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Kanto railways to offer three-day pass for foreign nationals during 2020 Games

Jul 20, 2019 (Japan Times) - East Japan Railway Co. and 25 other railway operators in the Kanto area said Thursday they will sell a three-day train pass for foreign visitors during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

The Tokyo Supporters Pass will allow users to ride trains of any of the 26 firms for an unlimited number of times for any three straight days during the period between July 22 and Aug. 9 next year, and again between Aug. 25 and Sept. 6.

It will be on sale from mid-July to early September next year.

The pass will be made available on JR East’s Suica smart card and the Pasmo electronic money card, adopted by dozens of railway and bus operators.

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Transport disruption from Typhoon No. 7 (Mekkhala) widened further on June 26, with airlines extending weather-related ticket handling to Tokyo airports for June 27 and JR East announcing planned suspensions and reduced service on several conventional lines as the storm moves along Japan’s Pacific side.

As of 4 p.m. on June 26, Typhoon No. 7 was near Amami Oshima and moving northeast while Typhoon No. 8 was over waters south of Japan, with the two storms forecast to approach Tokai and Kanto in succession on June 27 and bring two waves of heavy rain, raising the risk of flooding, landslides and river overflows from western Japan to the Tokyo region.

Japan advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup after a 1-1 draw with Sweden on June 25, finishing second in Group F and setting up a Round of 32 clash with Brazil in Houston.

A powerful earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity of upper 6 struck off Iwate Prefecture at around 7:30 a.m. on June 25, shaking parts of Aomori Prefecture and leaving Hachinohe, which was hit by a similarly strong quake last December, facing fresh damage.

A powerful earthquake registering a maximum intensity of 6 upper on Japan’s seismic scale struck Aomori Prefecture at around 7:30 a.m. today. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the epicenter was off the coast of Iwate Prefecture, with a depth of about 50 kilometers. The earthquake’s magnitude was estimated at 6.9.

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