Hi all,

ive been searching for ages but haven't found an answer.

do the bullet trains tend to have power outlets at each seat?


thanks a mill

Only on JR West/Central new N700 series Shinkansens, they have them running along the bottom of the wall (window seaters). You usually ride on the N700 if you are taking "Nozomi" train services on the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen Line (not covered by the Japan Rail Pass if you have one). Other trains do not have them (to my knowledge).

Although only a few trains have power for every seat, most train carriages have at least one power outlet for cleaners to plug in cleaning equipment. (Yes - even the slow trains). The socket typically at one end of the carriage. These power outlets are not provided for passenger use, but they seem to have regular two-pin formats, so it's possible to insert a Japanese, domestic plug.

I think Mrs. Jib once read somewhere that there is a rule that prohibits passengers from using these sockets, but I've never seen an electricity thief (denki dorobo) reprimanded for taking a bit of electricity in this way. (You probably would be stopped if you tried hooking up a trailing extension to a seat on the other side of the carriage, though).

I just got back three days ago from a week in Japan. I rode the Shinkansen all over Japan from Osaka-Fukuoka-Osaka-Kyoto-Tokyo. I used the JR Pass and was not on the Nozomi line but rather the Hikari. On all of the bullet trains that I was on there were several outlets at the end of the cars and a fold out table that could be used for a laptop.