Train : Tokyo to Kyoto
 

A couple of questions on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) :

1) Do all seats face the direction which the train is travelling or do some seats face the opposite direction ? Is it possible to specify the direction the seat faces when making seat reservations ?

2) Do I need to make advanced reservations and I can do it on the internet ?

Thanks.

(unable to use search function)

1) All seats face direction of travel. This can be manually overriden using a pedal switch, something usually done by groups travelling together.

2) There are reserved and non-reserved cars. Except for peak periods, I've usually booked at a counter upon arrival in Japan. Other post(er)s elaborate on the web booking tool, which I have never used.

Thanks for the reply.

I am glad to know all seats face the direction of travel !

Does this also apply to the reserved green coach ?

Especially to the reserved green coach :)

That is, green cars even on some commuter trains will tilt to face direction of travel at their end stations. You can see it happen e.g. at Tokyo station after a Tokkaido line train arrives, after all passengers exit and the doors close.

For Shinkansen and express trains, this is a given, usually even in second class, apart from the rare reserved compartments, and some airport trains where the space between back-to-back seats is used to store luggage.

disregard my post, question answered.

I haven't been on the Tokaido Shinkansen, but I have been on the southern rail (from Kyoto to Fukuoka) on the Rail Pass. If you can afford it I highly recommend it. It's much cheaper than buying individually. One word of warning though...if you're not a smoker, request (or draw out if they don't understand) that you want a non-smoking car. If not, you'll end up like me and nearly choking to death with 75 smokers and their wafting odor. If I'm not mistaken, there are three types of shinkansen that run on the lines. One stops at all points (usually it's the old version). There's another version, the Hikari, that has less stops, but still quite a few. Lastly (and most preferable), there's Nozomi, which only stops at the very important cities. This is the only one I took because it's VERY nice and you really can feel and see the speed that it travels at. It's quite impressive. Don't forget to buy food at the station too, since it's quite limited onboard. You can't go wrong with the zarusoba. While on the trains, don't forget to pay attention to the conductors or the girls working on the train. They give a slight nod facing the passengers as a sign of courtesy. That definitely leaves you with a good impression of the Japanese. Have a great trip!

Kodoma is the shinkansen that stops at all stations.

A few notes about Nozomi service.
The JR pass is not valid on Nozomi shinkansen.
There are two trainsets that run Nozomi service, the cool futuristic looking series 500 trains, the interior reminds me more of an airplane than a train, and the series 700 trains (which has a flat front end), the 700series is also used on Hikari and some Kodoma services.

world eki-net
 

Has anyone actually used the "world eki-net" before ?

It seems that the cost for reserving a seat on this website is prohibitively high, since the charges shown does not include the basic fare.

I dont mind paying a "small" fee for the convenience, but a premium of something like USD50 above the standard cost of reserving a seat is a bit rediculous.

Am I misinterpreting the charges here, or is this really the premium one has to pay for using online seat reservations ?

Which is the one with Donald Duck nose?

(duplicate)

Ok here's the break down with the reserved seat charge, its a combo effect.

The base fare between Tokyo and Kyoto by any shinkansen train is 7980yen, then you have a limited express fee tacked on depending on distanced traveled, then you have a seat reservation fee which is typically 500yen (around 5us dollars). The Limited express fee is often bundled as a "RESERVED SEAT CHARGE" on timetables, so that probably explains why it shows as 50plus USD dollars, which is the approximate limited express fee to kyoto from Tokyo.

If you have the JR railpass you pay ZERO. But only for Hikari and Kodoma Shinkansen.

I don't like world eki much, since if you miss the train they still charge you, even with the railpass, also pick up locations are only for JR EAST stations. No luck if you want to pick up tickets at Kyoto or Osaka stations which are runned by JR Central and JR West respectivly.

"Which one is the donald duck nose"
Thats the Series 700 trains.

I just wanted to add. If you miss the train by as little as one minute, the train company rules say that the ticket is no longer valid. A fight at the counter will sometimes help.

The figures (before basic fare) I got from the website for Tokyo-Kyoto are
1) 5,240 JYP for normal coach
2) 9,880 JYP for green coach

Hence total fare for Tokyo-Kyoto on green coach will be 17,860 JYP which looks right.

I think I have got the basic fare figure wrong initially.

Thanks railroadtycoon ^

That's because if you miss the train by one minute, your train is gone! This is Japan, where things both run on time and your rights are narrowly specified. You bought a ticket for a specific train at a specific time! What do you think, that you can just waltz in on any train at your convenience, bringing meiwaku to everybody else? Bad person! You can't do that on a plane, why could you do that on a train?

Given that, your best bet is probably just to get on the next train, sit on an unoccupied seat, and hope for the best. Train conductors will sometimes just let you "ride", especially if you play clueless gaijin. That's the flip side of Japan. In the US, you'd probably be arrested for "security reasons" since you aren't supposed to be there, hence you must have evil intent.

Exactly so. I hopped on an earlier Kyoto-KIX Haruka than the one I had a reservation for, and the conductor shrugged and discreetly rolled his eyes at the hopeless gaijin. He then of course went into the traditional formal greeting speech at the front of the car followed by the traditional deep bow, and all was once again right in the Rising Sun land.