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Hyperdia Question 2018/5/16 17:38
Would like to ask about getting from Gion-Shijo (Kyoto) to Hamamatsucho Tokyo. It will cost \ 14,060 with 3 transfers, changing at TOFUKUJI , KYOTO & SHINAGAWA stations. Can I assume we buy the ticket at Gion-Shijo Station from the ticket counter since the Nozomi needs reservations and that will cover the entire trip? The ticket will get us through the transfers at different stations? I had encountered in the past where our ticket couldn't go through ticketing because that line belongs to another train company and we had to buy another ticket (although the station master did refund us the balance fee). Or is it more advisable to buy it online in advance? We intend to set off about 6.30am on a Sunday. Thanks!
by lseehk  

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/17 10:36
Can I assume we buy the ticket at Gion-Shijo Station from the ticket counter since the Nozomi needs reservations and that will cover the entire trip?

No. Gion-Shijo belongs to Keihan and they don't sell JR tickets. You can go through Gion-Shijo with your Suica, and this Suica is also valid for Tofukuji to Kyoto, but not for Shinkansen. You can buy Shinkansen ticket (fare and express fee) at JR Tofukuji's ticket vending machine, but it might be troublesome: This machine deals with so many types of ticket so if you are not used to it, you may need to struggle.

Instead you can buy Shinkansen ticket at any manned office of JR and major travel agency such as JTB or KNT. For example you can buy it at KIX JR office. The fare ticket should be Kyoto city area to Tokyo city area and this covers from Tofukuji (JR) to Kyoto to Shinagawa to Hamamatsucho while the express ticket is for from Kyoto to Shinagawa.

The ticket will get us through the transfers at different stations?

You need separate tickets for Keihan and JR.
by frog1954 rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/17 12:52
Can also use the IC card Shinkansen booking system. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html
by Firas rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/17 16:26
Thank you Firas for enlighten me. To the OP, you can at least try a smartphone app.
by frog1954 rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/17 18:08
Glad I asked the experts here!

https://shinkansen-ticket.com/collections/from-kyoto/products/shinkansenticket-kyoto-tokyo?variant=16986467137 indicated \17,600 from Kyoto to Tokyo. However, Hyperdia showed \ 14,060 inclusive of the subway transfer. What could be the reason for the difference?

I'm hesitant to use the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen app as I need to input my credit card info. Since we have the Kyoto to Tokyo travelling date, I would like to buy it at KIX JR office when we arrive as frog1954 suggested or order it online. Am I right to say if we miss our train or wish to change timing, we just need to change the reservation at the TOFUKUJI JR office?

Thanks again!
by lseehk rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/17 18:28
The link you gave is to a third-party reservation service, whereas Hyperdia gives the standard JR fare and fees. The difference between the two is probably the service fees of the reservation service. The only way to book at the JR price from outside Japan is to use the app.
by Firas rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/17 18:45
https://shinkansen-ticket.com/collections/from-kyoto/products/shinkansenticket-kyoto-tokyo?variant=16986467137 indicated \17,600 from Kyoto to Tokyo. However, Hyperdia showed \ 14,060 inclusive of the subway transfer. What could be the reason for the difference?

The difference is commission. This is a kind of travel agency where you can get the ticket without hassle, but requires commission fee.

I'm hesitant to use the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen app as I need to input my credit card info. Since we have the Kyoto to Tokyo travelling date, I would like to buy it at KIX JR office when we arrive as frog1954 suggested or order it online. Am I right to say if we miss our train or wish to change timing, we just need to change the reservation at the TOFUKUJI JR office?

Well, the safest way for you is to buy the reserved seat ticket (and the fare of course) at a major JR station and one of suitable place should be KIX, since you will arrive at KIX. If you miss the reserved train, you can't change it. Rigorously if you are at Tofukuji before the departure of your reserved Nozomi, then you can change it at Tofukuji to later Nozomi. However as far as I know there is no manned ticket office at Tofukuji so you must use somewhat complex ticket vending machine. It will take some time, and then you might be late for the departure of reserved Nozomi.

As I checked reservation status using Cyberstation, all early Nozomi on 19th (Sat) have vacant seats. So you might better reserve later Nozomi (8:00 or like) and change it to earlier one at Tofukuji or Kyoto (if Kyoto, you must pay additionally for Tofukuji to Kyoto since you must get out of the gate of Kyoto station to change the reservation which is free of charge.

Or if you miss the train, you can take non-reserved seat for free. Buy your first choice Nozomi and not to wake up late :). If you wake up late then take non-reserved seat.
by frog1954 rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/17 20:40
Oops. Didn't realise that was a 3rd party site. Thanks Firas and Frog1954. I'll buy the tickets from JR Office upon arrival at KIX then. We should be able to make it for the train :-) We have never missed our trains before. Will set multiple alarms :-) Though it's good to know what to do just in case... There's always a first time for everything! Thanks again!
by lseehk rate this post as useful

Re: your Shinkansen train rides 2018/5/18 03:35


Seat reservation is not mandatory in Tokaido Shinkansen trains.
All Nozomi and Hikari trains have cars with seats
which are not to be reaseved but to be secured on a first-come, first-served basis.

