Train transfers difficult?

How hard are train transfers from Yamamote line to a Hikari Shinkansen? How many minutes should I allot for the train transfers?

Is it easier to transfer trains in Shinagawa Station or in Tokyo Station? I dont know how big train stations are in Japan. I'm hoping to make seat reservations in advance but with the train transfers, I'm afraid that I will miss my shinkansen ride. Help anyone?

In my opinion, the transfer at Shinagawa Station is a lot easier. Since all Hikari and Nozomi Shinkansen stop at Shinagawa now, that is a plus.

I always found Tokyo Station especially around the Shinkansen areas (since they also do the Tohoku Shinkansen at Tokyo Station) to be very crowded. Shinagawa is always a much smoother and faster process.

how long would that take me then to switch trains? would it take over an hour? is it in one big station where you can go to all the lines and shinkansen without crossing the street or is every train line in a separate building? im so sorry. im really not familiar with the train stations in japan.

mack,
At Shinagawa station for the first time calculate 20 min for your transfer, later when you are more familiar 10 min. All lines are under one roof. Arriving Yamanote line you go upstairs and look for sign Shinkansen. Follow the sign within the gated area and you will soon face a gate exclusively for the shinkansen tracks. Here clear English signs again, showing you which trains come next and on which track in which direction.
Tokyo station same system, but station larger.

mack:

Most train stations are housed in a huge building or connecting buildings where you can get off one train, go downstairs and go up another stairs or downstairs to another numbered platform for your connecting train. Shinkansens are close to each other but away from local trains.

You may need to walk further if you're connecting between local trains and Shinkansens. There are a lot of signs directing you to the various train lines and platform numbers including where the Shinkansens are. The signage are similar to airports with clear directions.

In addition, there are overhead lit signs in Japanese and English announcing the name of the trains, their respective platform, the destination and departure times. You can also ask any train station personnel at any gate for direction by showing your ticket. Don't hesitate to do this.

Since you're new at this, you should allow about 20 – 30 minutes for transfer to your next train. This should give you relaxed time so that you don't rush walk in the wrong direction. I've traveled with JR trains a number of times but still give myself about 15 – 20 minutes transfer time although for some I had only about 5 to 10 minutes. If not, the next train may be an hour or more later.

Make sure you're on the correct platform. The Shinkansen trains are almost always on schedule to the minute. So, if you're on the designed platform 15 minutes early and there's a train at the platform, do not go on that train. Look at the overhead lit sign to make sure your train appears. Look at your ticket for the name of the train, CAR NUMBER, seat number and departure time. Then, look on the platform floor at the edge next to the track for the train name such as HIKARI and the car number that matches your ticket to know where you should wait. I highly recommend that you show your ticket to ANY of the station personnel on the platform to confirm that you're at the right place.

To search for JR trains, go to http://grace.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi
or you can go to http://www.japanrail.com/JR_hyperdia.html where the first page will explain how to use the train's website. For JR Rail Pass users, select the Shinkansen and Limited Express while putting a check mark in the Except NOZUMI block.

If you're traveling a long distance such as from Tokyo to Aomori and there's a train change in Hachinohe with only 6 minutes transfer time, split your train search if you're not comfortable with the short transfer time. The first will be from Tokyo to Hachinohe. The second search will be from Hachinohe to Aomori. Then you can decide if you'll go with the 8 minutes transfer time or wait for the next. In this case, it only takes about 1 – 2 minutes to get to the next platform so the 8 minutes transfer time works.

As long as you give yourself enough time and you remain calm, train travel is not difficult and is fairly easy to do.

Harold had some excellent advice. My only other piece of advice would be to try to limit the size/weight of your luggage as much as possible. We often found ourselves racing through huge stations to make connections and you don't always have time to find elevators/lifts so had to use many ,many long sets of stairs. We were grateful that we had "small" suitcases om wheels.

Mack,

I would agree to avoid Tokyo Station. I just got back 2 days ago from my sixth trip to Japan and I was searching hard to find my locker, where I put my stuff there for 3 days, before boarding the Narita Express to the airport.
And to enable a faster transfer, what could help you is to search the ekikara net and find the train you will be boarding. There you will be able to see which Platform that train is leaving from. With the platform number handy, you will be able to look/ask for the location of the platform in case time is running short. When you approach the platform you have to reassure if the train is correct. And ekikara net should be quite reliable on that.

I did the same when I have to transfer from Nagano Shinkansen to Tokkaido shinkansen at the Tokyo Station(or something like that). I record the platform numbers ( from 21 transfer to 18) and rush to find 18 in under 13 mins. And between this time, I had to find time to locate a locker to lock up my lugagge. I made it and the train start moving after 1 min I boarded the train.
So you can do it easily if you stay calm and use the number for fast searching.