How to reserve a seat of Japan Railway trains at the station and online

Timetable and reservation
Midori no Madoguchi (reservation window) and ticket window at Central Exit concourse. (C) JP Rail
Tohoku Shinkansen E5 series run mostly as Hayabusa and Hayate. These trains have only reserved seat. You cannot take this train without seat reservation.
The Tohoku-Hokkaido Shinkansen Hayabusa has only a reserved seat car. You cannot take this train without a seat reservation.

When you take the Shinkansen or the limited express train, you may have to book a seat because some trains require you a seat reservation. Though some limited express trains have some non-reserved cars, you should book a reserved seat if you can.

Especially if you use JR Pass, Hokkaido Rail Pass, JR East Pass, Tokyo Wide Pass, Sanyo San’in Area Pass and Kyushu Rail Pass, these passes cover a reserved seat fee. Use this benefit to ride a train with a peace of mind.

I also strongly recommend you to secure a seat if you travel in the peak seasons, such as late April to the first week of May (a.k.a. Golden Week), August 10 to 20 (It is called “Obon” which is a summer break.) and the year-end/New Years holiday (December 29th to the first week of January.)

I would like to explain you how to book a reserved seat in this post

Before you make a reservation

If you intend to use Japan Rail Pass (a.k.a. JR Pass), JR East Pass, Tokyo Wide Pass, Sanyo Sanin Area Pass, Takayama Hokuriku Area Pass, Hokkaido Rail Pass and Kyushu Rail Pass, you MUST turn in your exchange order to the actual Pass before booking your seat. You have to show your pass when you make a reservation. Exchange order does not work to book a train seat. Once you turned in, you can go ahead to make a reservation at any reservation windows and anytime. But if you use JR Easts’ online reservation, you can book a seat in advance before exchanging an actual pass. I will explain about this online reservation site later in this post.

Explaination by movie

You can watch the movie below which explains you about the booking in the station:

If you buy the JR Pass on the official reservation site, you can book a seat online. I explain how to use this site in the movie below:

I explain how to use JR East online booking step by step in the movie below:

Where you can book

Midori no Madoguchi (みどりの窓口)

First of all, I would like to tell you how to book a seat at the station. I will explain you about online booking later in this post.

You can book a seat at the ticket reservation office that is called “Midori no Madoguchi (みどりの窓口)”. You can find “Midori no Madoguchi” very easily. You will find a big green sign easily like the images above and below.

The logo of Midori no Madoguchi

“Midori no Madoguchi” is located at most of major JR stations. If you are in major cities, such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Yokohama, Fukuoka, Sapporo, you cannot miss “Midori no Madoguchi”. 99% of JR stations in these cities have “Midori no Madoguchi”. Some major stations have a few Midori no Madoguchi.

The signage is different in JR Central area.

If you travel in JR Central (JR東海) area, you cannot find Midori no Madoguchi. Because “Midori no Madoguchi” is JR East’s trademark and JR Central avoids to use it. In JR Central area, such as Nagoya, Mishima, Shizuoka, Gifu, Takayama, it is shown as “Shinkansen and JR Line Tickets (新幹線・JR線きっぷうりば)” like image below.

JR Central ticket office. It does not have any green signage. It looks very simple.

JR Central operates the Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. JR Central has a ticket office outside JR Central operation area, such as Tokyo, Shin-Yokohama, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka. In these stations, you can find two different kinds of the ticket office, “Midori no Madoguchi” and “Shinkansen and JR Line Tickets”. But you can use either ticket office to book any JR train tickets. This difference does not matter.

What kind of information you need

Please make sure the following information before you make a reservation:

  • Date and time
  • Train name and number
    This is not required. But if you want to take the specific train, please tell the train name and number. It is much easier to make a reservation for the staff and you can save your time. All Shinkansen trains and most limited express trains have the combination of the name and number. e.g. “Hikari 246”.
  • Departure and Arrival Stations
  • Smoking or Non Smoking
    Smoking seat is still available on a few trains. If you really want to have a seat in the smoking car, you may ask a staff to look for. If you do not mention, usually you will be assigned a seat on non smoking car. If a seat is available on only smoking car, usually a staff let you know and make sure that you accept it or not.
  • Passport
    If you use JR Pass or other JR passes, you always have to carry your passport. You may be asked to show it by a station officer or a conductor when they want to check it.

When you can start booking

You can make a reservation anytime within one month prior the departure date. The ticket is on sale one month prior to departure date at 10:00am

e.g.
Departure date — August 23 at 10:00 am. the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka
Ticket is on sale at 10:00 am on July 23.

e.g.
Departure date — August 24 at 00:34 am. Sunrise Seto from Osaka to Tokyo
Ticket is on sale at 10:00 am on July 23, not July 24. Because this train originally depart from Takamatsu at 21:26 on August 23. Overnight trains are very few in Japan currently. But if you book a seat on overnight booking, please check the departure date at the original departure station.

