IC Card and reserved tickets

Hi

I visited Osaka in 2013 and never actually figured this out, and am going back this year again.... so..

Say i want to board a reserved only train, and pass through the ticket gate with my ICOCA card, how do i get the reserved bit of the ticket?

Is it better buying the full ticket manually before going through the ticket gate?

I had read that if you board a reserved train and the conductor asks for your ticket you would be charged then? but then again i would probably be sitting in someone elses seat!

I diddnt understand it enough just to try and wing it, hence the question!

Cheers for the advice!

Since you are talking about reserved-only train, I assume you are talking about limited express trains including Shinkansen trains. Some Shinkansen trains are reserved-only, and others have unreserved seating as well.

There is a gate to get into the station (which you can get in with ICOCA or other prepaid card), and then to board Shinkansen train, for example, you go through another gate, which you cannot get through unless you have the ticket for Shinkasen (limited express) supplement charge.

So, inside the station but before the gate to the Shinkansen platforms, there will be a window to buy the limited express ticket (which may be reserved or you could buy limited express unreserved ticket).

Or, if you know what day/time you will want to go from A to B, you can buy the full ticket - the base fare and the limited express supplement charge, reserved or unreserved, beforehand at "Midori no Madoguchi" ticketing counter beforehand, outside the gate.

Narita Express is another reserved-only train. At the ticket gate at Narita Airport, you need to insert the full ticket including the reserved limited express bit to get to the platform. If you are getting on the Narita Express at Tokyo station, yes you can get to the platform just with prepaid card, and if you take a seat, the conductor will come around to check everyone's tickets. If they find that you have not paid, they will ask you to pay the limited express & reserved charge. And if the seat you happened to sit down was someone else's seat, you will be asked to move.

You must be a J-West member to use a ticket free service in Kansai.

Once you became the member, you can book your reserved seat through the club J-West website. Then you can through station gates by ICCOCA, on your reserved seat, you can either present the reserved e-ticket on your mobile or printed e-ticket to the cabin attendant.

J-West membership requires a Japanese residency with physical address in JP with a constant income proof. This is because the membership is connected with a credit card company such as Master or Visa cards to pay off the ticket fees.

Which date?
Which railway/train?
Which station from/to?

Basically ICOCA and other regular train IC cards(Suica/PASMO and more) not valid for paying seat ticket.

Since you are talking about reserved-only train, I assume you are talking about limited express trains including Shinkansen trains.

Some rapid (快速) trains are also reserved-only. I am not familiar with Osaka, but there are some in Tohoku (for example the Resort Shirakami) or in Kyushu (the SL Hitoyoshi).

OK, so save confusion ive put together an example..

Osaka -to- Kyoto

12:12 Limited Express Thunderbird.

\560 plus the Seat Fee (varies depending on Green/Reserved/Unreserved)

I go through the ticket gate using ICOCA.. but havent paid the "seat fee".. Is there a ticket machine for the seat fee?

For Thunderbird, you can either buy reserved or green seat tickets by ticket machine or at ticket office and can be paid by ICOCA, then printed a paper ticket. You can even choose the seat on the machine.
I think the ticket machine only displays in Japanese.
The machine is something like this. It's easy to handle.
http://www.jr-odekake.net/railroad/midori/trial/

@ tokyo friend 48

Midori no kenbaiki and Midori no madoguchi cannot pay by IC.
By cash or credit card only.
Some regular ticket machine sales unreserved only and paying by IC possible
but not all station and no sales reserved/green seat ticket.

IC are NOT credit card.