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Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 7 – Japan & Italy
A map expansion for Ticket to Ride! Using the Train Car cards and Trains from the base game (or from Europe), everyone builds the shared Bullet Train Routes across Japan together and connects the Kyushu and Tokyo subway inset maps networks as well. The other side of the same board holds the Italy map, making it a 2-in-1 expansion.
Rules
Everyone builds the Bullet Train network together. Any player may use a Bullet Train Route for their own tickets, whoever claimed it, but at the end of the game how much you contributed decides a large bonus or a large penalty. Cooperation and competition sit on the same tracks.
First — you need a base game
This box on its own is not playable
It is a map expansion, so you have to bring 20 Trains per player, the matching Scoring Markers, and the Train Car cards from «Ticket to Ride» (North America) or «Europe». It is for 2-5 players.
| What is new in the box | Count |
|---|---|
| Destination Ticket cards | 54 (one box holds both Japan and Italy) |
| White Bullet Train miniatures | 16 |
| Bullet Train Progression Markers | 7 |
Drawing cards, claiming a route, and drawing tickets — those three actions and the end-of-game trigger are the same as in the base game. This guide covers only what changed.
What is different ① Setup and 4 starting tickets
- 1Put the Bullet Train miniatures next to the board.
- 2Each player puts the Bullet Train Progression Marker in their color on the «0» space of the Bullet Train Track on the board.
- 3Deal 4 Destination Tickets to each player. Everyone must keep at least 2, and may keep 3 or all 4 if they want.
- 4Shuffle the discarded tickets together and put them under the deck.
When you draw tickets during the game, you draw 3 and keep at least 1, as in the base game.
What is different ② Bullet Train Routes belong to everyone
Once it is claimed, anyone may use it
Once a Bullet Train Route has been claimed, any player may use it to connect their own Destination Tickets. It makes no difference who claimed it.
- 1To claim one, play as many cards of the same color as there are spaces in the Route. Locomotives work as usual.
- 2You do not score the Route on the score track. Instead, advance your Progression Marker on the Bullet Train Track by the number of cards you just played.
- 3Put a single white Bullet Train miniature on the space of that Route showing the Bullet Train icon. It is not one of your own Train Cars.
The rules change once the miniatures run out
Once all 16 Bullet Train miniatures are used, the remaining Bullet Train Routes become ordinary gray Routes. From then on you claim them with your own Train Cars and the Bullet Train Track advances no further.
What is different ③ The contribution bonus decides the game
At the end of the game your position on the Bullet Train Track earns a bonus or a penalty. The bonus for first place is very large, and never taking part at all is a heavy penalty.
Ties
Tied players all score the points for their position, and the next player scores the points for the position they would have had with no tie. Nobody gets pushed down.
There is no Longest Route bonus
This map has neither the «Longest Route» bonus nor the «Globetrotter» bonus. The Bullet Train contribution takes their place.
What is different ④ Two zoomed-in maps
- The board has separate zoomed-in maps for Kyushu Island and the Tokyo subway.
- Routes in those areas are claimed by the usual rules, with your own Train Cars.
- Tokyo on the main map and Tokyo on the zoomed-in map are the same city, and so are the two Kokuras. A route reaching Tokyo on the main map is therefore connected to every route reaching Tokyo on the zoomed-in map.
A ticket such as «Osaka-Shibuya» needs a connection from Osaka to Tokyo on the main map, and then from Tokyo to Shibuya on the zoomed-in map. You may mix Bullet Train Routes into it.
Double Routes and special cases
- With 4-5 players, both tracks of a Double Route can be used, but one player may not claim both of them.
- With 2-3 players, only one of the two can be used. Once someone claims one, the other is locked.
- Aomori-Hakodate is not a Double Route, because the two routes do not have the same number of spaces. The usual rules apply there.
There is one more end condition
The final round begins when a player is down to 0, 1, or 2 Trains and 0, 1, or 2 Bullet Train miniatures are left at the same time. Running low on trains alone does not end the game.
Rules people get wrong
Q. Can I play with only this box?
No. You have to bring 20 Trains per player and the Train Car cards from the base game or the Europe map.
Q. Do I score points for claiming a Bullet Train Route?
You score no route points. Instead your Bullet Train Track advances by the number of cards you played, and that comes back as a large bonus at the end of the game.
Q. May I use a Bullet Train Route someone else claimed?
Yes, and that is the heart of this map. It looks as though you could wait for others to build it for you, but taking no part at all costs you 20 points, so it does not pay off.
Q. What happens when the Bullet Train miniatures run out?
The remaining Bullet Train Routes become gray Routes. You claim them with your own Train Cars and the contribution track no longer advances.
Q. What about the Longest Route bonus?
This map does not have it. The Bullet Train contribution plays that role.
Q. Is the Tokyo subway part of the Bullet Train network?
No. Routes on the zoomed-in maps are claimed by the usual rules, with your own Train Cars.
History and editions
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Designer | Alan R. Moon |
| Publisher | Days of Wonder, 2019 |
| Contents | Map Collection Volume 7 — one box holds both the Japan and the Italy map |
The Italy map in the same box plays by different rules (bonuses for connecting regions). Japan, «Ticket to Ride with a cooperative streak», is one of the better liked maps in the series.
Sources
Official Days of Wonder rulebook (Ticket to Ride Japan, English)Wiki cross-check — Wikipedia: Ticket to RideRule summaries are reference content written by us, not quotations from the official rulebook. Always check the official rulebook for exact rules. Diagrams are original schematics, not rulebook illustrations.
Spotted a mistake? Tell us in the comments below →
Last updated 2026-09-14
💡 Master tip
If you are the only one building ordinary routes, the Bullet Train contribution penalty will lose you the game. Keep putting cards into the shared Bullet Train Routes and climb the contribution track.
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