T R A N S P O R T

Fare Evasion in Japan: Why You Can't Just Pay a Fine

Jumping a fare gate in Japan isn't a fine — it's a criminal offense. How detection works, real penalties, and what to do when your IC card has insufficient balance.

Quick Answer

If the gate closes because your IC card has insufficient balance, use the fare adjustment machine (精算機 seisanki) next to the gates. This is NOT fare evasion — it’s normal.
Jumping over or sneaking through fare gates is fare evasion (不正乗車 fusei jōsha). In Japan, this is NOT a “pay a fine and move on” situation.
If caught: 3x the fare is charged immediately (fare + 2x surcharge). Serious cases lead to arrest and criminal charges.
Honest mistakes — insufficient balance, forgot to tap, overshot your station — just tell the station staff. They deal with this every day. No penalty.

Using a commuter pass (定期券 teikiken) outside its valid zone without paying the difference = fare evasion. IC records flag this automatically.
Penalty: 3x the fare minimum. Habitual cases can be prosecuted as computer fraud (up to 10 years imprisonment).
Commuter pass fraud can be reported to your employer. Termination cases exist.
Insufficient balance or accidental overrides? Use the fare adjustment machine or manned gate. No penalty for honest mistakes.

Japan Is Different From Your Country

In Paris, you jump the metro turnstile, get caught, pay a €60 fine, and walk away. In London, it’s £100. In New York, it’s $100. Administrative penalties. No criminal record. You pay and forget about it.

In Japan, fare evasion is a criminal offense. Not a civil infraction. Not an administrative fine. A crime that can give you a criminal record and, in serious cases, land you in prison for up to 10 years.

Transport for London reported fare evasion rates of 4.8% on the Underground and 2.6% on buses in 2024-25 (TfL FOI-0335-2526), costing £188 million in lost revenue. Japan doesn’t publish statistics because the rate is so low it’s barely measurable. Why? Almost 100% of stations have automated fare gates. Every IC card tap creates an entry and exit record. The system catches everything.

You can’t just blend into the crowd here. The gates close. The alarms sound. Station staff appear within seconds. There’s nowhere to go.

What the Law Says

The Railway Business Act, Article 29 (enacted in 1900, still in force) makes it a criminal offense to ride without a valid ticket. The original text reads: “鉄道係員ノ許諾ヲ受ケスシテ…有効ノ乗車券ナクシテ乗車シタルトキ” (riding without a valid ticket without permission from railway staff).

The penalty: up to ¥20,000 fine. That sounds minor, but it’s a criminal conviction. It goes on your record. For tourists, this can affect future visa applications. For residents, it can affect employment and immigration status.

This is a 親告罪 (shinokuzai) — a crime that requires the railway company to file a complaint. Most companies don’t prosecute first-time offenders who cooperate and pay the surcharge. But they can. And for repeat offenders, they do.

The “3x Fare” Rule

JR East’s Passenger Rules, Article 264, states: “proper fare plus a surcharge equivalent to twice the fare.” In plain language: you pay the unpaid fare plus double that amount as a penalty.

The math: unpaid fare × 3 = what you actually pay.

Example: The fare from Shinjuku to Tokyo is ¥210. If you’re caught evading that fare, you pay ¥630 (¥210 + ¥420 surcharge).

This applies to all forms of fare evasion:

Jumping gates
Using someone else’s commuter pass
Using a child’s IC card as an adult
Buying a minimum-fare ticket and riding further (called “kiseru” fraud)
Exiting through an unstaffed gate without paying

Article 265 extends this to commuter pass fraud: using a pass outside its valid zone without paying the difference. Same 3x rule.

When It Gets Serious: Criminal Charges

For repeat offenders or malicious cases, prosecutors use Computer Fraud (Criminal Code Article 246-2). This carries a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment (拘禁刑, updated from the former 懲役 term in the 2022 Criminal Code reform).

