead of burning days early.1 Tokyo Metro machines and pass offices accept credit cards as one-time payments with PIN entry.1
The pass loads onto a registered named IC card, and a new PASMO card purchase needs a 500 yen deposit (as of current handling rules read 2026-09; confirm current figures with PASMO).2 Suica and PASMO area passes are IC-loaded; paper passes persist only with some legacy issuers outside those networks.
Mobile Suica and Mobile PASMO
Work and off-peak passes can be bought inside the Mobile Suica app by registered credit-card payment, but the operation is unavailable while inside the ticket gates.9 Mobile PASMO sells new work rail passes by selecting the operator, boarding and alighting stations, transfer route, start date, and period.9
Some configurations cannot be sold in the app, including child passes and certain multi-company straddles, which the app sends to a counter.10
Child passes and certain cross-company straddles are counter-only even for app users, so check the app route search before assuming a phone purchase works.10
Cross-Operator Transfer Passes
Most real commutes cross a company boundary, for example a JR Yokosuka Line leg plus a Toei subway leg. One IC card can carry both segments as a single transfer pass.4
One IC card across two operators
The issuing rule is simple. A JR East only pass is sold on Suica, a private-railway only pass on PASMO, and a pass valid on both JR East and a private line on either card.4 Toei's smart-pass reservation explicitly covers subway passes that include other-company connecting segments, excluding all-line passes.3
How gates split teikiken and stored fare
The card holds both the pass and stored-fare (SF) e-money. Gates check pass coverage first and deduct only the uncovered portion from the balance.2 Boarding outside the zone or riding past the endpoint triggers an automatic excess-fare deduction for the beyond-pass segment.41
Riding Beyond the Covered Section and Daily Use
The pass works any day, including weekends and holidays, for unlimited rides inside the section.4 A trip wholly outside the section is charged at the full pay-per-ride fare from stored fare.4
The same card also pays as e-money at shops, vending machines, and lockers wherever the IC mark appears.2 Keep a stored-fare balance topped up for off-route segments, since a zero balance blocks the exit gate even when the pass portion is valid.
A pass with no stored-fare balance stalls at the exit gate when the trip extends past the endpoint, so hold a small buffer for excess-fare deductions.2
Good to know
Renew inside the 14-day window or lose the seamless rollover
New passes go on sale 14 days before use starts, and a renewal bought inside the window continues from the day after expiry with no gap.1 Buying late leaves uncovered days that revert to full pay-per-ride fares.
A lost registered pass can be reissued for a handling fee
A lost registered Suica pass is suspended on application and reissued within 14 days for a 520 yen reissue handling fee plus a 500 yen deposit, with a per-pass 220 yen handling item in the reissue accounting (as of current handling rules read 2026-09; confirm current figures with JR East).10 A lost personalized PASMO or commuter pass is reissued at a station or bus office, and surrendered-card refunds return stored fare plus the 500 yen deposit.2
Refunds are monthly based plus a handling fee, so short use loses value
Tokyo Metro refunds deduct used months plus a 220 yen handling fee, and only refunds within 7 days of the start use a daily calculation of round-trip fare times days used plus 220 yen.1 A 3-month or 6-month pass abandoned in week two therefore returns far less than a pro-rata share.
Moving house means a new pass, not an edited route
A route change requires buying a new-route pass and refunding the unneeded remainder under the monthly based formula plus 220 yen.1 A continuing connecting pass can only be handled by the operator that sold it, so confirm with the selling operator after a move.2
See also
- Employer Commuter-Pass Reimbursement
- Mobile Suica and Apple Pay Suica
- Journey-Planning Apps
- IC Transit Cards as Cash Substitutes
- The Bicycle-vs-Public-Transit Decision