Shinkansen bookings and jr pass

Hi all,
I'm hoping someone can help with my question.

I'm planning travel for my trip to Japan. I think the cost of Japan rail pass is about the same as without for my journeys.

Are there other benefits to the rail pass than just price. Eg. Convenience?

If I decide not to gettnr JR pass, do I need to book Shinkansen tickets in advance to get the best price?

Thanks

Katie

The JR Pass does give the benefit of convenience, since you will be using just the Pass and not needing to buy and keep track of several tickets. The Pass does let you make reservations for free, and you will be given a separate ticket for this with your seat number on it.

If you don't buy a Pass, you will need to buy separate tickets for each journey. However, shinkansen prices don't change regardless of time purchased; the only differences are Green/reserved/non-reserved seats (or buying for a group of 10+ people). Reserved seats cost more than non-reserved seats, so having a JR Pass does save you money there too. Having reservations gives you peace of mind that you definitely have a seat, but many people don't bother unless it is a busy period/time.

Thanks for the full answer sq, very helpful

No problem! I found the JR Pass really easy to use, and making reservations was a breeze - just make sure you've written down all the information about the train (departure station and time, arrival station and time, train name and number) to give to the JR staff. Making reservations also means you don't need to worry about showing up early to get a seat in the unreserved section, and the JR staff will usually give you window seats - I got one every time, and once got given a Green seat (not sure if it was by accident)!

Thanks for the tips. When do you make the reservations? Before you are about to get on the train or did you do them all at once when you first got to Japan?

I usually did them at least a couple of days in advance. At the start of my trip I was moving cities every two days, so I would make my next few train reservations in one go. But you can make them just before the train leaves - there's just more risk involved (might miss out/not get a good seat). You can make reservations when you exchange your Pass, so maybe organise your first few then so you've got time to adjust to Japan without worrying about train reservations too. The only ones I would reserve well ahead of time (i.e., 2 days or so) would be "big" trips that travel through multiple major stations (e.g. Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka, Tokyo-Osaka-Hiroshima, etc.), especially if you're getting on at a station halfway down the line (e.g. getting on at Osaka after it has left from Tokyo), because they tend to be busier. And if you're doing Tokyo-Kyoto (or the reverse) book as far ahead as possible to reserve yourself a seat on the side of the train you can see Mt. Fuji from! (I think it's on the left going Kyoto-Tokyo, from memory, but you can probably Google that).

Yes- from Kyoto to Tokyo be at the left hand window for a Mt Fuji view.

Regardless, as an obvious tourist on the shinkansen every time a kind local has made sure I was aware that we were passing Mt Fuji.

The view never gets old for me.

We're in Japan now, and have made reservations 45 mins before departure (Okayama to Kagoshima and Kagoshima to Kumamoto).
I'd forgotten that another benefit of reserved seats is that (on the shinkansens we travelled on) the reserved cars were 4 seats abreast (2+2), whereas the unreserved cars were 5 abreast.

I got really confused the first time I rode in an unreserved car! I had a Pass, but my friend who met me halfway through my trip didn't, so we rode in the unreserved car for our Kyoto-Tokyo leg (made sure we lined up early at the station to get the good seats!). I'd spent my whole trip riding in 2-2 formation, so seeing 2-3 was strange!