Booking Shinkansen

[soniam]

So, I am trying to figure out how we will book our Shinkansen trips, see below. I found an app and an online method, but it won't take my cards. I used the card that has worked with TDR. I see you can buy tickets from Klook, but it doesn't appear to allow you to book the oversized storage. So, how are people booking their shinkansen trips ahead of time? I'm a little too paranoid to do it day of. Thanks

Tokyo->Osaka, Osaka->Kyoto, Kyoto->Nagoya, Nagoya->Toko.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I've always gotten my seat reservations in person. I also prefer to fly between Tokyo and Osaka instead of bother with oversized baggage seat reservations.

For your Osaka to Kyoto leg, you may want to look into just taking the regular special rapid trains rather than the Shinkansen to avoid the oversized baggage restrictions. Unless you specifically need to get from Shin-Osaka station to Kyoto station, it may even be faster than transferring between regular trains and the Shinkansen.

The Chase Visa card that I would prefer to use for transit expenses won't work with Smart-EX but I've linked an Amex successfully. Discover cards also seem less likely to get rejected than Visa and Mastercards.

 

[soniam]

I've always gotten my seat reservations in person. I also prefer to fly between Tokyo and Osaka instead of bother with oversized baggage seat reservations.

For your Osaka to Kyoto leg, you may want to look into just taking the regular special rapid trains rather than the Shinkansen to avoid the oversized baggage restrictions. Unless you specifically need to get from Shin-Osaka station to Kyoto station, it may even be faster than transferring between regular trains and the Shinkansen.

The Chase Visa card that I would prefer to use for transit expenses won't work with Smart-EX but I've linked an Amex successfully. Discover cards also seem less likely to get rejected than Visa and Mastercards.

Unfortunately, those are the 2 cards I that I don’t have. I’m wondering if a Wise card would work. We definitely want to take the train. We can fly anywhere, but we love train travel. Our bags aren’t actually oversized; they are the typical checked bag size. However, we will have 3 of them: one per person. We could possibly get away with overhead and in front.

Is it hard to get them in person? How far out are you buying them? We will absolutely need to travel on certain days and possibly certain times. This is 3 adults for June.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Unfortunately, those are the 2 cards I that I don’t have. I’m wondering if a Wise card would work. We definitely want to take the train. We can fly anywhere, but we love train travel. Our bags aren’t actually oversized; they are the typical checked bag size. However, we will have 3 of them: one per person. We could possibly get away with overhead and in front.

Is it hard to get them in person? How far out are you buying them? We will absolutely need to travel on certain days and possibly certain times. This is 3 adults for June.

I've never gotten tickets more than a week in advance but also never had to deal with more than one suitcase. The space between seats is pretty big so I've kept suitcases in front of my feet at times. A normal shaped suitcase in the 130cm dimensions range feels OK for me if it's just between Nagoya and Tokyo or Osaka. I've fit a suitcase around 156cm at my feet once but it was rather squishy so now I'd just ship suitcases of that size or fly.

If you're able to ship some of the suitcases, you'll have a much easier time. Not only is it more challenging to find multiple oversize luggage seats on the same train but you also may not all fit into an elevator which means waiting for the next elevator.

 

[Flossbolna]

From all that I have heard, a Wise card should work. It’s very easy to get. I already have one and am planning on using it as a backup.

This website offers a few more travel agency website suggestions that you can book through: https://www.seat61.com/Japan.htm
(I love the Man in Seat 61 website for European train travel, but am not sure his Japan info is as up to date).

 

[dunkindonut]

just use klook

 

[soniam]

I've never gotten tickets more than a week in advance but also never had to deal with more than one suitcase. The space between seats is pretty big so I've kept suitcases in front of my feet at times. A normal shaped suitcase in the 130cm dimensions range feels OK for me if it's just between Nagoya and Tokyo or Osaka. I've fit a suitcase around 156cm at my feet once but it was rather squishy so now I'd just ship suitcases of that size or fly.

If you're able to ship some of the suitcases, you'll have a much easier time. Not only is it more challenging to find multiple oversize luggage seats on the same train but you also may not all fit into an elevator which means waiting for the next elevator.