The reserve seat on most trains can be reserved at Midori no Madoguchi only. So you have to be in Japan when you book. Online booking is still very limited.

Online booking

Japan Rail Pass official site

If you buy the JR Pass at the official site, you can make a booking through this website.

Japan Rail Pass official reservation site

Japan Rail Pass official reservation website

You can book a seat on most JR trains. However the price of JR pass is higher than the prices at the authorized dealers. If you buy the JR pass at the authorized dealer, you cannot book a seat on this site.

JR East Train Reservation

This online reservation system is operated by JR East. Unfortunately this JR East Shinkansen Reservation is only English online reservation for the traveler who use JR Pass, Hokkaido Rail pass and JR East Passes. If you intend to use a regular ticket, you can use this site too.

This site offers a seat reservation for the trains which run in JR East and JR Hokkaido areas. So you CANNOT make a reservation for the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen (Tokyo-Kyoto or Osaka) and other limited express trains which does not run in JR East and JR Hokkaido area. And also there are some restrictions. The biggest restriction is the ticket pick up. You must pick up a ticket one day before the travel date. You cannot pick up a ticket on the day of travel. Please read Guide (FAQ) before you make a booking.

Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen Reservation App “EX”

This app is available in a few countries only. And also this app is available for a regular ticket user only. You cannot use this app to book a seat for JR Pass or other rail passes. However any rail passes do not meet your trip plan and this app is available in your country, this is very convenient. You can book it in advance from your smartphone.

JR West Online Train Reservation

JR West has launched the online reservation site. However this online booking system does not cover any train pass user. You can use this online reservation as the regular ticket user only.

If you use a regular ticket, this online site may be a good choice. This online booking covers most of JR trains.

Eki-net (えきねっと)

I have received a comment from one of my readers, Tak. He mentioned me that we can use this Japanese online reservation system even for Japan Rail Pass or other travel passes users. This online reservation is in Japanese. So unfortunately this is not available for all of you. However some of my readers asked me that we can use a friend in Japan to make a reservation for Japan Rail Pass user in outside of Japan. You can do it with your friend in Japan and use this site.

This reservation system covers all over Japan. You can book for the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka which is not available on JR East Train Reservation.

How to reserve a ticket from outside Japan in advance

As you saw, online reservation does not cover all trains. I really wish Japan Railway have full online reservation system.

If you want to secure your seat before departure, the local travel agent may be able to help you. This is only way to reserve a ticket before you depart from your country.

One of my frequent visitors, James in Australia, left a comment. He did this way many years ago. But I would like to share this information:

*JTB actually charge MORE than $55 Australian dollar($56 US dollar March 2011 currency) per ticket, in fact JTB charge $75 Australian dollar(US$76) per ticket.

The $75 came from $55 service fee plus $20 courier fee to deliver your ticket to your hotel in Japan, $55+$20=$75 Funny my ticket for SL-Yamaguchi express is only $60 therefore altogether I need to pay $135 to get SL-Yamaguchi express ticket!

So, all I can say is, if you want to get a JR train ticket before you get to Japan, make sure you are ok with paying at least $75( $76 US dollar), it helps if you really need to get on a particular train that is very hard to book or if you are travelling during peak season. But if you are not in a hurry, travelling in leisure pace across Japan, perhaps think twice.

I hope is worthy many people told me SL-Yamaguchi express is the best steam train experience ever in Japan.

Unfortunately this is only way to do it. You can find Japan Rail Pass authorized agent at JR Pass official site. They may be able to reserve a ticket for you too. But some of the agent do not want to reserve your seat. They want to book whole things, like hotel, air ticket, attraction tickets. Because it is too small profit to make a reservation for only train ticket.

Comments

  1. Chandramouli says:

    Hi
    We are planning to go from Tokyo to Hiroshima by bullet train on 15 April and from Hiroshima to Kyoto on 17 April. Also considering day trip from Kyoto to Osaka on 20 april.

    Am I right in believing nozomi is direct train between the sights but not covered by jr pass. Can you advise please

    If I need to take nozomi train without jr pass how do I need to book/reserve train. I live in UK

  2. Sarah says:

    HI Takeshi,

    We will arrive in Haneda on 28 april (golden week) at 7am and plan to immediately take train to Hakodate. We have purchased JR Pass for our trip.

    Do you think we will be able to get a seat in this peak period?

    Can you advise the route from Haneda Airport to Hakodate?

    Thank you for your help.

