The condition that 'you don't get a discount unless you travel over 100km' is a high hurdle
Starting in April 2025, it seems that holders of the Mental Disability Health and Welfare Handbook will also be able to use half-price 'base fare tickets only' for sections exceeding 100km on JR and other lines, just like people with physical or intellectual disabilities.
One-way 100km base fare ticket: approximately 2,000 yen → half price is 1,000 yen
For a round trip: 2,000 yen discount
However, limited express tickets (reserved or non-reserved seats, etc.) are not eligible for the discount, so it's about 1,500 yen one way
Round-trip limited express ticket: 3,000 yen
In the end, it calculates to 5,000 yen in total (after the discount)
In other words, the discount on the base fare alone leaves a significant burden of actual travel costs. First of all, I think that 'people who have the physical strength and mental state to travel 100km' are only those who are quite energetic, and besides that, if you don't take a limited express, it takes many hours to travel (→ which is physically exhausting), but if you do use a limited express, it ends up costing over 2,500 yen one way, making the discount less meaningful.
Ultimately, it has become a system that is effectively difficult for many people to use...
Also, traveling 100km on a local train feels like something for 'young, energetic students' or 'backpacking foreigners with time on their hands.' Honestly, it's not realistic for elderly people or those who get mentally exhausted easily.
It feels like the system is being presented on the surface as if it's progress, saying 'Now you can use it!', but in reality,
the number of people who can actually use it is very limited.
It doesn't address the truly important needs of people who want to 'practice taking a limited express just a little bit' at all... At 5,000 yen, that's hardly practice.
I wish they would talk about things like 'making short distances eligible for discounts' or 'applying discounts to limited express tickets too.' If there were a system that allowed for 'easier practice of going out,' it would be easier for people with mental disabilities to go out...