I’m reluctant to ship the luggage. We will probably have to from Kyoto->Tokyo, because we are doing Ghibli Park on the way. They don’t allow large bags or have storage. I don’t want to be without stuff for 2 days, which is what I’m hearing between Tokyo and Osaka.

I’m not worried about the elevators. The 3 of us have fit into European elevators with the 3 bags we are taking.

just use klook

Klook doesn’t let you book oversized luggage storage.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I’m reluctant to ship the luggage. We will probably have to from Kyoto->Tokyo, because we are doing Ghibli Park on the way. They don’t allow large bags or have storage. I don’t want to be without stuff for 2 days, which is what I’m hearing between Tokyo and Osaka.

I’m not worried about the elevators. The 3 of us have fit into European elevators with the 3 bags we are taking.


Klook doesn’t let you book oversized luggage storage.

Do you all of you need an entire suitcase of stuff each for every stop of your trip? You can arrive in Tokyo, put 1/3 of each person's clothes in each suitcase then ship 2 off to later hotels. You can take the smallest suitcase on the train each time to bridge the one or two days gap.

At any rate, if the luggage isn't oversized, then worst case scenario, you put it at your feet or if it's not too heavy, on the racks above.

 

[soniam]

Do you all of you need an entire suitcase of stuff each for every stop of your trip? You can arrive in Tokyo, put 1/3 of each person's clothes in each suitcase then ship 2 off to later hotels. You can take the smallest suitcase on the train each time to bridge the one or two days gap.

At any rate, if the luggage isn't oversized, then worst case scenario, you put it at your feet or if it's not too heavy, on the racks above.

The rack looks like it will only accommodate 1 suite case per row. Is that accurate?

 

[gelatoni fan]

The rack looks like it will only accommodate 1 suite case per row. Is that accurate?

Yup. One suitcase per row. Or 2 if you count one row as including both sides of the aisle.

 

[Agent 86]

We booked in person, as needed.

The first tickets, we just rocked up as that had never been an issue on earlier trips. It WAS an issue this time! We spent almost an hour in line (with a 2.5 year old) and all our luggage.

We couldn’t get the luggage seats on the very next train, but that was fine as navigating train stations with a pram and luggage takes forever! The elevators are often in far flung corners, are incredibly small and usually only go a single level. So, if you need to go down a total of three levels - that’s three separate elevators, all requiring a substantial walk between them.

For all future tickets, we made sure to buy them at least a day or two in advance while we were passing through the train stations on our daily adventures. Most of the others didn’t have huge waits, although there was at least one other substantial wait. Luckily, I could just take our toddler to a Starbucks to wait and chill.

We’ll be doing the luggage transfer services on our next trip. The overhead racks really didn’t look suitable for anything too substantial. They barely fit our (large) backpacks / nappy bags. 99% of travellers we saw only had small, hard body suitcases on wheels that were about the same size as our backpacks.

 

[princesscinderella]

I’m going to have to investigate the luggage issue with the trains as we are a group of 5 and we are each going to have a carryon, book bag and one larger check luggage to fill with souvenirs. This could be interesting, would I need to book us in separate rows in order for us to have our luggage with us?

 

[gelatoni fan]

I’m going to have to investigate the luggage issue with the trains as we are a group of 5 and we are each going to have a carryon, book bag and one larger check luggage to fill with souvenirs. This could be interesting, would I need to book us in separate rows in order for us to have our luggage with us?

If you are taking the Shinkansen from Tokyo to/from Nagoya, Osaka or further South then you'll likely have to reserve oversize baggage seats. It's possible to get 5 seats in the same row if you book like a month in advance but it's going to be difficult to do closer to the travel date. One time, I was separated from my one traveling companion when booking seats several days in advance and we didn't even need oversize luggage.

Honestly, it'll be quite cumbersome trying to deal with trains in a group of that size with more than one carry-on sized suitcase per person.

 

[princesscinderella]

If you are taking the Shinkansen from Tokyo to/from Nagoya, Osaka or further South then you'll likely have to reserve oversize baggage seats. It's possible to get 5 seats in the same row if you book like a month in advance but it's going to be difficult to do closer to the travel date. One time, I was separated from my one traveling companion when booking seats several days in advance and we didn't even need oversize luggage.

Honestly, it'll be quite cumbersome trying to deal with trains in a group of that size with more than one carry-on sized suitcase per person.