  3. Benoit says:

    We would like to go from Tokyo to Kyoto and the way back one week + 1 day later in mid-April, we are Canadian traveling as tourism (2 adults). For us, I figure the JR Pass 14 days is an overkill.

    We have great difficulty knowing which line we have to use.
    There many mentions of JR Central area, East train reservation, JR West train. So a simple question: We need to use which line exactly to do the round trip Tokyo-Kyoto and Kyoto-Tokyo with the Bullet train?

    After we know that one, how to find the cost of the tickets for the round trip between Tokyo and Kyoto ? Web link ? We want to know if this cost less then getting the JR Pass before leaving Canada, or buying a round trip ticket between Tokyo and Kyoto.

    Thank you for any help?

  4. Celine says:

    Hi Takeshi again,

    I found this website that claims they can buy and reserve shinkansen tickets for you, have you heard of them before? https://shinkansen-ticket.com/

    What do you think my chances are of getting any train on April 29th (first day of golden week) from Odawara to Kyoto if I dont reserve any seats until I arrive in Tokyo on the 24th? If this is impossible I will have to cancel my Hakone leg altogether but I really dont want to choose this option… 🙁

    Please advise!

    Celine

    • Hi Celine,

      It will be tough to get a seat especially if you want to take Shinkansen from Odawara to Kyoto directly. Please see the link below:
      http://english.jr-central.co.jp/info/timetable/_pdf/westbound.pdf

      There are some Hikari which is shown by “H” in the timetable to stop at Odawara. You can take this train to Kyoto without transfer. But it runs only once every two hours mostly. But if you are okay to take Kodama (“K”), your chance is getting bigger. But this is slower than Hikari and you may need to change the trains at Nagoya.

      Actually I know this Shinkansen reservation site. But this is not an official site. This is one of travel agents and I have never used this site before. So I don’t mention this service on my website and I cannot say anything about this site.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  5. Tracy says:

    Hi Takeshi-san,

    I tried to reserve ThunderBird ticket from Kanazawa to Osaka using Hokuriku Arch Pass but I cant seem to find the JR-West train reservation online. Your advise please. Thank you.

  6. R. Lum says:

    Hi Takeshi-San,

    I have purchased a JR East – South Hokkaiko Rail Pass Flex6 days (exchange order) in Hong Kong and would like to exchange for JR pass at Narita Airport upon my arrival of 15 March 2017 to start my trip from Narita Airport to Hakodate immediately.

    In order to secure my seat, I have tried to make a reservation online. However, I am not allowed to make the date for the ticket picking up date and travelling at the same date (i.e. 15 March 2017).

    Grateful to have your advice how I can do.

    Your help is greatly appreciated.

    Thank you!

  7. Nora says:

    Hi Takeshi-San,

    I purchased a Hokuriku Arch Pass and would like to make a reservation online. However, when I register for membership it requires a credit card. Will I be charged at the time of reservation or is it only used as a guarantee? The last time I made an online reservation without a JR pass, I was charged immediately. Your help is greatly appreciated.

    Thank you!

    • Hi Nora san,

      It’s just guarantee. If you don’t collect your ticket, it will be charged. It’s not charged to your card when you book it.
      I have used it for JR pass and it was not charged.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  8. Sachiko Tham says:

    Ohaiyo, Takeshi san

    Can you advice if i would to take the shinkansen, where and how do i go about to booking?
    I will be leaving Osaka on the 20th Feb to Tokyo on the same day.
    Which website will be cheaper or better/trusted?
    Will Hikari be a better option or Kodama be a better option as compared to the Nozomi?
    Kindly seeking your advice.

    Warmest regards,
    Sachiko Tham

  9. artic says:

    hello, takeshi san
    is it possible to make same day ticket reservation for early morning (around 06:00) kagayaki shinkansen from ueno station, or i must make a reservation the day before ?

    thank you.

  10. Ejv says:

    I am trying to get from Hiroshima to Tokyo on Jan 4 th. JR Pass tells me it is sold out all day. I have green car pass – any ideas how to get to Tokyo?

    • Hi Ejv,

      Check the availability of Kodama. It does not have Green seat but I think you can find the seat. Kodama does not run between Hiroshima and Tokyo. You have to change the trains a few times. It’s inconvenient but you have no choices.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

      • ejv says:

        Takeshi-son

        I went back to the ticket office again and they are saying the only way to get to Tokyo is to go non-reserved out of Hiroshima on the 4th. That’s it. Everything is sold out. They gave me a ticket to go out on the 5th. But I really need to get to Tokyo on the 4th or I lose my pre-paid hotel (6 nights). Is it possible to travel non-reserved on the 4th if I am holding a ticket for the 5th? And I was wondering, are there ever cancellations that would open up a green car ticket for the 4th?

        Thank you for any advice you can provide.

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