Unless you travel in a high season
(when the Tokaido Shinkansen is very crowded),
you can first purchase at a JR ticket counter in KIX
a one-day Shinkansen ticket
for your ride without seat reservation from Kyoto to Shinagawa
then in Kyoto Sation replace it by a Shinkansen reserved-seat ticket,
paying the gap in the surcahge,
which is 310 to 710 yen for Hikari or 310 yen more for Nozomi.
In that way,
you donft need to decide in advance the Shinkansen to take.

frog1954:
if Kyoto, you must pay additionally for Tofukuji to Kyoto
since you must get out of the gate of Kyoto station to change the reservation which is free of charge.

You donft have to get out of the ticket gate of Kyoto Station;
you can have JR tickets rearranged
at a window of the Ticket Office near the Shinkansen Central Transfer Gate.
This ticket office is on the boundary of the Shinkansen and non-Shinkansen zones,
and it has windows on the both sides.

Please note that you can replace a Shinkansen ticket only once free of fees.

In order to cancel
(before the departure time for the train)
your Shinkansen reserved-seat ticket
which was issued instead of your initial ticket,
you should pay a handling fee,
whose price is higher when the train departure is within three days.
by omotenashi rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/18 05:37
You donft have to get out of the ticket gate of Kyoto Station;
you can have JR tickets rearranged
at a window of the Ticket Office near the Shinkansen Central Transfer Gate.
This ticket office is on the boundary of the Shinkansen and non-Shinkansen zones,
and it has windows on the both sides.


Thank you for the correction. I now realized there is one ticket window.

https://www.kyotojapantravelmap.jp/kyotosta-midorinomadoguchi/

by frog1954 rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/18 17:28
May I know is mid September on a Friday morning (7am+) considered high season or peak hour? In short, we will just buy the reserved Shinkansen ticket at KIX JR office. On the travelling day, we use Suica to get to Kyoto Station and can right away look for the Shinkansen platform 12, right? Only if we need to change reservation timing then we look for the Ticket Office near the Shinkansen Central Transfer Gate to exchange the ticket. Correct?
by lseehk rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/18 18:36
On the travelling day, we use Suica to get to Kyoto Station and can right away look for the Shinkansen platform 12, right?

Your JR ticket should be from Kyoto city are to Tokyo city area. You will get on at Tofukuji which is within the Kyoto city area so you don't need to pay Tofukuji to Kyoto section additionally. From Gion-Shijo to Tofukuji, you take Keihan line so you should use Suica, but at Tofukuji (JR) you just put in your ticket to the gate and recover it at Tofukuji and then use it also at Kyoto Shinkansen gate. Don't worry, it's very easy. Keep your tickets during your travel.
by frog1954 rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/18 21:34
Tofukuji/Kyoto to Shinagawa is only JPY13,080 (non-reserved). Should be no problem doing that, plus you get flexibility to get on the next train once you arrive rather than needing to plan your day/morning around getting a particular train.
by JapanCustomTours rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/19 13:34
you can first purchase at a JR ticket counter in KIX a one-day Shinkansen ticket for your ride without seat reservation from Kyoto to Shinagawa then in Kyoto Sation replace it by a Shinkansen reserved-seat ticket, paying the gap in the surcahge, which is 310 to 710 yen for Hikari or 310 yen more for Nozomi. In that way, you donft need to decide in advance the Shinkansen to take.

Tofukuji/Kyoto to Shinagawa is only JPY13,080 (non-reserved). Should be no problem doing that, plus you get flexibility to get on the next train once you arrive rather than needing to plan your day/morning around getting a particular train.

These sound like good ideas! Frequency of Nozomi is rather frequent within the hour so may be easier to just hop onto the next arriving train for the non-reserved cars. However, I just realised I got the travelling date wrong... apologies. We will travel on 16 Sep, Sunday, which happens to be a long weekend for the locals as 17th is a public holiday. In this case is it still advisable to take non-reserved car for a 7am+ train?

Also, according to Hyperdia, there's only 10min to connect to the Nozomi upon arrival at Kyoto Station from Tofukuji if taking reserved train. Is that doable? We were in Switzerland 3 months ago and had to run across platforms for our 10min connecting train without ticketing needs in a tiny station. Kyoto Station is huge in comparison and we still need to "rearrange our JR tickets" -- I presume that means clock in our Shinkansen tickets at a separate gate? Perhaps we should just get the non-reserved seats tickets at KIX as omotenashi suggested. If we find it difficult to board the non-reserved cars due to crowds, we walk back to the Ticket Office near the Shinkansen Central Transfer Gate to pay for the difference to get reserved seats for the next train? The price difference between reserved and non reserved isn't much so we are ok to pay the extra. More importantly are ease and convenience :-)
by lseehk rate this post as useful

Re: Hyperdia Question 2018/5/19 22:17
only 10 minutes
You missed the point - with 10 trains per hour, get the "next" train that you are actually able to catch. If it is 10, 13 or 18 minutes it is hardly a problem when travelling non-reserved. Hyperdia gives the option with the tightest acheivable transfer, not necessarily the best transfer option or timing (there are many examples where "local" knowledge or simply understanding the frequency of trains comes in handy.)
If you want to get a particular train (reserved seat) and are worried about a tight connection, get an earlier train. Last time I was using the Keihan line they were 5 minutes apart in the middle of the afternoon (non-rush-hour) and the only issue would be the transfer at Tofukuji. Again, if you are really worried, there are other ways to Kyoto station.
The least frequent part of that trip is actually Tofukuji to Kyoto. There are other subway options if you are set on using trains, just an extra transfer and unlikely to show up on Hyperdia.
by JapanCustomTours rate this post as useful

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