I don’t think I can book ahead with the rail passes I bought from get your guide. I will have to check.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I’m going to have to investigate the luggage issue with the trains as we are a group of 5 and we are each going to have a carryon, book bag and one larger check luggage to fill with souvenirs. This could be interesting, would I need to book us in separate rows in order for us to have our luggage with us?

Would you be willing to ship luggage between your hotels? I am looking into this since I don't want to bother with bringing a large suitcase on the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto and then Kyoto to the TDR area.

You can check the FAQ of the hotels you have booked to see if they offer this. The one I booked in Kyoto last night said that they do but I have to inform them ahead of time.

 

[princesscinderella]

Would you be willing to ship luggage between your hotels? I am looking into this since I don't want to bother with bringing a large suitcase on the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto and then Kyoto to the TDR area.

You can check the FAQ of the hotels you have booked to see if they offer this. The one I booked in Kyoto last night said that they do but I have to inform them ahead of time.

I’m going to have to look into all my options, we are only staying one night in Hiroshima so shipping our luggage to Osaka from Kyoto while we go in between to Hiroshima may be a smart choice.

 

[AquaDame]

I’m going to have to investigate the luggage issue with the trains as we are a group of 5 and we are each going to have a carryon, book bag and one larger check luggage to fill with souvenirs. This could be interesting, would I need to book us in separate rows in order for us to have our luggage with us?

Are you OK with placing them in the luggage storage at the end of the shinkansen car..? They do have little combo locks to loop around the handle if you are worried about people stealing, but we usually don't bother with them. I'm more worried about not being able to get it to unlock in time! In five trips now we've always found space there for the large bags - if not in our car then the next one over - and can get our carry-on bags above the seats. In Japan most locals do not travel with big luggage so odds are in your favor.... they use luggage service to ship ahead, or travel light and use the amenities at the hotels to cover their toiletries and pajamas which helps.

Worst case if I was in a group of 5 we'd just pile it as close to the spot as we could (yes I've seen folk do this, we tend to arrive early and line up to board which may explain some of our "luck" in finding spots) and take turns guarding the bags.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Are you OK with placing them in the luggage storage at the end of the shinkansen car..? They do have little combo locks to loop around the handle if you are worried about people stealing, but we usually don't bother with them. I'm more worried about not being able to get it to unlock in time! In five trips now we've always found space there for the large bags - if not in our car then the next one over - and can get our carry-on bags above the seats. In Japan most locals do not travel with big luggage so odds are in your favor.... they use luggage service to ship ahead, or travel light and use the amenities at the hotels to cover their toiletries and pajamas which helps.

Worst case if I was in a group of 5 we'd just pile it as close to the spot as we could (yes I've seen folk do this, we tend to arrive early and line up to board which may explain some of our "luck" in finding spots) and take turns guarding the bags.

Since the pandemic, you have to reserve oversize luggage seats to be able to use these spots. Usually, they'll announce over the intercom for people without reserving these spots to retrieve their bags but you can also get a fine for using them without a reservation.

 

[Agent 86]

Worst case if I was in a group of 5 we'd just pile it as close to the spot as we could (yes I've seen folk do this, we tend to arrive early and line up to board which may explain some of our "luck" in finding spots) and take turns guarding the bags.

During our visit in July 2023, we saw (apparently) foreign tourists get in "trouble" multiple times for "storing" large suitcases wherever there was available space without the appropriate reservation / space.

I'm not sure what actually came of it - possibly just a verbal warning and a request to move the luggage elsewhere. But, it's not like it was pre-COVID.

 

[AquaDame]

Since the pandemic, you have to reserve oversize luggage seats to be able to use these spots. Usually, they'll announce over the intercom for people without reserving these spots to retrieve their bags but you can also get a fine for using them without a reservation.

I was just there in February and we did not run into this... I'm not talking about behind the seats, but in the luggage compartment by the doors. If that is the rule for this spot as well they did a terrible job of communicating that... there were no signs, announcements either over the intercom or on the LED signs at the front, nor did they mention it at all at the several JR Rail counters we visited! And we had all our luggage there with us... Is it maybe because we had reserved seats (regular, not oversize) so the luggage reservation was implied?