Reserved vs Unreserved Seating

quite confused of these two.

for reserved seating, you actually get your seat when you board. that's sure seat. while unreserved seating, you still board the train but standing if there's no available seats? yet you still pay additional money?

thanks

If by "addiitonal money" you mean the limited express fee that you must pay on top of the base fare, yes, you still pay that, because you still get to ride the Shinkansen and arrive at your destination faster.

for reserved seating, you actually get your seat when you board. that's sure seat.

Yes, you have a seat assigned to you.

while unreserved seating, you still board the train but standing if there's no available seats?

Yes, there is the risk that there are no available seats in unreserved cars

yet you still pay additional money?

No, you do not pay additional money required beyond whatever fees are needed to ride that particular train (limited express fees for example).

A reserved seat costs additional money. You pay a reservation fee on top of the unreserved fee.

oh so even on a full speed shinkansen train, you could be standing the entire trip if there's no available seats on the unreserved car right?

say you really have to get into that train for that time and if there's no more seats available then you'll be directed to an unreserved car and might stand

Yes, if there are no empty seats in the unreserved cars you will be standing. It's not too bad for an hour or so because the ride is so smooth. Then there will be a stop and some people in your car will get off and you can sit down (act quickly, before new people board).

[shinkansen specific]

With exception of Hayate and Hayabusa Shinkansen (AFAIK only these two)service on Tohoku line, all other shinkansen service has unreserved car.
Its open seating 1st come 1st get. You will pay all fees+unreserved seat fees. In this car, the moment you see empty seat, you can seat on it, and no need to pay any more additional fee the moment you get this seat. If all seats are occupied, you can just stand, even all thru your journey
Reserved seating pretty much as what it is, the seat are reserved to you for the whole journey you pay from point A to B.

Back to Hayate and Hayabusa, they only have reserved seatings. However in the event if all the seats are fully reserved, you can ask for standing ticket. Yep, you reading it right, standing ticket . I think its because they want to have quota control on how many ppl can stand per each car

Yes.

If you choose to pay the fee and reserve a seat, you get....a reserved seat.

If you choose to travel in unreserved....you don't have a reserved seat.

The number of seats in a train is fixed. If there are more people than seats... some people will not be able to have a seat.

If you don't have a ticket for reserved seating, you can't sit in the reserved seating carriages.

It's very confusing.

My advice is just get a reserved seat if you're really paranoid about not having a seat...for a couple of hundred yen. Especially during peak season and if you know it's going to be a long ride.

With exception of Hayate and Hayabusa Shinkansen (AFAIK only these two)

And the Komachi.

It boils down to:

Reserved ticket = reserved seat in reserved car
Unreserved ticket = no reserved seat. Open seating in unreserved car

Winter, I suppose you meant to say that it is NOT very confusing ;)

Thank you guys for a very clear explanation.

Just really wondering if why they still charge the unreserved seating in addition to the base fare. Kinda weird if one cannot guarantee a seat then one might just go with the reserved seating though more expensive a little.

Yll. That was probably sarcasm.

As for unreserved seating costs that is because you get to ride a shinkansen. You pay a basic fare to get from point A to point B. This is the usual ticket that all trains has. Costs is depended on km travelled. On top of that there is the speed train fare (unreserved and reserved seating, also includes green car) for using a shinkansen

They don't charge for unreserved seating.

They charge for the journey.

There is no cheaper ticket than the unreserved ticket.

If you want a reserved seat, you pay the additional fee and reserve a seat.