Learn how to make online reservations with the JR Pass and reserve your seats online for the Japan Rail Pass.
Important, this blog provided information on how to make seat reservations using EKI-NET. As of October 2020 - this has been discontinued.
How to make seat reservations with the Japan Rail Pass
Seat reservations can be made free of charge using the Japan Rail Pass. To make a reservation, go to any JR Ticket office or a “Midori-no-madoguchi” (ticket window) at a JR station, or to a JR sales office. Show your JR Pass to the JR Staff, and tell the staff member where and when you wish to travel. They’ll reserve the right seats for you. To learn more about seat reservations, see our detailed blog post about Reserving seats & boarding the Bullet Train. The above is how to make seat reservations in person, today we want to explore how to make online seat reservations for your JR Pass.
Making online seat reservations for the Japan Rail Pass.
Seat reservations for the Hohoku and Hokkaido regions can be made through the JR East Eki-net website.
Step one:
Select the pass you want to make a reservation for. This can be the Japan Rail Pass, or any of the JR East regional passes.
Step two:
Search the train that you want to reserve, note that the date/time might be different than what you are used to. Seats can be reserved up to 1 month in advance.
Step three:
Select your type of seat. We recommend a Window seat :)
Step four:
Register and add your payment information. No charges are made to your card, unless you fail to pick up the reserved tickets.
Step five:
Collect your tickets at the station you selected in Japan.
A couple of things to note
-Tickets must be collected 1 day before travel, 21:00 latest.
-You will need a credit card to secure the tickets, a small fee will apply in case tickets are not collected.
-Only JR East/JR Hokkaido trains can be reserved. Other train lines such as the Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo – Kyoto/Osaka can’t be reserved until you are in Japan.
The JR East EkiNet website can be a great tool for reserving your seats but some limitations apply. Be sure to read the website carefully. Please note that EkiNet is operated by JR-East, for any support on EkiNet, contact JR East.
