A , sometimes abbreviated as , is a form of
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
in
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
which is operated by an entity other than the railway company using the station. These stations are commonly operated by the local municipality, an
agricultural cooperative
An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a producer cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activities.
A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural servic ...
, a store in front of the station, or a private individual. Other than the entity operating the station, there is no difference to the passenger using the station.
The station attendant generally sells passenger tickets through a ticket window and posts the train schedules, while the train conductor or driver handles collection and validation of tickets in most cases. Because the station attendant does not directly deal with the passengers outside of ticket sales, the types of tickets they can sell is generally limited to fare tickets and books of tickets. Because of this, ''kantaku'' stations are considered only one step above an unstaffed station. There are a few places within the
JR East
The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...
and
JR Kyushu
The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...
, however, where the station attendant at a ''kantaku'' station handles the collection of the tickets as well as selling the tickets.
An exception to this are many of the ''kantaku'' stations operating within the area serviced by
JR Central
is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and occasionally as JR Tokai (). The term ''Tōkai'' refers to the southern portion of Central Japan, ...
which have the
MARS
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
logo above the ticket window. These stations can sell tickets for any train within the
JR Group
The Japan Railways Group, commonly known as the or simply JR, is a network of railway companies in Japan formed after the Corporate spin-off, division and privatization of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. ...
, though most cannot be exchanged at a regular railway company operated station.
External links
Research Center of JR tickets - JR Central
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Railway stations in Japan
ja:日本の鉄道駅#簡易委託駅