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Shinkansen 2018/5/12 00:07
Good Morning Sir;

My question is of shinkansen that if I am using Jr pass and wanna to ride on unreserved coach of shinkansen, than I know that there is no need to buy a separate ticket for Jr pass users.I have to just show the Jr pass to a window at the side of the ticket gate. Now my question is that if I am riding on unreserved coach of shinkansen than there is no record for the passengers boarding the shinkansen only for Jr pass users, now let's suppose if the passengers on the unreserved coach of shinkansen exceeds the amount of the available train seats than what will happen?

Than do I have to pass my whole journey just standing in the shinkansen or there is some record maintained for the Jr pass users that if suppose there is no seat in unreserved coach than the passenger will not be allowed to board the shinkansen unreserved coach?

Thanks
by Ammar Ahmed (guest)  

Re: Shinkansen 2018/5/12 10:12
Hello.

If you opt to travel on unreserved car, you may not necessarily find a seat. It's not uncommon to see many standing passengers spilling onto the boarding space of Tokaido Shinkansen cars.

If you didn't have a JR Pass to freely travel on the unreserved car, you'd have got a ticket allowing you to board any departure on that day.

Needless to say that unless you have to take the next departure and cannot reserve, there's no reason not to travel reserved with the JR Pass.
by Faiyez rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkansen 2018/5/12 10:43
Yes just show your pass at the manned ticket window to pass through the gate sections.

If there is more passengers than seats, then you will need to stand in the non-reserved seating cars.
by hakata14 rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkansen 2018/5/12 10:47
Just to clarify, Ammar. The entire point of traveling reserved is for you to have a guaranteed seat. The idea is the same, regardless of you being a rail pass holder or not. If you go unreserved and the cars are fullly occupied, that's that.

Even if you had a Green Pass, you would still have to reserve your seat for the green car.
by Faiyez rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkansen 2018/5/12 22:22
Reason not to reserve is if you do not know what time you are travelling.
This evening my guests were travelling non-reserved because we finished at 18:16 and took a taxi back to Hiroshima station 18:30 enabling us to get a 18:38 service. Boarded the train, got seats (separately) and later arrivals were standing. Within two stops most of the train (a Kodama service) had emptied out. We were only going a short distance so it was the best/quickest option for us.
Tomorrow same thing - flexible departure, stop-over of unknown duration and then another short trip up to Kyoto. Could we reserve seats - less likely for the Sakura trains on the Sanyo line (rail pass and last minute reservations are often not possible), and the time, even if standing, is not long (often shorter than the commuter tains I get in Tokyo).
Other legs of the trip, definately reserved, but knowing which trains sell out is tricky.
by JapanCustomTours rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkansen 2018/5/13 01:08
I agree with @Japan Custom Tours that getting seats on Sakuras can be challenging even with a Rail Pass.
Every Sakura until really late into the evening had no availability when I was trying to book 4 or 5 days out. However, since we were just a group of two we had no problem getting 2 non-reserved seats together in one of the non-reserved cars. I expect something similar will happen if we go to Okayama our next trip.

Non-reserved seats can be nice if you're doing a day trip and are not 100% sure when you will be back. Reserving seats with a JR pass is free, but sometimes it's nicer to make an earlier train than to wait for a reserved seat. I had that happen with a train between Nagoya and Kyoto after dinner with a friend. I could either sit non-reserved and make a train in 10 minutes, or get reserved seats and wait 40+ minutes for the next train.

But once you are in a non-reserved seat, you don't need to vacate it just because people are standing unless you want to offer your seat to someone.

I am pretty sure the Hayabusa and Kagayaki shinkansens are all reserved seats, so I think you need to get a specific standing pass if you want to ride one without a seat reservation. I've not personally used either yet.

Enjoy your trip!
by rkold rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkansen 2018/5/13 12:09
When in the year and for which sections do you plan to use Shinkansen?

During high tourist days (e.g. Obon days, year-end days), Shinkansen trains may be crowded.
Non-reserved seats are secured on a first-come, first-served basis;
when all the seats are used, you have to stand or sit on the floor.
(Personally I have once got packed in a super-crowded Shinkansen car during the Obon days
on the Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to around Maibara. )

Japan Rail Pass does not allow you
to take Nozomi or Mizuho trains on the Tokaido & Sanyo Shinkansen;
Hikari and Sakura trains are less frequently available.

How is your itinerary?
by omotenashi rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkansen 2018/5/13 22:53
Just as a foot-note, reserving a seat with a JRP is not "free" - it takes time and time has value.
Some stations reservations are quick, other places 20-30 minutes. You can get a long way on a non-reserved seat in that time (100km) and know which are the quick reservation offices and those that are slow (I'm thinking about Nagano followed by Nagoya and Hiroshima) makes a difference.
Today, two non-reserved trains - schedule worked fine and lots of seats because of where were were starting from and where we were travelling to (on a Sunday). First train because of our start time we waited 8 minutes for the next available option. In the afternoon it was maybe 10 minutes, but in both cases I avoided the Sakura service - not just because of their loadings, but also to minimise transfers.
by JapanCustomTours rate this post as useful

Re: Shinkansen 2018/5/14 01:32
JapanCustomTours. You make a good point, but when someone says that reserving is "free", it is understood to mean "at no additional monetary cost for the pass holder", and that's what's important to know. I'm pretty certain that most pass holders are going to be making the full trips to Kansai from Kanto, to Hiroshima from Kansai, etc. and not getting off along the way. Pass holder should typically want to reserve their seat in my mind. I once stood all the way to Nagoya and it wasn't fun.

But yeah, no doubt that there are lots of quirks with the different Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen services and the stations served along the route. It makes me glad to understand that someone out there does touring taking into consideration what alternatives are more efficient, what is a better use of time and such.
by Faiyez rate this post as useful

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