Is there a commuter pass Tokyo to Gunma

I want to know if I can avail a commuter pass for this travel route(Tokyo(Minamisenju) to Gunma(Shin isesaki/isesaki) as I'm currently attending driving school but I live in Tokyo.


Hope someone can give me an idea.

Thank you.

I strongly request not to Buy commuter pass
From tokyo to gunma
My japanese friend tell ,i need following yen
30 Days=111190 yen
90 Days=316880 yen

But you can buy JR tokyo wide pass
3 Day=10180 yen

If you don't mind a long trip on a local service of Tobu Isesaki line,

in case Minanisenju-Kitasenju is Tokyo Metro :
JPY35,970 (1month)
JPY10,520 (3month)
JPY194,250 (6month)

in case Minanisenju-Kitasenju is JR, it is even cheaper.

Are you going daily (or at least 5 days / week) to Gunma for driving lessons??

Generally commuting passes pay off when you commute, i.e. go every day from A to B and back. Like going to work or university. If so, you can ask at any JR counter what the commuting pass would cost. Also a commuting pass as far as I know is minimum 1 month.
So unless you need at least 1 month of daily driving lessons all of them in Gunma, then it cannot pay off.
However if you only need to go there sometimes (let's say less than 5 times a week or less than a month in duration) you will need individual tickets. There could be some deals, like the 3 day pass someone mentioned, but some of these passes are not for residents or have other restrictions. A JR counter can probably answer all these questions best.

Just wondering, why is your driving school in Gunma, if you live in Tokyo? I mean, yeah, it might be much cheaper... but once you factor in commuting cost and time, it seems hard to imagine that it is still cheaper.

Thank you all for your response ☺️

At first I plan to rent a room in Gunma but there's limited availability and the place that's available is still far from the school and cannot be service by the school's shuttle bus. The only place I find that is also cheap is near the station that is route for Isesaki.

I inquire already near where I live which is in Hokkaido but they don't accept gaijin. And the one I search for Tokyo English school have bad reviews. The school in Gunma is referred by my friend and I can borrow the books as well.

I plan to graduate as soon as possible that's why my instructor is helping me get a schedule for the driving lesson and attend as much lesson everyday.

It's kinda complicated tho. I think the hardest part is the place to rent.

That's why I opt to have commuter pass but need info if it's worth it.

The commuter pass route is round trip right?

The commuter pass route is round trip right?

Yes, commuter passes are round trips on the pre-established route. I.e. it is not simply from A to B, but it is from A to B following route xyz.

In some other countries you get commuter passes that are for an entire region and you can use any station within the region, but not so in Japan, you have to decide on the start and stop train station AND on the exact train lines you are going to take. So just as an example if you want to go to from Tokyo Station to Shinjuku station and have a commuter pass from JR, you need to use the direct JR train, but you could also buy a commuter pass Toei subway line, in which case you would need to use a subway train and not the JR trains. (Just an example). I guess for travelling out to Gunma, there aren't that many options.

Ah so if my route when I go to Isesaki is fr Minami-senju to shin isesaki; when I go back home it will be the same route? Should I be worried about the time?

I'm confused 🤔😂

Ah so if my route when I go to Isesaki is fr Minami-senju to shin isesaki; when I go back home it will be the same route?

Yes. However from what I can see from Google Maps there isnt really an alternative route. What I wanted to warn you about, is that e.g. if on the way home for any reason you want to go e.g. through Omiya (because you want to visit a friend there), that is not possible with the commuter pass. You need to stay on the "track" that you have the commuter pass for.

Also I think that some of the very fast trains might be excluded from commuter pass.

If you are currently in Tokyo, really the best you can do is ask to a Tobu rail counter and let them explain to you which options there are and if any of their express trains are excluded.

Should I be worried about the time?

Well, it is a 2 h commute in 1 way to get from Minami Senju to Shin Isesaki plus you will need to add some more commuting time from Shin Isesaki to your driving school. So roughly you will spend every day you go to driving lessons about 5 - 5.5 h on transport or waiting for transport. I would be worried about so much time spent. Are you not working or attending university?

