People would often like to take their vacations in Japan to learn more of the history and culture, but when they start checking, they discover the price is too high and end up in other Asian countries that offer multi-bargains. A reader has heard of the new low fares soon to be available within Japan and wonders how he can travel to other prefectures instead of other countries without making a major investment.

So I called JAL and asked about their discount tickets. For background, Japan's airlines are restructuring their domestic air fares as a result of a recent deregulation of rules which set upper and lower price limits. From April, when the new fares come into use, travelers will be able to fly for much less than before. Sometimes.

Because new names have been created for the new fares, bargain hunters should learn the proper terms for the various types of tickets. With only a few basic words, you can explain to a Japanese travel agent what you want -- and get it. You must also be flexible. There are a variety of plans such as leaving early, advance bookings and being able to travel at a certain time. Here are some examples based on the new JAL fares that will be available from April 1 through June 30; July-August fares will be announced later. There are even some that apply during Golden Week when the price trend is ever upward the closer one gets to the holiday period. Prices are quoted from Tokyo, but they apply throughout JAL's domestic system.

MAE-URI are advance sale tickets. They can be booked two months in advance but must be ordered at least 21 days before use. Discounts can be as high as 66 percent. They are available on 32 of JAL's 49 domestic routes, but they fluctuate according to season and day of the week. Example: for Tokyo-Sapporo between April 10 and April 28, the Mae-uri fare, Monday through Thursday, is only 9,900 yen. The usual one-way fare is 28,000 yen. The average discount rate for these fares is 44 percent during the April-June period.

TOKU-URI, meaning special sale, will be applied to some JAL routes as special discount fares that do not need to be purchased 21 days in advance although they must be booked by the day before travel. Usually they apply to early morning and late evening flights, but there are exceptions. Toku-uri fares will be available on 24 routes from April 1 through May 31, with the exception of the peak travel period of Golden Week which this year is between April 29 and May 7 and when -- no surprise here -- the discounts generally get smaller and the number of routes where they are offered goes down to 12.

Here are some examples: JL931 Tokyo-Okinawa tickets are discounted from 34,500 yen to 18,000 yen, a 48 percent discount on the normal fare. However (isn't there always one) the flight leaves Haneda at 6:30 a.m. Well, all the more time in Okinawa. On two routes, Tokyo-Sapporo and Tokyo-Fukuoka, there are cut-rate round trip fares called Ofuku-toku-uri, or "deep special sale." These discounts are available on designated flights during April and up to May 7 in the case of the Sapporo flights, with discounts of up to 55 percent. On the Tokyo-Sapporo route the Ofuku-toku-uri round trip fare varies from 40,000 yen (4/1-10) down to a low of 26,000 yen (4/11-28). There is even a Golden Week bargain -- take the first plane in the morning and the last flight back at night for 25,200 yen. The one-way fare is usually 28,000 yen. For round trips between Tokyo-Fukuoka between April 1 through April 29 the fare is 32,000 yen on 13 of the 24 daily flights. The usual one-way fare is 31,000 yen.

If your Japanese is Internet good, you can save an average of 25 percent on any regular domestic JAL ticket May 15-June 14 through the JAL home page (www.jal.co.jp/) . These are E-WARI tickets, E for electronic, wari meaning discount. The goal is to boost ticket sales through the Web which now claims only about 5 percent. However, the usage rate is expected to increase rapidly as people become familiar with e-commerce.

Who knows what this may lead to, but let's hope! Japan has tended to keep things generally at the same level -- it costs about the same for long distance travel whether you go by plane, train or car. With this breakthrough, perhaps JR will start offering deep discounts on mid-afternoon Shinkansen trains!