Smart Ex is the website for making reseravation of Tokaido, Sanyo, Kyushu Shinkansen. You might be able find a great deal if you purchase early.
Smart EX (English): https://smart-ex.jp/en/index.php
♢Fares only available online♢
(1) HAYATOKU 21 WIDE
If you book 21 days before the trip, you can get discount of Hayatoku 21 Wide, which gives you the biggest discount for regular car fare.
The price for Nozomi will be 11820(kyoto) 12370 (Osaka) 15000 (Hiroshima). So you save 2350 yen to Kyoto and Osaka, and 4440 yen to Hiroshima.
You can purchase this fare only 30 days to 21 days prior to the traveling date, and the number of tickets are limited. So it can be difficult to get early morning Shinkansen with this fare.
(2) HAYATOKU
For further destination, there are fare called Hayatoku. You can purchase this fare until 3 days prior to the travel date, and the price is almost same as the Hayatoku 21 for Hiroshima and Hakata (Fukuoka). However, this fare is not set for Kyoto and Shin-Osaka.
(3) EX Green HAYATOKU Wide
You can save on Green Car of Nozomi, which is the “first class car” of JR train too. The fare is called Ex Green Hayatoku Wide
With this fare, the price to Kyoto by Green Car is is 15,400 yen, and Shin-Oaska is 15,940 Yen. Which is about 3,500 Yen cheaper than the regular price.
(4) EX Kodama Green Hayatoku: If you take the service Kodama, which stops all stations, you can get the comfort of the green car for 11200 Yen. That is more than 7000 yen discount.
All these discount fares are available only until 21 days or 3 days prior to your travel date, and the number of ticket is limited. you might want to check the site, as soon as you decided your travel plan.
15 Comments
This video is just in time before my Japan trip 👍
Thank you Kenchan
Just came out after I got my JR pass 😢
Thank you for sharing this useful information. One question regarding the IC card. Do I have to register my IC card before I purchase the ticket or I can register IC card after I purchase the ticket? Thank you.
Kengo-san! Arigatou gozaimasu! Another great video, I wish I could have know this info when I was in Japan… but I had JR Railpass and it is so good. Rode Hikari 644 from Kyoto to Shinagawa and was so fortunate to see Fujisan! Beautiful experience. This is first time I saw it so clear. I already want to go back!🙋🏻♂️
This is the best video ever made on booking shinkansen trains. Thank you !!!!
Hello Ken! I just wanted to mention that all of your recent videos from 2023 have been incredibly useful and informative for my upcoming trip at the end of March. It is almost uncanny how many questions I’ve had have been answered! Thank you greatly for your hard work with research and video production!
Thanks!
Thank you, great video! It will come in handy for my trip in May.
NOOOO! This video came out after my previous trip in December 2022!
I could have used this important tip to save on my full priced ticket from Nagano to Tokyo which cost me 8780 Yen each person😭😭
The good thing is that i can use this website to book some shinkansen if i dun have JR pass.
Another great video, Kengo san. What route would you suggest to take using JR pass from Zushi to Hiroshima? We’re planning to go early in the morning. Thanks a lot for the very informative videos.
Thanks. I just booked my train ticket
Wow thanks for the info about discount! Really helpful.
Excellently delivered information, thank you!
I remember booking a seat on an overnight sleeper train (and ending up bes8de the toilet), only to discover a few days later that it would have been cheaper and faster to have taken a domestic flight.
By the way, is there a website where we can book scenic rail journeys on the best trains?