How To Buy Japan Rail Tickets And Shinkansen Tickets Online

Japan Railways West (JR West) have an online ticket service that allows you to buy tickets online and pick them up in person at a train station in western Japan. You can buy shinkansen tickets and regular train tickets, as well as some regional rail passes. Here’s our full guide to this service.

[JR West Icoca ticket: Ng KW / Shutterstock.com]

The Takeaway

• You can buy Japan rail tickets and shinkansen tickets online from the official SmartEx app (if it’s available to download in your country), the JR West website, or from official third party agents like Klook. It’s important to note JR West only covers train routes in Western Japan — they do not offer countrywide coverage. Third party agents do provide coverage for buying tickets online for all destinations in Japan.
• If you just want to use the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu shinkansen lines (ie, the direct line that runs from Tokyo through Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and down into Kyushu), you can buy individual tickets online with the SmartEX app, if the app is available in your country’s App store or Google Play store. (The app is currently available in USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand). Be aware that the SmartEx app does seem to have issues with some foreign-issued credit cards. You can also buy shinkansen tickets online from official agents like Klook.
• For other JR West tickets, you can use the online ticket service described on this page.
• JR West only covers tickets in western Japan (including Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and points west). It does cover shinkansen tickets that originate in west Japan and end elsewhere (like shinkansen tickets from Kyoto to Tokyo, but not in the other direction). To buy tickets online for travel in Japan outside of JR West’s area, you can use official online ticket agents like Klook.
• You can buy tickets for express trains, airport express trains, and shinkansen (bullet train) tickets.
• You can purchase tickets up to one month in advance. You can do so from inside and outside Japan.
• You pick up the tickets in person at special ticket machines or ticket counters at major train stations in west Japan (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Kansai International Airport etc). You CANNOT pick up tickets in Tokyo.
• You can also buy regional rail passes, but NOT the all-country Japan Rail Pass. (See our detailed guide to the Japan Rail Pass on whether it’s good value for you).
• The website and the ticket machines where you pick up your tickets are a little clunky, so read this page carefully before making your purchase.
• When you pick up your tickets in Japan, you will need three things: 1) reservation number, 2) ID code, and 3) the credit card you used to make the purchase.
• And of course, you don’t have to buy tickets in advance. You can simply buy shinkansen tickets and railway tickets in person at any rail station in Japan, either from ticket machines or the ticket office. Be aware there could be long queues at peak times.

[Shinkansen in the depot in Osaka: EvergreenPlanet / Shutterstock.com]

The Details

Here is the JR West website for online ticket purchases:

JR West Online Ticket Purchasing Site

• This service is operated by Japan Railways West (JR West) and it only covers tickets in west Japan and those originating in west Japan and terminating elsewhere. Also, you must pick up your tickets at major train stations in west Japan (so it is not possible to pick up tickets in Tokyo etc).
• The service also allows you to purchase regional rail passes (but not the all-country Japan Rail Pass).
• Thus, this service is of limited use for international travelers to Japan. Those who might really benefit from it are people flying into Kansai International Airport (KIX).
• As mentioned above, this site is a little clunky, so we suggest that you read the following section to avoid getting stuck.

[Shinkansen in Osaka Station: Luca Brianza / Shutterstock.com]

Buying Tickets Online

First, access the JR West Online Ticket Purchasing Site.

[Overview top page]

Scroll down and select either regular tickets (for shinkansen etc) or special discounted tickets (for regional rail passes). We’ll choose the regular tickets option for this article. There are two options for this: Reserve Ticket by Selecting Train or Reserve Ticket by Selecting Stations. We’ll choose the Selecting Stations option. NOTE: This only works during normal working hours in Japan (5:30 am — 11:30 pm JST).

[Purchase options]

Input the date and time of your trip and the departure and arrival stations. Also, click the box for shinkansen if you want to go by shinkansen (most people will choose this option for long trips). We’re inputting a short trip from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka (the Osaka shinkansen station) on the shinkansen on November 1, 2019. After inputting the information, hit Search.

