What is the difference between Reserved seat and Non reserved seat. How to get a seat on non reserved car?

Travel Tips
Common ordinary car interior (C) Sonic Rail Garden
Common ordinary seat car interior (C) Sonic Rail Garden

Most of trains in Japan have reserved seat and non reserved seat in ordinary cars. But some of you do not understand the difference between reserved seat and non reserved seat. And you may worry that all seats are full if you use non reserved seat.

In this post, I will explain you difference between reserved seat and non reserved seat. You will find pros and cons of both reserved and non reserved seat.

What are Non Reserved seat and Reserved seat

You can secure your seat if you take reserved seat. If you use a reserved seat, seat number, car number and train are fixed. Your seat is secured but you have to take the designated train.

Reserved seat ticket for Shinkansen
Reserved seat ticket for Shinkansen

Meanwhile if you take non reserved seat, you have to fix your trip plan and the route, such as Tokyo to Kyoto. But your train number and seat number are not assigned and you have flexibility. The ticket is valid for one day. However your seat is not secured. It is first come first serve basis. In peak seasons, there are many standing passengers in a non reserved car. You may have to stand in a car for a few hours.

If you want an information about booking a ticket, please see the link below:

How to reserve the train seat of Japan Railway

The difference of the cost between reserved seat and non reserved seat

A non reserved seat fee is 520 yen (510 yen in Kyushu) cheaper than a reserved seat fee in a regular season. But in a shoulder season, reserved seat fee is 200 yen cheaper than a regular season. So the difference between reserved and non reserved is 320 yen. On the other hand, in a peak season, a reserved seat fee is 200 yen higher than a regular season. The difference is 720 yen.

When you take Nozomi on Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen, Nozomi surcharge is added on top of seat fee. This extra charge is from 210 yen to 620 yen by distance. So when you take Nozomi, the difference between reserved seat and non reserved seat is bigger.

Differences of accommodation between reserved seat and non reserved seat

Interior of limited express train in Shikoku. There are both reserved and non reserved seats in same car. The seats are exactly same.
Interior of limited express train in Shikoku. There are both reserved and non reserved seats in same car. The seats are exactly same.

In most of JR trains, both a reserved seat and a non reserved seat offer the same accommodation. The seat, leg space and width are exactly same.

520 yen reserved seat fee does not give you any better seat.

The accommodation is not an issue to choose reserved or non reserved.

But there are a few JR trains to offer better interior in reserved seat than non reserved seat.

Limited Express Super Kamui (Sapporo – Asahikawa) and Suzuran (Sapporo – Muroran)

Useat of Limited Express Super Kamui (C) Sonic Rail Garden
Useat of Limited Express Super Kamui (C) Sonic Rail Garden

This train does not have Green car. Therefore reserved seat is a bit better than non reserved seat. Reserved seat is called “U seat” in these trains. The seat in reserved seat car is bigger than non reserved seat. And the power outlet is available at the seat in reserved seat car only.

Please see the post, Limited Express Super Kamui to get the detailed information.

Sanyo-Kyushu Shinkansen, Mizuho and Sakura (Shin Osaka/Hakata – Kagoshima Chuo)

Reserved ordinary class seat (C) Sonic Rail Garden
Reserved ordinary class seat (C) Sonic Rail Garden

The difference is huge between reserved seat and non reserved seat in this train. Basically the ordinary class seat of Shinkansen trains have 2+3 layout.

But in Mizuho and Sakura, reserved seat car offers 2+2 seat layout. The leg space is same as non reserved car but the width is same as Green seat. This reserved seat is much more comfortable than non reserved seat and it is highly recommended.

Please read the post, Kyushu Shinkansen N700 series for Mizuho, Sakura and Tsubame image gallery to get the detailed information.

How to get a seat in non reserved car

Many readers asked me, “Can we get seats in non reserved car easily?”, “Is it hard to get a seat in non reserved car?”. And also many readers worry the case that there is no empty seats when they are on board in non reserved car.

It is very hard for me to answer to these inquiries. In my experience, it is not hard to find a seat in non reserved car other than peak season. If you are solo traveler, you can find a seat easily in most of seasons. But if you travel with someone or travel as a group, you may not be able to find the seat together in even regular season.

Please imagine. Most of trains have 2+2 seats layout. There are many business travelers and most of them are solo traveler. They usually pick up window side seat. As a result, you may find the seat but most of empty seats are isle side.

If you are okay with this situation, it is no problem with using non reserved seat. But if you want to have a few seats together, you may consider to use non reserved car.

However there are some tips to get some seats together and avoid this situation.

Take a train at the original departure station

When train comes to the platform in the original departure station, train is empty. It is much easier to take a seat.

e.g.
Your departure station : Shin-Osaka station
Your destination : Kanazawa
In this case, you will take Limited Express Thunderbird. This train stops at Shin-Osaka but train departs from Osaka station originally. Many of seats will be taken at Osaka station. Osaka station is only one station away and it takes only 5 minutes by local train from Shin-Osaka. If you go back to Osaka and catch this train, it is much easier to get a seat.

