im heading to japan at the end of this year and i’ll be taking shinkansen on 6th Jan from Kyoto to Tokyo. I wanna be able to capture nice views of Mt Fuji on the window seats along the way and i dont intend to get a JR pass because its not worth in the long run, so i heard that the only other way to reserve is to do it via their official smartEX app which was what i did.
To my surprise, i was able to reserve shinakansen tickets on 6th Jan like now, and this was probably cheaper too since its so early, but i wasnt given the option to select the seats i wanted. I really want to have that window seat experience and view Mt Fuji but im wondering how did people without JR pass reserve shinakansen seats in advance? Perhaps the option to select my seats only comes when my tickets are confirmed 1 month prior to the date? help me please 🙁
by Odd_Ad9200
4 comments
You can only pick your own seats 30 days out from the date of travel. If you book months ahead, you can’t pick your own seats and it will be automatically assigned to you when the exact train and number of cabins/cars are assigned to the route.
This is called a [Hayatoku-28 Wide](https://smart-ex.jp/en/product/hayatoku/ex_28/) fare for bookings more than 28 days out. You are assigned a seat once the date and time are finalized, 30 days out.
If booking for a Shinkansen trip within 30-days out, you would be able to choose your seat at booking.
Sit on the LEFT side of the train, if you are moving east.
I usually just go to the ticket office at Tokyo Station. I assume Kyoto JR station has an office.
You save a bit on the advance reservation and you can put in a preference in the options for D/E seats I think?