I’ve seen people online say you don’t need to book the Shinkansen ahead of time.
But then I see people saying if you don’t book the specific reserved seat you can’t bring bulky luggage.
There’s 4 of us with large suitcases, so my conclusion has been we best book in advance – anyone done this differently? Don’t want to be waiting at Osaka for 4 seats we can ride
by Raszero
5 comments
I booked it from Shinagawa to Osaka the night before just to be safe but the train was at least 1/3 empty. The overhead space (at least in the green cars) fits large suitcases. You just need to be strong enough to lift 20 kilos above your head.
For oversized baggage, do it at least 1 days in advance (Earlier doesn’t hurt). I could not get the option, when doing it online. This is a video on how to do it in person: [https://www.tiktok.com/@shermainexk/video/7348825873207889153](https://www.tiktok.com/@shermainexk/video/7348825873207889153)
You need to book in advance to reserve the luggage rack in the compartment to put your luggage. Otherwise, you’ll need to use the overhead racks which require strength to lift your luggage.
You can book on the day of travel for your ticket and luggage or earlier, whenever you arrive in Japan. You can do it at any Shinkansen ticket office (usually at the station).
Book via the SmartEx app, as it will let you select the seats with baggage storage and there’s also a handy seat map when selecting your seats
Please please please do it in person! I used the app to buy my ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto, and when I was at the station, the app refused to work because it decided to go into a maintenance, then it locked me out of my account and when I went to the customer service, they told me that they would not be able to give me a physical copy of the ticket because they do not work with the app (which, honestly, what is even the point of the app if they cannot help with it) even though I showed them the confirmation email and reservation number, that didn’t matter. So I had to buy an entirely new ticket. It was not the greatest experience ever and there is absolutely no way of contacting customer service on the app either.