When you try to get a seat in non reserved car, you have to check where train comes from. And try to get on the train at the original departure station. You can find this information at Hyperdia. Please see the link below how to find it in Hyperdia:

Advanced function – Hyperdia perfect guide

Many of you will take Shinkansen (a.k.a. Bullet train) in your trip. If you take Shinkansen in downtown Tokyo, there are several stations to catch Shinkansen.

Tokaido Shinkansen (bound for Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka, Hiroshima) : Tokyo, Shinagawa
Tohoku, Joetsu, Hokkaido, Hokuriku Shinkansen (bound for Sendai, Niigata, Nagano, Kanazawa, Shin-Aomori, Akita, Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto) : Tokyo, Ueno

Original departure stations of Shinkansen in downtown Tokyo is Tokyo station. You should not take Shinkansen at Ueno and Shinagawa if you take non reserved seat.

If you take Shinkansen at Shin-Osaka station, try to pick up Shin-Osaka departure train. You may find the timetable of Shinkansen in the links below:

Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen westbound timetable (from Tokyo)
Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen eastbound timetable (to Tokyo)

You may find some trains that depart from Shin-Osaka originally such as the image below.

Example of trains that depart from Shin-Osaka
Example of trains that depart from Shin-Osaka

Many trains come to Shin-Osaka to carry huge number of passengers. Please try to avoid those trains and find the train that depart from Shin-Osaka.

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Take slower trains

Everybody wants to get the place as early as possible. That is why slower trains have lower demand than faster trains. I do not recommend you to take local trains to move for a long distance. This technique can be used for Shinkansen only. I recommend you to take slower trains on Shinkansen line, such as Kodama.

Please see the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen timetable again.
Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen westbound timetable (from Tokyo)

You can find many “K” trains, such as K633 that departs from Tokyo at 06:56, arrive Shin-Osaka at 11:00. This is Kodama that is the slowest train on Shinkansen line.

As you see, Nozomi (“N”) is 1.5 hours faster than Kodama. Even Hikari is 1 hour faster than Kodama. That is why it is easier to get a seat on Kodama. And also Kodama has many more non reserved cars than Nozomi and Hikari. If you do not mind to spend extra hours, Kodama may be considerable.

Extra cost to book a seat by rail pass that covers only non reserved seat

Some of rail passes do not cover reserved seat, such as Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass, Kansai Wide Area Pass, Kansai Hokuriku Area Pass, Hiroshima Yamaguchi Area Pass. If you want to book your seat by this pass, you have to pay full fare of seat fee.

e.g.
Trip from Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima by Shinkansen Nozomi
Reserved seat fee 4,810 yen
Non reserved seat fee 4,090 yen

Some of you think that you need to pay the difference, 720 yen in this case. But unfortunately it is wrong. You have to pay 4,810 yen. In this case, the pass does not cover any seat fee. It covers only base fare. If you really want to book your seat, you can do it. But the pass does not give you a big saving. This way is not very recommended when you use the pass that covers only non reserved seat.

Comments

  1. Andrew says:

    Hi Takeshi,

    Thank you for providing this great information.

    We have accommodation booked in Kyoto for 30 December. Yesterday I purchased Shinkansen tickets for our family of 2 adults and 2 children. I had to buy unreserved tickets due to the busy new year period. The tickets say “Tokyo Shinagawa Ward Area” does this mean that we can depart from Tokyo as per your suggestion, or do these tickets restrict our departure to Shinagawa station only?

    Also, to take the Kodama train as per your suggestion, do we queue at the platform, or is there a general unreserved waiting area?

    • Hi Andrew,

      You can take a train at either Tokyo or Shinagawa. It doesn’t matter actually but you should take a train at Tokyo because most seat will be occupied at Tokyo station.

      Usually Kodama has non reserved seat car at car # 1 to 7 and #13 to 15. But car #15 is smoking seat. It is not recommended for the family. So please wait for the train at these car numbers. You will see the signage of car number.

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  2. LK says:

    I have plans to travel for 18 days in Japan starting with Tokyo, Lake Biwa , Osaka, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. Within north Kyushu , I am planning to take the north Kyushu pass which makes a lot of sense to me.

    I would like to seek your advice how to optimise train travel as i would like to be able to use the Tokyo to Kyoto Shinkansen (tokaido?) , Osaka, to Hiroshima and Hakata. Is there a way like in one of your previous posting to buy a ticket to be used with multiple stops and about 10 days in a single direction to Hakata from Tokyo ? Thanks and look forward to your advice.