Also it is about 5,000 yen both ways to even get there and a commuting pass, as explained above, will only be cheaper (and not by drastic amounts) if you go there at least 5 days a week. So very roughly I would expect that the commuting pass will be about 80,000 yen per month. (Just an educated guess,I tried finding the actual amount, but can't find a calculator on the Tobu webpage... but it does lists their offices and hours:
https://www.tobu.co.jp/railway/ticket/commuter_pass/
I would probably recommend to go to Kita Senju and ask there. That was a place where a lot of foreign tourists would start their trip to Nikko, so some of the employees might be able to speak English.

Are there really no other options closer to Minami Senju that offer English driving lessons? Maybe the friend who recommended the school in Gunma was living in Saitama or otherwise closer to that school so it made sense for her/him. But living in Tokyo it seems a very time intensive option to go to Gunma for each driving lesson plus with the commute it will likely also be more expensive than a school in Tokyo or let's say Chiba.

Did you have a look if there are somewhere intensive driving lessons? (gasshuku menkyo (合宿免許) These are like summer intensive courses, let's say 2 - 3 weeks somewhere in the countryside to learn driving and come back home with the driving license. I.e. you actually stay there.

Your decision will also depend on if you actually already can drive or not. I.e. if you need to learn driving from 0 you will obviously need a lot more driving lessons. However if you actually have a driving permit from your home country, but need to pass the Japanese driving exam because you cannot simply switch it to a Japanese one, well, you already know how to drive, so you will need much less driving lessons.

Ah if that's the case, the 35,970 is already RT fee for a month?

For the time I mean the schedule departure fr each station. Sorry i didn't make it clear though 😅

I've been attending for a week now and I think I need to do something about my transpo fees 💸💸💸 I'm lucky I found this forum by intense researching. Haha. But thanks you so much for the advise of asking in the tobu center. Hopefully they can accommodate me.

I took a leave fr work just to attend driving school and regarding the driving camp just for 2/3 weeks I think it's not gonna be worth it cuz I've known people who did that but failed and need to take the 4 test in our préfecture. For me I just need at least the 100 test exam to get the japanese driver's license.

Also for the driving school in Tokyo when I search it online only few schools appear and they have bad review or either didn't reply.

I know why my second post with additional info based on my experience as a former Gunma resident who used to commute to Tokyo, was deleted..

In that post, I mentioned about express train that some commuters take sometimes when they are too tired to do a long journey on a local service, paying express (sheet) fee.

That means commuters' pass excludes express fee. Meanwhile, app 5000yen for return seems to be the price in case you take the express train. It is because single fare Mimamisenju - Isesaki (Metro+Tobu) is app 1400yen and express train fee (on Tobu section) is app 1000yen.

So, commuters pass itself does not cost like 80,000 yen per month if you do Metro/JR, + Tobu route, and price I mentioned in my first post is one I got from quick search on yahoo.jp. Yes, I couldn't get it with Tobu's site as well. I think asking at Kitasenju is better, too. Then you calculate actual cost with/without use of express train. (you don't have to take an express train both ways, you can still take outbound/inbound only).

Ah if that's the case, the 35,970 is already RT fee for a month?

Yes, it is for return (round trip) on local service (not express one).

Again, I suggest you to enquire at the station for latest info.

And, please let me correct 'I know' to 'I don't know' at the beginning on my previous post.

Anyway, good luck with your lessons.

Oh yep, i do that actually when I go home I do ryomo lmtd. Express. It's actually 1050 yen plus 1k something fr shin isesaki to kita senju. So sometimes it also depends on the time you ride the route. Sometimes it's cheaper.

I'll ask(tobu counter in kita senju) tomorrow cuz I ask my sensei in driving school and she said I cannot take commuter pass(reg or student).

Anyways thank you for all your help. I'll work hard, thank you for your good luck ne ☺️

I'll give update so others will be informed as well 😉