SOFA and the Train Pass
 

I have to enter as a temp visitor to be eligible for the rail pass. Now, I'm not stationed in Japan but still eligible to enter under SOFA, just coming for a visit... If I enter under SOFA (hey... it's nice to have some relative extraterritoriality:), can I still use the rail pass? Anyone?

http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en002.html

The people at JR will look for the "temporary visitor" label in your passport before exchanging your voucher for a rail pass. I'm not sure what you get in your passport if you enter under SOFA but I think this means that you have to choose between SOFA and being eligible for a rail pass.

I am not a lawyer, but perhaps with SOFA you could evade rail fares, refuse to pay the fines and then demand to be tried in a court martial rather than under the Japanese legal system. (?) I doubt that it would save you money in the long run.

If you're travelling under SOFA, you are ineligible to the JR pass as you won't be there under temporary visitor status for sightseeing purposes.

They've gotten much stricter about enforcing the JR Pass requirements in the past few years.

okie... My ID stays in the bag then and I'll succumb to the fingerprinting then :)

herzmeh - You'll still be able to get into the military hotels and stuff with your military ID - so if you need a HUGE HAMBURGER, don't worry. But if you want to travel for cheap, you need to be a temporary visitor. ;)

Hey, if you need a HUGE HAMBURGER, leave your id in the bag and go to any Kua'Aina store!

According to what I read in Stars & Stipes you would need much more then just a Military ID card to be exempt from the fingerprint procedures. I'm not in DoD to know the items, but don't you require additional items like travel orders/leave orders and such?

You do, which I'd have.

Although on SOFA status and exempt from fingerprinting and photo, I still had to use regular line last week. I think I will make the effort to register before my next departure just to get into the shorter line.

Marc