  3. Anna says:

    Hello and thank you for this reference. I am still a bit confused regarding how to obtain an unreserved seat from Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima. My sister and I have the rail pass and are taking reserved seats from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka. But I am unclear how to get seats or tickets for seats from Osaka to Hiroshima. Do we get them in Kyoto now? Get them when we arrive in Osaka? (We want to go straight to Hiroshima and not spend any time in Osaka.) I am concerned because my sister has a foot injury and will need to sit down between Osaka and Hiroshima and I am still confused about the process. Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

    • Hi Anna,

      I’m wondering why you don’t reserve your seat for Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima. You can book your seat for Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima at Kyoto station. You can book it at any major JR stations. You don’t need to do it at Shin-Osaka.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  4. Kelvin says:

    Hi Takeshi-San
    Can I STAND on the Kagayaki Shinkansen(No Non-Reserved seat are available in Kagayaki) on the Hokuriku Shinkansen with Kansai-Hokuriku Rail Pass without paying a reserved seat fee.Or I should take Hakutaka Shinkansen Instead.
    Thanks!

  5. Maricel says:

    Hello Takeshita-san,

    Planning to go to Asahikawa from Sapporo. We only need to pay the base fare of JPY2490 if we ride on the unreserved seats, right? No need to pay the seat fee.

  6. May says:

    Dear Takeshi San,

    My plan is to take Kansai Airport Rapid Service for Kyobashi to Hineno, transfer Ltd express Kuroshio to Shirahama. Do I buy rapid service and Ltd express ticket together at the ticket machine at Kansai Airport ?

    Thanks
    May

    • Hi May san,

      You can purchase all tickets at Kansai airport station. I’m not 100% sure that you can purchase limited express surcharge ticket at the vending machine or not . You may need to buy it at the ticket window.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  7. May says:

    Hi Takeshisan,

    I am traveling from Kansai Airport to Shirahama via Ltd express Kuroshio train and would like to reserved seats. Can I use the IC card to pay the fare and buy the reserved seats from the ticket machine?

    Thanks

    • Hi May san,

      Yes, you can.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

      • Vivian says:

        Hi Takeshi,

        We finally have our JR Pass. We are planning to take the earliest train from Shinimamiya station to Kanazawa on the 28th December. My question is,
        Hyperdia says we take the 6:05 departure from Shinimamiya to Osaka arrival at 6:23.
        (Arrival track No.2 / Departure track No.11) Then LTD. EXP THUNDERBIRD 1 departure at 6:30. We only have about 7 minutes to get to the Thunderbird train dep track 11. Is that enough time to get to the train given we are bringing pieces of luggage? Just a bit worried we might not make it in time for the departure to Kanazawa.

        thanks in advance for your help.

  8. Rosie says:

    Thanks so much Takeshi!
    I really appreciate your help!
    Arigato!
    Warm regards
    Rosie

  9. Rosie says:

    Hi There,
    Great Site!
    We are a family (including 2 children) coming to Japan 23 Dec and travelling from Osaka to Ueda (Nagano) on 31st Dec. By the sounds of it travel by Shinkansen on the 31st Dec should be OK. We are then travelling from Ueda to Tokyo on 3rd Jan. I realise it is very busy to travel then but we already booked our accommodation. Will I be able to reserve seats on the Asama Shinkansen when we arrive in Japan at JR ticket office at Kansai? Also would you recommend getting on the train at Nagano instead of Ueda as this is where the train starts.
    Thanks so much for your advice.

  10. Irin says:

    Hi, can i ask my plan trip is osaka kyoto nara back to osaka takayama tokyo, this my 8 days plan trip
    Should i buy JR pass? Is it more cheaper if i buy kintetsu pass for osaka kyoto nara, day ticket, and for osaka takayama tokyo just bought one way train ticket?

    Planning to travel on mid february? That month should be low season or high?

    Thanks

    • Hi Irin,

      JR Pass 7 days is recommended because a regular fare for Osaka to Takayama and Takayama to Tokyo is almost 26,000 yen. It’s only 3000 yen lower than JR Pass 7 days price. You will use JR Pass in Osaka, Kyoto and Nara. You will get the worth of it easily.

      Mid February is not very low season in these days because of Chinese New Year. Many tourist from Asian countries in this period visit Japan. But in 2019, Chinese New Year is February 5th. Mid February may be a bit slower than usual.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

      • Ain says:

        Hi Takeshi,

        I want to ask regarding reserved seat to shin takaoka from kanazawa using Hokuriku arch pass. Should we book reserved seat? if yes which station can we go to collect reserved ticket since were from osaka(5 days) and we need to collect prior to departure date.

        Thanks.

        • Hi Ain,

          If you really want to secure your seat, you can book it at any major JR stations. In downtown Osaka, you can book it at the ticket window in most of JR stations. But Kanazawa to Shin-Takaoka is such a short ride. I don’t think you need to book. You can find a seat in non reserved car. Even if you cannot find a seat, it’s just 15 minutes ride. You can stand up in train. But it is very rare that you cannot find a seat.

          Cheers,

          Takeshi / JPRail.com

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