The landmark case: Tokyo District Court, June 25, 2012 (Hanrei Times No. 1384, p. 363). A man repeatedly used automated fare gates with a commuter pass outside its valid zone for approximately two years, evading roughly ¥300,000 in fares. The court ruled that deceiving an automated system (the fare gate) to obtain a service (train travel) constitutes computer fraud. First conviction of its kind for fare evasion. Sentenced to 1 year 6 months imprisonment, suspended for 3 years.

Gate jumping can also be charged as trespassing (建造物侵入罪 kenzōbutsu shinnyu-zai): up to 3 years imprisonment or a ¥100,000 fine. Once you jump the gate, you’re unlawfully inside railway property.

The message is clear: Japan treats automated fare evasion as seriously as stealing from a person.

What Actually Happens If You’re Caught

Here’s the step-by-step process:

Gate closes or alarm sounds. If you try to exit without a valid entry record, or if sensors detect tailgating, the gate stays closed and an alarm goes off.
Station staff approaches. Usually within 30 seconds. They’ll ask you to step aside to the station office (駅務室 ekimu-shitsu).
ID check. They’ll ask for your passport (tourists) or residence card (residents). They record your details.
Immediate payment. You pay the fare plus the 2x surcharge (3x total). Cash only in most cases.
Sign acknowledgment document. Called a 自認書 (jinin-sho), this is a written admission that you committed fare evasion and paid the surcharge. You sign it.

First offense, cooperative attitude: You pay the 3x fare, sign the document, and leave. No police involvement. No criminal charges. But your details are on file.

Habitual offender, aggressive behavior, or attempted escape: Police are called. You’re arrested. Criminal charges follow. You get a criminal record.

The railway company decides whether to prosecute based on:

Whether it’s your first offense
Whether you cooperated
The amount of the unpaid fare
Whether there’s evidence of intent (e.g., buying minimum-fare tickets repeatedly)

How Fare Gates Catch You

Japan’s fare gate system is designed to make evasion nearly impossible. Here’s how it works:

IC entry/exit matching: When you tap in, the system records your entry station. When you tap out, it records your exit station and calculates the fare. No entry record? You can’t exit. No exit record from your last trip? You can’t enter next time.

Entry/exit cross-matching systems (late 1990s onward): Systems like Odakyu Railway’s “Fair-Through System” (1999) cross-reference entry and exit stations across different railway companies. They detect “kiseru” fraud — buying a ticket for the first and last segments of a journey but not the middle. Named after a Japanese smoking pipe (metal ends, bamboo middle — you pay for the ends, not the middle).

Infrared and pressure sensors: Detect when two people try to pass through on one ticket (tailgating). The gate closes and an alarm sounds.

CCTV at every gate: JR East announced plans to install approximately 22,000 cameras across 1,200 stations by 2020 (Nikkei, March 2019), with ongoing expansion to trains. Footage is used as evidence in prosecution cases.

IC usage pattern analysis: The system flags suspicious patterns: always buying minimum-fare tickets, frequent fare adjustment machine use at the same station, commuter pass used outside valid zones. These trigger manual checks.

You’re not outsmarting this system. It’s been refined over 25 years specifically to catch every form of evasion.

What to Do When You Make an Honest Mistake

This is the section most readers actually need. Honest mistakes happen all the time. Station staff deal with them every day. There’s no penalty if you’re upfront about it.

Insufficient IC Balance

What you see: The gate beeps, displays “残高不足” (Zanryō Busoku / Insufficient Balance), and the doors close.

What to do:

Look for the fare adjustment machine (精算機 seisanki). It’s always near the exit gates, inside the gate area. Look for signs that say のりこし精算 (norikoshi seisan).
Insert your IC card. The screen shows how much you’re short. Insert cash (bills or coins). The machine adds the amount to your card. Retrieve your card.
Exit through the gate normally.

No cash? Go to the manned gate (有人改札 yūjin kaisatsu). Say: “Zanryō busoku desu” (残高不足です / “Insufficient balance”). The staff will process the payment manually. You can pay by card at some stations.

Forgot to Tap In

What you see: The exit gate displays “入場記録がありません” (Nyūjō kiroku ga arimasen / No entry record).

What to do: Go to the manned gate. Say: “Touch shi-wasuremashita” (タッチし忘れました / “I forgot to tap”). Tell them where you boarded (show them on a map if needed). The staff checks your IC card history, processes the fare manually, and lets you through. No penalty.

