Tetsuin – 3rd sector railways passenger/train seals

I love Japanese trains. On my trips, I would try to experience some of these trains. One thing I learned is that rural trains and 3rd sector trains are not always appreciated. These trains service the communities and are not as frequent as the usual big city trains. 

To boost ridership and help local tourism, 40 3rd sector railway companies started to collaborate to have a train seal or “Tetsuin”. It is a play off the temple/shrine’s Goshuin seal. 

I came across this article on Japan Rail Times website written by Carissa Loh. 

https://japanrailtimes.japanrailcafe.com.sg/web/article/rail-travel/the-world-of-tetsuin

It fascinated me. So  I decided to try to get some on my trips. Obviously not living in Japan, I won’t complete these as much as I would like. 

https://tabiyomi.yomiuri-ryokou.co.jp/news/000548.html

*= Iron seal location

Everything I got was from that article and I’m just getting info from the links. 

Tetsuincho

In order to get a Tetsuin, you have to have the book, a Tetsuincho. The Tetsuincho comes comes in 2 version. Regular and Free. The regular version has dedicated pages to the railway company’s Ttetsuin. The Free version (not free as in price) doesn’t have dedicated pages, just blank pages. 

There are updates now with 2024 and 2025. There have released a Tetsuincho for Tohoku and Tokai companies.

The Railways

Originally there were 40 railway companies throughout Japan. 

In mid 2024, 6 more companies were added to the list. These companies were based in the Tohoku region. 

 

In 2025, 10 more companies were added to the list. These companies are based in the Tokai region.

I have gotten a few Tetsuin due them being on the way or the route I am on. A couple were very far and I questioned getting it afterwards because it was very time consuming. This became a hurdle to a few more Tetsuin on my previous trips in 2024.

I was using the Hokuriku Arch Pass and when I was mapping out going to Noto Peninsula to get on their Tetsuin, it was going to be a majority of the day spent there. Granted, the point of a Tetsuin is to ride a local line and help with the tourism there. It’s just that being limited on time, you don’t always have a lot of time to go to these outerlying areas. 

I was also trying to get 2 in San’n area, but I didn’t get up early enough, so it would have been a waste of a day just being on trains. 

What Tetsuin I did get:

March 2024 – I didn’t get a Tetsuin. I read that the Railway Goods store offered the Tetsuin and it didn’t. By the time I got to Omama station (Wakarase railway), Tetsuincho (book) was sold out and they couldn’t sell me the Tetsuin (must have the book). I was able to get a Tetsuin that supported the Noto Peninsula/Noto Railways (due to the earthquake a few month earlier in 2024) rebuild efforts.

 

I returned in July 2024 and got a Tetsuincho right away. I was also using the JR Hokuriku Arch Pass. Many of the Tetsuin were along the stations. I did miss out on Shinano Railways (forgot they had a Tetsuin at Komoro station). I did get Echigo Tomeki (Naoetsu station), Hokuetsu Express (Tokamachi station), Ainokaze Railway (Toyama station) and Ishikawa Railway (Kanazawa station). 

A few days later I was able to get the Tarumi Railway Tetsuin (Motosu station), then I took a day to go to Amanohashidate for the Kyoto Tango Tetsuin. The final Tetsuin for that trip was when I went to Gujo Hachiman. I drove since I had my family. Nagaragawa Railways tetsuin was there.

Tokamachi station was what made me realize that some of the stations took a lot of time. This became really apparent when I was planning to go to Noto Peninsula and the station was hours away. Then the other Tetsuin I was planning to get were all day affairs, so I didn’t follow through. 

Shigaraki Kogen Railways (Shigaraki station), Hojo Railways (Hojomachi station, Chizu Railways (Kamigori station) and Ibara Railways (Ibara station) were the failures of the trip. Hojo, Chizu and Ibara were going to be an all day deal, but I work up late and didn’t get to my starting point until around noon… so I decided to call it off. 

 

Unexpected trip in November 2024, this time I was using the JR Tohoku Pass. This was also the time when the decided that 6 more companies would join the Tetsuin group. 

Timing and exploring gave me scheduling conflicts. I don’t always want my trips to be SOLELY based on getting a tetsuin… it always has to be a balance. My trip started in Chiba. I had to stay for 3 days. I was doing a conference on education leave, but I had to do the conference in Pacific time (in Japan, that is night time). During the day, I plotted specific places to check out for a couple hours. 

I was planning to get the Isumi Railways (which is deep in the Boso Peninsula), but there was an accident a few weeks earlier, so they cancelled the service until things were fixed. 

There are a few Tetsuin in Tohoku, but a few were quite a distance away. So I focused on the ones I could easily get. I bought the Tohoku Tetsuincho at Fukushima station. Abukuma Express is at a lower platform at Fukushima station, but also the Fukushima Transportation Train’s platform. The Tetsuin would be at the terminal station of Izaka Onsen, where you can get their Tetsuin (they were one of the recently added companies). 

I also got the Sendai Airport Transit Tetsuin at Sendai Airport. I stayed the night in Morioka. The early morning, I headed to Hirosaki station where the Konan Railway Tetsuin is located. I was also trying to go  to Tsugaru-Goshogawara Station for Tsuruga Railways Tetsuin, but I didn’t have time to wait for the train going that way. 

When I go to Hachinohe station,  was waiting for the Aomori train to take me to their station with the Tetsuin, but it would be another hour until then and it being around 3pm, so I headed back to Morioka station in hopes of getting back in time to get Iwate Galaxy Railway’s Tetsuin. By the time I got back, the office would be closed. So that was a failure. 

 

As of this writing (April 8th, 2025), I have 2 trips planned in 2025. 

April trip – Shikoku, Kobe, Kansai, Nagoya, and Tokyo (I usually spend time outside of Tokyo). With the added Tokai Tetsuin, I think I will be able to get a few. It sucks as last year, I went to a few of these stations when they didn’t have Tetsuin, but I was going there for eki stamps.  

I am starting my trip with a couple days in Shikoku, but the Tetsuin are hours away in Tokushima and Kochi. They are not easily accessible from the main stations, but spending a couple hours going to the outer stations. Which makes getting them tough. I looked at getting the Tetsuin in Kochi and it’s 3 hours one way and back to where I am staying at (Marugame). That is a good chunk of the day I want to do some exploring. It is the same with the Tetsuin in Tokushima. I won’t attempt to get those until I actually spend more time in Kochi and Tokushima (I plan to drive around Shikoku in the future).

With the added 10 more companies to the Tokai region, I think I’ll be able to get a few more. I still have a couple of Tetsuin I need to take care of in Nagoya, plus a couple of Castles. 

 

October trip – This trip so far has been planned for Kyushu Island (I will possibly be able to get a few there). Then my wife and her sister (along with the kids and her best friend) plan to go to Osaka for USJ/Harry Potter. I think I will take this time to go to Hokkaido for a few days and meet them back down in Tokyo. 

During that time, I am hoping to get a few of the Tetsuin in Kyushu and to add on, many of the Kyushu stations/railways also have passenger seals for the Kyushu region as well. That is the mission. If I do go to Hokkaido, I will possibly get the Tetsuin in Hakodate. 

Update will be after each trip.