Seat Reservations.

Hi there,

All Shinkansen (except the Tohoku Tokyo-Aomori Hayabusa shinkansen) have non-reserved seating which you can simply hop on/hop off. In fact, I have often turned up at the station and done exactly that!

For the Narita Express you do need a reservation, but this is very easy to make. Just before you get on the train simply visit the JR ticket office or Narita Express ticket office showing your JR Pass. You will be issued with a free reservation for the very next train (normally the Narita Express is not very busy so you should be fine).

Hope this helps!

Thanks, one more thing, how do I know if I will be taking the Tohoku Tokyo-Aomori Hayabusa shinkansen?
I love this site it is so helpful :O)

If you think you'll be going north of Tokyo up honshu then you may use the Hayabusa. The best way to tell is by using Hyperdia to look for a route. It will show the trains you need to take to get to a destination - if one is a Hayabusa, then you will know you have to make a reservation before boarding :)

Here is an example search with Hayabusa.

You can look up precise train timetables and costs at the Hyperdia travel planning website and learn how to use Hyperdia for JR Pass holders through our video blog.

Hope this helps!

Thank you :O)