Platt Kodama, one way deal among Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka by the Shinkansen

When you move among Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka, you may think to take the Shinkansen (a.k.a. bullet train). If you have a round trip between Tokyo and Kyoto/Shin-Osaka, JR pass is the best choice. But even 7 days JR pass price is almost equal to the round trip fare and the seat fee of the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. JR pass is not the best choice for one way movement.

Platt Kodama may be the solution for the traveler who make only one way trip from Tokyo to Kyoto or Osaka (or versa). Because it is a sort of the Shinkansen one way trip discount ticket among Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka.

I would like to show you this ticket in this post.

What is Kodama?

Before I explain this deal, I want to tell you about Kodama.

The Shinkansen runs on the exclusive track. The Shinkansen trains does not share the track with any conventional local commute trains and other conventional express trains. But on the Tokaido Shinkansen line between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, there are three types of trains running, Nozomi, Hikari and Kodama. These three trains look exactly same and offers exactly same interior. The only difference is the trip time and stop stations. Kodama is the slowest train and make stops at all stations.

Please read the link below to learn more about the Tokaido Shinkansen.

The Tokaido, the Sanyo and the Kyushu Shinkansen (Bullet Train) train ride guide. Most popular train between Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Hakata and Kagoshima.

This Shinkansen ride guide gives you all information about the Shinkansen between Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Hakata, Kumamoto and Kagoshima in this post.

jprail.com

2014.05.27

So if you use this deal, you have to accept the extra trip time. You cannot take the fastest train.

What is Platt Kodama?

Platt Kodama is a sort of the discount tickets for taking Kodama only among the stations between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, such as Shinagawa, Shin-Yokohama, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu, Nagoya and Kyoto. This deal is not available further than Shin-Osaka to west destination, such as Okayama, Hiroshima and Hakata.

Kodama is the slowest Shinkansen train and the trip time is much longer than Nozomi and Hikari. But you can get the lower rate than the regular fare.

I mentioned that Platt Kodama is a sort of the discount tickets. But technically this is not a ticket but a package tour product. You cannot purchase this at the ticket window in JR stations. You have to go to JR Tokai Tours that is JR Central’s travel agent.

Hotels in Kyoto
Hotels in Osaka
Hotels in Nagoya
Hotels in Tokyo

Sales location

You may find the location of JR Tokai Tours office in Tokyo, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka at the link below:

JR Tokai Tours official site

Condition of use

There are several conditions. When you use Platt Kodama, please understand these conditions before you use purchase this deal.

• Must purchase it be the day before you use. You cannot buy it on the travel date.
• Fixed trip plan. You have to take the train that is shown on the ticket. You cannot take any other trains.
• Seat assigned. You cannot use any other seat and cannot change the seat.
• No stopover allowed. Once you get off the train, your ticket is expired.
• No trip plan changed. You cannot change the trip plan and refund without handling charge.

Please find the detailed information in the link below:

Platt Kodama, Guidance of Plans (PDF file)

And you will receive a drink voucher. You can get a free drink at Kiosk before on board. And also if you add 1,000 yen for Tokyo to/from Nagoya, 1,500 yen Tokyo to/from Shin-Osaka or Kyoto, you can take Green seat.

Green seat is much more spacious and very comfortable.

Compare Kodama, Hikari and Nozomi in the trip time

Please see the Tokaido Shinkansen timetable in the link below:

JR Central official site – The Tokaido and the Sanyo Shinkansen timetable

I have picked up three trains in early morning. (The timetable is varied by the season.)
Please find those trains below in the timetable.

As you see, Nozomi is 1.5 hours faster than Kodama if you travel from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka. Even Hikari is 1 hour faster than Kodama. But one way trip traveler does not pick up Hikari because it is slower than Nozomi. If you use JR pass, Hikari is a primary choice but I cannot find any reasons why one way traveler use Hikari.

Compare Platt Kodama and the regular fare

You can find the price comparison between Kodama single fare and Platt Kodama in the official site. But I would like to show you the fare comparison between Nozomi regular fare and Platt Kodama. As you see, if you take Kodama, you will spend 1.5 hours extra for Tokyo to/from Kyoto or Shin-Osaka. I think you want to know how much you can save to give up 1.5 extra hours.

*These above rates and prices are regular season rates. Rates and prices are varied by season. You can find the complete price table of Platt Kodama in the official site. Nozomi regular rate is also varied by the season. And the seasonality of Nozomi regular rate is different from the seasonality of Platt Kodama. Approximate seasonality of Nozomi is the following:

The periods are adjusted in each year. You can find the exact fare of Nozomi at Hyperdia. Hyperdia complete guide

Assessment

I would like to show you extra time and saving cost again.

Tokyo to/from Shin-Osaka 4,020 yen for 1.5 hours
Tokyo to/from Kyoto 3,670 yen for 1.5 hours
Tokyo to/from Nagoya 2,800 yen for 1 hour 10 minutes
Nagoya to/from Shin-Osaka 2,180 yen for 21 minutes
Nagoya to/from Kyoto 1,510 yen for 21 minutes

It is hard to say that you can accept this trade off. You cannot purchase a ticket at the station and must purchase day before. These conditions may be considerable for you.

I am glad if this post gave you some idea to build your trip plan.