Overshot Your Station (Fell Asleep)

What to do: Tell station staff: “Nori-sugoshimashita” (乗り過ごしました / “I overshot my stop”). They’ll help you get back to your intended station. Usually there’s no extra charge — you just ride back. Some staff will give you a 乗り越し証明書 (norikoshi shōmeisho / overshoot certificate) so you can exit at your original destination without paying again.

Lost Your Paper Ticket

What to do: Go to the manned gate. Say: “Kippu o nakushimashita” (きっぷをなくしました / “I lost my ticket”). You’ll need to pay the fare again from the furthest possible starting point (usually the terminal station). If you find the ticket later, you can request a refund, but it’s a hassle. This is why everyone uses IC cards.

Troubleshooting Table

Problem	Cause	Solution
Gate won’t open	Insufficient IC balance	Use fare adjustment machine (精算機). Cash only at most stations
”No entry record” displayed	Forgot to tap in	Go to manned gate, tell staff your boarding station
”No exit record” on next entry	Forgot to tap out last time	Go to manned gate, tell staff where you exited last time
Can’t find fare adjustment machine	Not looking in right place	Always inside gate area, near exit gates. Look for のりこし精算 signs
Station staff doesn’t understand you	Language barrier	Show translator app. “Fare adjustment” is widely understood
Missed last train after overshooting	Fell asleep	Ask staff for taxi or nearby hotel options

The key principle: If you’re confused or made a mistake, just tell the station staff. They’re not looking to punish honest mistakes. They deal with insufficient balance, forgotten taps, and lost tickets dozens of times per day. It’s routine.

What gets you in trouble is trying to sneak through or pretending nothing happened.

FAQ

Q: Is having insufficient IC balance fare evasion?

A: No. Use the fare adjustment machine or tell station staff. This is normal and happens to everyone. The gate closes specifically to prevent you from accidentally committing fare evasion.

Q: Can tourists get arrested for fare evasion?

A: For intentional evasion, yes — nationality doesn’t matter. The law applies equally. But no tourist has been reported arrested for an honest mistake like insufficient balance or forgetting to tap. If you’re confused, just ask station staff.

Q: What if I used a child’s IC card as an adult?

A: That’s fare evasion. Child fares are roughly half of adult fares. If caught, you pay 3x the difference for every trip detected (the system logs all your trips). Serious cases are prosecuted as computer fraud (up to 10 years imprisonment). Multiple arrests have been reported. Don’t do it.

Q: How long do IC card records last?

A: JR East IC card history is stored for at least 26 weeks (~6 months). The system stores your travel history and can detect patterns retroactively. Habitual fare evaders have been caught months after the fact when their usage patterns were flagged for review.

Q: I accidentally exited at the wrong station. Am I in trouble?

A: No. Go to the manned gate or fare adjustment machine. Pay the difference if you traveled further than your original destination. This is expected and routine. No penalty.

Q: Is it really that strict compared to other countries?

A: Yes. In Paris, you pay a €60 fine and walk away. In Japan, you could face criminal charges and up to 10 years in prison for repeat offenses. The cultural and legal context is completely different. Don’t test it.

Last verified: February 2026

Sources:

Railway Business Act (Meiji 33 Law No. 65), Articles 29 & 30-2 — e-Gov Laws
Temporary Measures Act for Fines (Showa 23 Law No. 251), Article 2 — e-Gov Laws
Criminal Code (Meiji 40 Law No. 45), Articles 130 (Trespassing) & 246-2 (Computer Fraud) — e-Gov Laws
JR East Passenger Rules, Art. 264 (Surcharge) & Art. 265 (Commuter pass fraud) — JR East
Tokyo District Court, June 25, 2012 (Hanrei Times No. 1384, p. 363) — First computer fraud conviction for fare gate evasion
TfL FOI-0335-2526 (May 2025) — TfL fare evasion rates by mode
Nikkei “JR East: Security Cameras at All Stations” (March 5, 2019) — JR East CCTV deployment plan