How to use the tabiwa Hiroshima Wide Pass 広島ワイドパス at Miyajima and Rabbit Island (Okunoshima)
Available to residents
The Hiroshima wide pass 広島ワイドパス is a regional pass offered by JR West as part of “tabiwa by WESTER”. It is a fully digital 3-day transport pass that covers unlimited travel on certain JR services within the coverage area.
More details of the coverage area are on the tabiwa web portal. In particular, we’re interested in these:
- JR local trains to Miyajimaguchi
宮島口station, Mihara三原station, and Tadanoumi忠海station. - JR ferry from Miyajimaguchi port to Miyajima island.
- Ferry from Tadanoumi port to Okunoshima
大久野島(rabbit island).
Buy the pass
Buying the pass is relatively straightforward from the tabiwa web portal. You’ll need to register for a (free) WESTER ID to buy and use the pass. The date of use is selected during purchase.
This pass is fully digital, it can’t be printed nor screenshot, and it’s not a QR code. For the duration of use you’ll need a smartphone with a data plan, and of course to be able to login using the WESTER ID.
Retrieve the pass
After logging in to tabiwa, go to the “ticket management チケット管理” page, then the “in-use 利用前・利用中” tab, and click on the pass. In the next screen click on the blue “use ticket チケットを使う” button.
On the first use there will be a confirmation screen to activate the pass.
The pass will appear on the screen showing the start date, number of valid days and number of people. This is the screen to show the staff at ticket gantries. Note that if the pass is for a group, everyone uses the same screen and has to pass through at the same time (ie, the pass can’t be “split up”).
Use the pass
JR trains
At JR train stations, show the pass to the staff at the gantries. This applies for both entry and exit. Note that this pass only covers local trains and non-reserved seats 普通列車普通車自由席. Check with the staff on the top-ups needed for other train types.
Miyajima ferry
There are two ferry operators and this pass covers only the JR ferry. When going to Miyajima, purchase the Miyajima visitor tax ticket, then show both the tax ticket and the pass to the staff at the gantry. On the return trip, just show the pass to the staff at the gantry, no tax ticket required.
Okunoshima (rabbit island) ferry
At the Tadanoumi port, show the pass at the ticketing counters of the Rabbit Island Ferry Terminal Shop to obtain the ferry tickets. Make sure round-trip tickets (往復 oufuku) are issued. Show the ferry tickets to the staff when boarding.
If you need ferry tickets while on the island (eg, if the rabbits ate the paper tickets), it seems that they can be obtained from the reception of the hotel on the island named “Kyukamura Ohkunoshima 休暇村大久野島”.
Troubleshoot
The pass screen can be kept in the background, but it times out once in a while. Just use the same steps again to retrieve the pass.
The pass can be retrieved from either the web portal or the tabiwa app, but on only one of them. The pass can also only be used on one device. Otherwise an error code E229 occurs complaining about simultaneous usage “他の端末でチケットを利用中のため、表示できません。” If this error appears, try logging out from all other sessions, then clearing the cache from the desired device or simply waiting. If you’re inside a ticketed area when this error appears, my experience is that you can exit the gantries by showing the error code to the staff, but not be able to enter gantries until the error resolves.
Misc
This pass also covers the sightseeing loop bus within Hiroshima city Meipuru-pu めいぷる～ぷ which goes to many attractions within the city.
The pass also covers the JR train to Onomichi 尾道 station, and the boat from Onomichi port to Setoda 瀬戸田 port and from Mihara port to Setoda port, from which Kosanji 耕三寺 is accessible.
Other passes by tabiwa for the area around Hiroshima:
- Hiroshima East Pass
広島イーストパス - Miyajima and Setouchi tabiwa area pass
宮島·瀬戸内 tabiwaぐるりんパス
