Pensions, borrowing their name from the French, are another family-run Western-style lodging usually located in seaside or mountain resort areas. JNTO prints and distributes a list of currently 298 pensions which provide overseas visitors with accommodation and food at reasonable cost.
(c)Tourist Restaurants
For budget travelers from abroad, JNTO compiles a list of restaurants in Japan, now totaling 332, which welcome overseas guests and offer food at inexpensive prices.
(d)Directory of Welcome Inns
For budget travelers, with the cooperation of JNTO, the Welcome Inn Reservation Center, run by the International Tourism Center of Japan, produces a list of less expensive accommodations entitled "Directory of Welcome Inns." The directory currently lists (as of March 1995) some 624 reasonably-priced ryokan, business hotels, minshuku, pensions, Kokumin-Shukusha (People's Lodges), and other accommodations.
(e)Japan Rail Pass
For the benefit of tourists coming from abroad, Japan Railways companies sell the Japan Rail Pass which offers unlimited travel throughout JR's entire railway network and most bus networks at specially reduced prices. Vouchers which travelers are required to exchange for the actual passes after their arrival in Japan can be purchased at overseas Japan Airlines ticket offices or authorized travel agents offices abroad.
