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Early Seat reservations- Shinkansen

Roslyn
Roslyn
over 1 year ago
4 answers

Hi,

I’m travelling to Japan next April/May for a period that includes Golden Week.
I arrive in Tokyo 26 April.

I am travelling to Hokkaido area on (Aomori, Hakodate and Sapporo) departing Tokyo middle of Golden Week on 1 May.

Is it possible to reserve seats on the bullet train before arriving in Japan? I understand this is a busy period so am wanting to pre-reserve seats during this period as I am worried I will be unable to do so upon arrival in Japan.

I will have a 2 week Japan wide JR pass as will also be travelling to Osaka.

Thank you.

avatar
Daniel-san
19241 posts
over 1 year ago
Expert

Hi there,

We do not yet offer direct seat reservations for purchases made through www.jrpass.com, if you need seat reservations ahead of time, then consider buying normal rail tickets directly from JR.

In general, though, trains rarely sell out, and seat reservations are not needed. It is only during busy periods such as the New Year and Golden week (when you travel) that seat reservations are required, and we suggest making them 2-5 days ahead of time.

Kind regards,
Daniel

Useful!1
Roslyn
Roslyn
4 posts
over 1 year ago

Thank you for your help.
I see JR East website enables seat reservations on trains for some JR passes.
Is it possible to reserve on their website using one of the JR passes pre purchased or preferably the Japan wide JR pass?
Thanks

Useful!0
avatar
Daniel-san
19241 posts
over 1 year ago
Expert

Hi Roslyn,

You can use JR East but it only works for JR East passes.

Kind regards,
Daniel

Useful!0
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