basic information

Printed Timetables

Printed railway timetables in Japanese are sold in bookstores and kiosks across Japan. They include nationwide timetables and timetables for just a specific region or railway company.

Nationwide timetables come in various sizes and are published once per month. Besides the schedules for all train lines by Japan Railways (JR), they contain less detailed schedules for trains by other railway companies, buses, ferries and airplanes, as well as a wide array of practical information.

Without Japanese reading skills, it is rather difficult to use a Japanese timetable, although the largest timetable books contain kana readings for all station names. Printed timetables in English are available in limited quantities by mail from the New York and Paris offices of Japan Railways (see link towards the bottom of the page).

Online Timetables

The timetables for JR shinkansen and limited express trains are available as PDF files at the Japan Railways website (see link towards the bottom of the page).

Numerous other websites offer interactive tools to look up timetables for Japanese trains. A few of them have an English version:

Hyperdia (English and Japanese)
http://grace.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi
Despite shorthcomings in user friendliness, Hyperdia is the best timetable website available, due to its powerful search options. Hyperdia is the only website with the option to exclude nozomi trains from the results, which makes it the best tool for Japan Rail Pass users. Likewise, the option to limit results to local trains only, makes it a great tool for Seishun 18 Kippu users.
Functions	+ Look up routes, times and fares between two stations + Covers trains and airplanes
Options	+ Specify seat type (non-reserved, reserved, green) + Specify intermediary stations + Exclude air, shinkansen and limited express + Exclude nozomi trains
Information	+ Shows stops, platform numbers, timetable along the way + Lists other connections on the same day along the same route + Links to maps, hotels and seat availability sites (in Japanese)
Usability	- Results are not displayed in a very user friendly way - Not flexible in handling entered station names

Jorudan (English and Japanese)
http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/
A simple and reliable tool to look up train connections. Useful to Japan Rail Pass users except for routes along the Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen where results usually list nozomi trains that cannot be used by Japan Rail Pass holders.
Functions	+ Look up routes, times and fares between two stations + Covers trains and airplanes
Options	+ Specify seat type (non-reserved, reserved, green) - Cannot specify intermediary stations - Cannot exclude air, shinkansen and limited express - Cannot exclude nozomi trains
Information	- No additional information provided
Usability	+ Somewhat flexible in handling entered station names - Transfer information is not shown in a user friendly way - Uses am/pm to display times

Townpage Route Search (English)
http://ekimae.itp.ne.jp/tra-bin/jrtrageng.cgi
This website looks up possible routes and fares between two stations without providing specific times. There are few reasons to use it over Hyperdia or Jorudan.
Functions	+ Look up routes and fares between two stations + Covers trains and airplanes - Does not look up specific timetables
Options	- Cannot specify intermediary stations
Information	+ Gives fares for all seat types (non-reserved, reserved, green) + Includes hikari trains in results if applicable
Usability	+ Transfer information is shown in a user friendly way - Fare information is not shown in a user friendly way - Not flexible in handling entered station names

Ekikara (Japanese only)
http://www.ekikara.jp/
Ekikara is a great tool to look up departure times of trains from a given station, although it does also provide an engine to look up connections between two stations.
Functions	+ Look up departure times for a given station + Look up routes, times and fares between two stations + Covers trains and airplanes
Options	+ Exclude air, shinkansen and limited express - Cannot exclude nozomi trains - Cannot specify seat type (non-reserved, reserved, green) - Cannot specify intermediary stations
Information	+ Restaurant and hotel information
Usability	+ Results displayed in a user friendly way + Flexible in handling entered station names

Ekitan (Japanese only)
http://www.ekitan.com/
Ekitan is a very user friendly timetable website, providing highly useful information such as the final destination of each train along the route. It also provides a wider array of timetable lookup tools than the other sites.
Functions	+ Look up routes, times and fares between two stations + Look up departure times for a given station + Look up last connection of the day + Covers trains and airplanes + Separate section with bus timetables
Options	+ Specify intermediary stations + Specify preference of airline (JAL, ANA) + Specify pace for transfers + Exclude air, shinkansen and limited express - Cannot exclude nozomi trains
Information	+ Gives fares for all seat types (non-reserved, reserved, green) + Gives departure times of trains from stations along the way + Links to maps + Provides information about current traffic situation
Usability	+ Results displayed in a user friendly way + Indicates final destination of each train along the route + Flexible in handling entered station names + Remembers formerly entered station names

Yahoo Japan Transit (Japanese only)
http://transit.yahoo.co.jp/
This website is simple to use but provides only few search options. One of its strong points are the links to Yahoo's other travel services, such as lists of hotels and discount coupons.
Functions	+ Look up routes, times and fares between two stations + Covers trains and airplanes
Options	- Cannot exclude air, shinkansen and limited express - Cannot exclude nozomi trains - Cannot specify seat type (non-reserved, reserved, green) - Cannot specify intermediary stations
Information	+ Information about hotels, maps + Lists discount coupons for travel, shopping and food
Usability	+ Results displayed in a user friendly way + Flexible in handling entered station names

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english links