[Date, time and route]

The system will return several possible trains that fulfill your search requirements. The Ordinary Car and Green Car buttons are for reserved seats. If the button for Non-reserved seating reads Available, you can also choose a non-reserved ticket, which will be cheaper than reserved or Green Car seats. Click the button that you want. This turns it red. After making your choice, hit Select.

[Route and seating selection]

The next page shows the ticket prices. You will be asked to select Ticket Type. For most shinkansen journeys, there will be only one choice here: Regular Ticket. Click Select.

[Ticket prices]

You will then be asked to input your name, email address and a four-digit identification number (ID number). Use a number you can easily remember or MAKE A NOTE OF THE NUMBER, because you will need it when you pick up your ticket!! Then tick the Agree box and hit Agree and Continue.

[Passenger information and ID number]

Read the Terms and Conditions, tick Agree and then click Agree and Continue.

[Terms and conditions]

You’ll then have to input the number of users (ie, passengers or tickets), your preferred seats, and which ticket you buy. Options include one-way and roundtrip. A third option is no basic fare ticket. This third option is not really an option for foreign travelers, so you can ignore this option. One you’ve made your selections, click Next (New Reservation). NOTE: The New Reservation button is confusing and makes you wonder how you’ll pay for the present reservation. Don’t worry, if you click Next, you’ll be brought to the payment page (even if you aren’t going to make another reservation, ie, this is the only way to the payment page).

[Users and seats]

[Ticket type]

You’ll then have to confirm your information and, lower down on the same page, input your credit card information. After inputting the information, hit Purchase.

[Confirm information]

[Payment information]

You will then see the Processing page.

[Processing payment]

You will then see the Reservation Confirmation page.

[Reservation confirmation]

You will receive an email a few minutes later stating that JR West is processing your purchase. This email will show your ticket details.

[JR email about processing payment]

You will receive another email a day or so later stating that JR West has accepted your purchase. This email will also show your ticket details.

[JR email confirming purchases]

Shortly before the date of your train trip, you will receive a reminder email about your trip and ticket information.

Picking Up Your Tickets in Japan

As mentioned above, you can pick up the tickets you bought online at major JR train stations in west Japan. This includes Kansai International Airport, Kyoto Station, Osaka Station and many others. You will need three things to pick up your tickets:

• Your five-digit reservation number
• Your four-digit ID number
• The credit card that you used to make the purchase

If you forget any of those, you will not be able to pick up your tickets from a machine (you should go to a manned ticket counter if you have forgotten any of the above and they MAY be able to issue your tickets).

Once you’ve arrived at the train station, look for the special ticket machines that handle tickets purchased online. These are usually green. Here are those machines at Kyoto Station:

[Kyoto Station ticket machines]

Here’s a closer picture of the bank of ticket machines in question:

[Kyoto Station ticket machines close]

Tickets that issue tickets purchased online have a blue label reading 5489 (this can be read as “go-yo-ya-ku” in Japanese, which is also the word for “reservation”).

[5489 sign]

Here’s a shot of one of the ticket machines in question:

[Ticket machine]

At the upper right of the screen, you will see language selections. Select English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese or Korean.

[English and other language selections]

Then select Receive Reserved Tickets.

[Receive reserved tickets]

Then select JR West Online Train Reservation.

[JR West tickets]

Then select Paid by credit card when reserving.

[Payment type selection]

Then input your five-digit reservation number.

[Ticket number]

Then input your four-digit ID code.

[ID number]

Then insert the credit card that you used for purchase into the card slot.

[Credit card slot]

Then confirm your ticket details and hit Issue.

[Ticket detail confirmation]

Then hit Receipt if you’d like a receipt.

[Receipt screen]

Then grab your tickets from the ticket slot.

[Ticket issued]

Other Ways to Buy Japan Train Tickets and Rail Passes Online

As you can see from the above, the JR West ticket buying system is a bit clunky. Moreover, it only covers tickets for west Japan and doesn’t cover the all-country Japan Rail Pass (which is what most tourists need). Here are some better ways to buy Japan train tickets and rail passes online:

• You can buy directly from an authorized online dealer of Japan Rail Passes
• You can also buy reserved seat shinkansen tickets online.

Here is an example of an image map with rectangular clickable areas:

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