Ads for JR’s “Seishun 18″ rail pass celebrate the isolated beauty of Japan’s most far-flung stations

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It seems so easy to plan an entire Japan vacation around a single tour of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The mega city has just about everything a tourist could possibly want to see, from Akihabara’s blinding neon to the breathtaking skyline of Yokohama, to the quiet, old-world charm (and weird poop sculpture) of Asakusa.

But to not venture away from Tokyo, to Japan’s more far-flung and lesser-known destinations is to rob yourself of the grander Japan experience, and Japan Rail (JR) has long sought to encourage visitors, both domestic and foreign, to wander off the beaten path with the Seishun 18 unlimited rail pass. And, if the idea of unlimited access to JR’s vast and far-reaching network of tracks isn’t enough to inspire your sense of adventure on your next Japan visit, perhaps these ads for the Seishun 18 rail pass, which depict the isolated beauty of some of Japan’s most remote train stations, will be.

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These brilliant posters, which have adorned train stations throughout Japan for a few years now in a long-running campaign promoting the Seishun 18 ticket, celebrate the breathtaking vistas of remote locations as far north as Aomori at the northernmost tip of the main island of Honshu, as close to Tokyo as the beaches Kamakura, and all sorts of spectacular places in between. It’s hard for us to pick out the exact location of some of these, but they’re all amazing nonetheless:

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Each poster is accompanied by some brilliantly simple copy that’s hard to do justice in English, but those studying Japanese are sure to be moved by some of the heart string-tugging tag lines.

And, while we’re on the topic of travel posters depicting gorgeous Japanese locales, here are a few Kyoto-specific ads from a campaign that’s also been running a few years concurrent. Just because we love you!

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