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Activating Pass, Reserving Seats and Children

erinmarycasey
erinmarycasey
almost 7 years ago
1 answer

Hello:

My family will be in Japan this June and we are planning several train trips. We are traveling from Tokyo to Hiroshima, Hiroshima to Kyoto, Kyoto to Nara as a day trip, and from Kyoto back to Tokyo. We have a family of 6: 2 adults and 4 children (ages 12, 11, 9 and 3). We are interested in the Green/1st class Japan Rail Pass. If we want to be sure our 3 year old has a seat, should we purchase a child ticket for her as well? Or is this not possible for her to get a pass because she is under 6 years old?

Also, how soon can we reserve seats in the Green cars after we purchase the Japan Rail Pass? Is this only possible after the passes are activated in Japan or are we able to choose seats in advance on the internet or using an app even before we arrive in Japan?

Thank you for your help!

avatar
Daniel-san
19336 posts
almost 7 years ago
Expert

Hi there,

For your 3year old, children below the age of 3 can travel for free but that condition is that they are not entitled to their own seat. This means that you are expected to take your child on your lap when trains are busy. You could buy a child pass for your 3year old, this would always entitle her to her own seat.

Some trains can be reserved ahead of time online but the trains on the route that travel can only be reserved in person, at any JR station. You should have no problem reserving seats however if you do so 1-2days ahead of time. On average a train between Tokyo - Kyoto - Hiroshima departs every 10 minutes with over a 1000 seats each, there are simply so many seats available that trains rarely sell out.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

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