reserving a seat

Hi there,

To reserve seats for free using a JR Pass you simply visit the JR ticket office and present your JR Pass to the JR officer when you specify the train you want to use.

Regarding the time in advance you have to reserve a seat, in general you can turn up at the station and reserve a place on the next departing train (certainly this is the case with the Narita Express and most Bullet Trains for example). However, for some seasonal speciality trains or the sleeper trains (where the rail pass is valid), reserving as far in advance as possible is advisable - normally this means making your reservations as soon as you arrive in Japan.

We have a blog post on reserving seats with more detail, but essentially it's very simple and quick (and free!).

Hope this helps!

may i reply to this topic? we are arriving in tokyo on april 09 for an 8-day tour. is it worth it to buy a 7day JR pass ticket? our itinerary would be:

Day 1 (arrival), 2, 3 - Tokyo
Day 4 - Hakone
Day 5, 6 - Kyoto
Day 7, 8(depature) - Tokyo

i am checking hyperdia website and i noticed that there are two separate columns for Seat and Fare. Will these two be covered by the JR pass? Does seat fee also apply by default when ticket is bought separately or by JR pass? And will only vary in price depending on the reservation? I mean of course, I would have to seat especially for long journey. I just want to make sure that I understand it correctly. I was expecting that unreserved seat would be JPY 0 and that its cost should be included in the Fare already. Thanks a lot in advance... =)

Hi there!

Firstly, to understand if a 7 day rail pass is economical, lets compare it's price (¥28,300) with the travel you mention:

1. Tokyo > Odawara: ¥3640, (35mins, 83km)
2. Odawara > Kyoto: ¥11750, (160mins, 429km)
3. Kyoto > Tokyo: ¥13220, (161mins, 513km)
4. Tokyo > Narita airport terminal 1: ¥2940, (58mins, 79km)

TOTAL: ¥31550 for 4 legs

As you can see, you'll save ¥3250 with a 7 day pass.

i am checking hyperdia website and i noticed that there are two separate columns for Seat and Fare. Will these two be covered by the JR pass?

Yes - both seat and fare prices are covered by the JR Pass. Also, for JR Pass holders, reserved seats are 100% free. Effectively this means that as a holder of the Japan Rail Pass you will be able to use both reserved and non-reserved seats without charge.

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much! Will consider this... =)