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:
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Hyperdia (English and Japanese)
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http://www.hyperdia.com/
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Hyperdia is the best English 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.
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Functions
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+ Look up routes, times and fares between two stations
+ Covers trains and airplanes
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Options
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+ Specify seat type (non-reserved, reserved, green)
+ Specify intermediary stations
+ Exclude air, shinkansen, limited express and non-JR
+ Exclude nozomi trains
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Information
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+ 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)
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Usability
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+ Results are displayed in a relatively user friendly way
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Jorudan (English and Japanese)
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http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/
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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.
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Functions
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+ Look up routes, times and fares between two stations
+ Covers trains and airplanes
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Options
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+ Specify seat type (non-reserved, reserved, green)
- Cannot specify intermediary stations
- Cannot exclude air, shinkansen and limited express
- Cannot exclude nozomi trains
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Information
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- No additional information provided
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Usability
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+ Somewhat flexible in handling entered station names
- Transfer information is not shown in a user friendly way
- Uses am/pm to display times
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Ekitan (Japanese only)
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http://www.ekitan.com/
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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.
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Functions
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+ Look up routes, times and fares between two stations
+ Look up departure times for a given station
+ Look up first/last connection of the day
+ Covers trains and airplanes
+ Separate section with bus timetables
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Options
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+ Specify intermediary stations
+ Exclude air, shinkansen and limited express
+ Specify pace for transfers
+ Specify preference of airline (JAL, ANA)
- Cannot exclude nozomi trains
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Information
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+ Gives fares for all seat types (non-reserved, reserved, green)
+ Gives departure times of trains from stations along the way
+ Provides information about current traffic situation
+ Links to maps, hotel, taxi and other local information
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Usability
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+ Results displayed in a user friendly way
+ Indicates final destination of each train along the route
+ Flexible in handling entered station names
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Navitime (Japanese only)
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http://www.navitime.co.jp/
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Navitime is a leader in mobile phone navigation technology, but also offers a very useful PC based website for looking up routes and timetables.
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Functions
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+ Look up routes, times and fares between two stations or addresses
+ Covers trains, airplanes and some local buses
+ Look up departure times for a given station
+ Look up first/last connection of the day
+ Separate section for looking up driving directions
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Options
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+ Can exclude air, shinkansen, limited express and bus
+ Can specify intermediary stations
+ Specify pace for transfers
- Cannot exclude nozomi trains
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Information
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+ Information about hotels and restaurants
+ Well integrated map
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Usability
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+ Results displayed in a user friendly way
+ Indicates final destination of each train along the route
+ Flexible in handling entered station names
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