Child JR pass

Hello, my daughter is 5 years old, that means, jr pass is free for her...but if i want reserve seat for her, do i need to pay, or is it free? Thank you.

Hi!

There is no rail pass for children under 6. Your child is just free. However depending on the size of your child you might be asked to show proof of age. However, free children are not entitled to a seat and are expected to sit on your lap. You can not reserve a seat for them. If you get lucky and your transportation is not busy and there is either no one in the seat next to you or you are traveling non-reserved and there is no one in need of a seat, then your child can sit in a seat, but someone with a paid ticket gets preference and if you are traveling reserved, I've often found trains to be full.

If you have a large child and you will be taking a lot of trains it might make sense to just buy your child the discounted child rail pass. I did that when my child was 5 because I wanted to be able to reserve seats and I did not want her sitting on my lap for 2+ hour train trips. She is quite petite for her age, but not so petite that I wanted her on my lap. I was happy to have her use buses, subways and other forms of short distance travel for free though because again, the duration was short and depending on the transport there were not even seats available.

Good luck on your upcoming trip!

For Shinkansen:

Children 6 to 11 years old
Children in this age bracket pay 50% of the adult fare. Green car fees are still charged at full price.

Young children (1 to 5 years old)
Up to 2 young children can travel for free when accompanied by an adult. Additional children, or young children you occupy a reserved seat, are charged the regular childfs price (50%of full fare).

The official website of the Japan Rail Pass states that there is a child pass available for children aged from 6 to 11 years. It costs half the price of an adult pass.

Children who are 12 years and older will need to buy an adult pass.

What about kids and infants younger than 5?
Children aged 0-5 years old are not required to have a JR Pass in order to get on JR trains, buses and the ferry. However, they are not entitled to get a seat.

In the unreserved, reserved & green cars, they may be seated in an empty seat if available. However, if the train starts filling with commuters, they need to be placed on an adultfs lap.

In short, infants and toddlers under the age of 5 who do not have a pass may only occupy seats if, and only if, there are no paying customers needing seats.

https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/shinkansen-tickets#:~:text=at%20full%20...).

https://japanrailpass.net/en/about_jrp.html#anchor02

Make it simple.

5yo on lap. Free
5yo with own seat. Pay.

5yo with own seat. Pay.

The above statement is true only if referring to a reserved seat. 5yo can used unreserved seats for free.

So, your choice is:
- donft buy a child pass, travel unreserved, and hope you get 3 free seats (or else your child has to sit on your lap if the train is busy), or;
- buy a child pass (and then you can reserve seats for all 3 of you. Of course you have to pay for the child pass, but bear in mind that if youfre travelling a lot then rail passes are good value.)
- donft buy a child pass, but if some of the trains you plan to take are busy, you can pay for a child seat - and reservation - for those specific trains.

It probably depends on where youfre planning to go, and when, and how happy you would all be if your child had to sit in your knee for some journeys. Tokyo-Kyoto-Hiroshima in Golden Week would see me paying for a child pass. Other routes at other times...maybe Ifd take a chance on finding spare space in unreserved...YMMV.

Also, donft underestimate the sheer joy of all 3 of you having reservations and being able to rock up to the station knowing that youfre all going to be sat together and have a happy journey together. No worry, no fuss, no need to turn up early and queue.

Only you can work out whatfs the best use of your cash though...

As stated above, children younger than 6 years old don't have to buy a JRailPass, but also can't have a seat of their own. From 6 to 11 years of age they can take advantage of a special 50% discount and can have a seat.