dbernard2000

Hello!

Going to Japan in a week and we plan on buying train tickets. I found the price chart on the JR Central website, and I think I figured out how to read it, but the one thing I cannot find is the charge for the green car.

On some trains we plan on buying reserved seats, since they're quite long and there's 4 of us, but I've heard that the cost for the green car is sometimes only nominally more if you're already taking a seat assignment.

I've searched all over the web but I cannot find the chart with the green car charges. Does anyone know where to find it?

We plan on taking 3 trains: Tokyo-Osaka, Osaka-Kyoto (this one we will buy at the station when ready to go, no seat assignments, very short ride), and Kyoto to Tokyo.

Thanks!

AlwaysAisle

Green Car on both Tokyo -Shin Osaka and Kyoto-Tokyo will be 4870 yen (US$ 44.40 in today's exchange rate) addition per person per segment to reserve seating price.

I do not think Shin Osaka-Kyoto is worth Green Car on short distance but it is 770 yen (US$ 7.02 in today's exchange rate) addition per person per segment to reserve seating. Shin Osaka-Kyoto is short 24 min. ride on Shinkansen (39 km, 24 miles). I will take Hankyu or Keihan Line instead of JR for Kyoto from Osaka since Hankyu and Keihan will take you to more central area of Kyoto than JR.

FlitBen

Hyperdia is good for routing and pricing all over Japan.

You could try modifying this route criteria with your own choices.
TOKYO - SHIN-OSAKA 08:00 am Feb/2020/08 Departure

In the parameters, make sure 'Bullet Train' is checked. 'Green Seat' dro-down choice denotes Green Car ticket. 'NOZOMI' is good for when you need to transit faster with more convenient schedules. Check 'Private Railway' to include non-JR lines.

ksandness

This sounds like a perfect itinerary for a JR Pass, as long as you can buy the ones you need before you leave the U.S. (shouldn't be a problem in New York City--see the JR Pass website for authorized sellers). And it will also allow you to ride JR commuter trains (NOT the subways) in Tokyo and Osaka and the Narita Express back to the airport.

In my opinion, unless you are a person-of-much-larger-than-average-size, the Green Car isn't worth it. I'm both taller and wider than the average Japanese person, and ordinary seats on the Shinkansen are just fine. Unlike first class cars in some European countries, no free drinks or snacks come with a Green Car ticket.

Are you traveling during a holiday period? Not if you're going next week. Trains run between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka literally every five minutes. You can't take the fastest train, the Nozomi, with a JR Pass, but the time difference is only about 30 minutes. The Nozomi would be worth it if you were going to go to return to Tokyo from some place west of Osaka, like Hiroshima or Fukuoka, but otherwise, the Hikari will get you there in speed and comfort.

mhy

Personally I've always liked the Green Car because of how quiet it is. Most tourists do not use the Green Car, and especially, there is a very low chance of a loud, large group of tourists getting on. Also, it's almost never crowded and often you get a seat pair to yourself. It also has better, more relaxing lighting (especially noticeable at night).

NewbieRunner

Bear in mind that the Nozomi may run every 5 minutes but the Hikari only runs every 30 minutes.

dbernard2000

Thank you! Do you mind letting me know where you got this number? Is there a chart somewhere? I couldn't find anything from the JR Central website...

dbernard2000

Based on our schedule, we only need 3 trains. I've crunched the numbers and it's the same cost more or less for the JR Pass vs. the ticket cost. Since we want to use the Nozomi trains, we cannot use the JR Pass of course, so we are opting for the normal pricing of tickets since the cost is more or less the same - might as well get the fastest train for the experience.

mhy

There are websites that will tell you Shinkansen fare like jorudan.co.jp, some let you compare regular vs Green Car.

AlwaysAisle

There is a chart for Green Car fare on Japanese website, since I read Japanese... The surcharge for Green Car is following (except for Hokuriku Shinkansen and Kyushu Shinkansen):

1 - 100 km: 1300 yen
101 - 200 km: 2800 yen
201 - 400 km: 4190 yen
401 - 600 km: 5400 yen
601 - 800 km: 6600 yen
Above 801 km: 7790 yen
*For Narita Express Green Car surcharge for 1 - 200 km is 2100 yen.

Also fare rule is that on Green Car, limited express reserve seating surcharge will be discounted 530 yen. In practical sense subtract 530 yen from above and that is the fare difference between reserve seats and Green Car seats. Such rule exists because if Green Car is non-reserve seating there is no 530 yen discount on limited express surcharge or express surcharge. There used to be handful of limited express trains with non-reserved Green Car, and when express trains were used to be as common as limited express trains in JR many of limited express Green Car was non-reserved, in such case there is no 530 yen discount of express train surcharge.

Many JR fare rules were inherited from Kokutetsu when JR was a government entity and some fare rules can get little confusing. Green Car surcharge fare rule for Hokuriku Shinkansen can get little tricky because Hokuriku Shinkansen are part JR East and part JR West, where there established fare rule if you only ride JR East portion, only ride JR West portion, or ride between JR East and JR West.

Yes, it can get little confusing...

P.S. Green Car surcharge above is for limited express, express, and Shinkansen (there are some exceptions). Green Car seen on some commuter trains (non-reserved seating) has different Green Car surcharge rate. Also, JR East has weekend discount on commuter train Green Car surcharge on certain routes.

Gradfly

If you're curious on how the green car compartments look like, go here. Same site has a guide on reservation and pricing.

tt7

A Nozomi doesn't go any faster - it just takes less time to get from A-B because it makes fewer stops. The trains only run at top speed outside the cities though the Nozomi may do so for slightly longer because it doesn't have to accelerate / decelerate as often.

tt7

See post #3 - @FlitBen already pointed you to Hyperdia; use that website for train times, fares etc.

I'm unclear why you're going to Osaka and then moving to Kyoto. I would just stay in Kyoto and day-trip to Osaka if you need to .... not much point in changing hotels. Note that the Shinkansen goes to Shin-Osaka, not Osaka, so depending on where your hotel is, you'll probably need to get a train / subway from Shin-Osaka to get there.

mhy

I'll add that the Narita Express (N'EX) has a Green Car but it is only very marginally better (same seat layout, 2-2); and it's very expensive for the short trip. Even worse, you will often see people getting on the Green Car who are not supposed to be there (whether an innocent mistake or they are doing it on purpose). Last time I decided to try the Green Car I had someone next to me for 30 minutes before the conductor finally got to my car and kicked him out to the regular class car. Waste of $$ IMO. There is also a discount round-trip N'EX regular class ticket for tourists available for 4000 yen. Not sure if they offer a Green Car round-trip discount.

seigex

Had the green car JR pass for 2 weeks in July last year and it was almost always empty (aside from a couple segments between Tokyo and Osaka. The entire two weeks, I had a single person in the seat next to me for all of about 45 minutes.