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Shinkasen non-reserved seat 2012/12/30 12:59
Dear Japan guide....I still dont understand for shinkasen non-reserved seat policy.
Does it means they allow us to stand inside the car while it is full of passenger ?
thank you for your answer
by tommy (guest)  

Re: Shinkasen non-reserved seat 2012/12/30 15:19
Does it means they allow us to stand inside the car while it is full of passenger ?

Yes.
by Uji rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkasen non-reserved seat 2012/12/30 15:59
Or sit on your luggage, i.e near door. You can even do that or stand on shinkansen to the north where all seats are reserved only but when full.
by amazinga (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkasen non-reserved seat 2012/12/30 16:19
You can even do that or stand on shinkansen to the north where all seats are reserved only but when full.

When riding a shinkansen along the Tohoku Shinkansen that has only reserved seats but is booked out, you will need to purchase a special "standing ticket" which assigns you to a specific car to stand in.
by Uji rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkasen non-reserved seat 2012/12/30 17:41
amazinga: You can stand on Shinkansen to the north where all seats are reserved only but when full.

That is about how a passenger can stand inside a room of reservation-only seats.
A non-reservation seat ticket does not allow a passenger to do so.
For Shinkansen Hayabusa, Hayate or Komachi, standing tickets might be issued regardless of running directions, because these Shinkansen trains do not have non-reservation seats.

they allow us to stand inside the car while it is full of passenger?

With a valid non-reservation seat ticket,
you can stand inside a car for non-reservation seats
or stand outside a room (e.g. near doors) of an Ordinary-Class car for reservation-only seats,
even when the car is not full.
(You cannot stand in a Green Car without a valid ticket or pass for Green Class.)

A non-reservation seat ticket is a 2-day ticket issued for a certain section. You can choose a train to take with the ticket.

If there is vacancy in seat reservation and you pay for the gap in Shinkansen charges, you can switch from a non-reservation ride to a ride with reservation, but you cannot vice versa.

A change concerning a regular JR ticket can be made once without a handling fee, only when the ticket is valid and, regarding a reserved-seat ticket, only before the scheduled departure time.

by omotenashi rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkasen non-reserved seat 2012/12/31 02:03
My posting is based on my real experience. I had the JR Pass and was told to do so to Hachinohe on my way to Hokkaido when all shinkansen seats were reserved full. No extra charge or ticket. I had a good time talking to a French family & others doing so. When some seats opened up I was able to take a seat.
by amazinga (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkasen non-reserved seat 2012/12/31 12:34
amazinga: I had the JR Pass and was told to do so to Hachinohe on my way to Hokkaido when all Shinkansen seats were reserved full. No extra charge or ticket.

The original poster is asking about Shinkansen non-reserved seat policy, and is not mentioning any rail pass.
So, it would be kinder to answer first about a ride with a regular non-reservation ticket.

"All the seats are fully reserved" does not always result in the situation that all the reservation-only seats are full of passengers.
Basically even when a seat which is reserved is actually not used, a passenger with a non-reservation ticket cannot use the seat instead.

by omotenashi rate this post as useful

... 2012/12/31 13:26
Dear Japan guide....I still dont understand for shinkasen non-reserved seat policy.

Have you read these pages?
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2018.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2016.html

Does it means they allow us to stand inside the car while it is full of passenger ?

If you have a non-reserved ticket, or you are using a JR Pass without making a seat reservation, then basically the following applies:-
You should go to the platform area which has the non-reserved carriages, these are usually marked clearly. You can see a sample train layout indicating the non-reserved carriages on the Tokaido Shinkansen here:-
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2018_tokaido.html
So, usually carriages 1-5 on an Hikari Shinkansen are non-reserved and you should queue up in front of one of them.

Once you are on the Shinkansen you can take any spare seat in a non-reserved carriage.

If there are no spare seats in any of the non-reserved carriages then you can stand, either in the aisle between the seats or in the entry/exit zone just outside the normal seating area.

Hope this doesn't confuse the issue any further!

Enjoy your trip!
by GC3 rate this post as useful

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