Reserved and unreserved seats

Hi there,

The different fares displayed in Hyperdia and elsewhere can indeed be somewhat confusing.

In order to understand train fares in Japan, have a look at the following:

(Basic) Fare: this is the fare for the distance traveled and you pay this on any train you travel on. You only pay this price when traveling on local trains.

Seat fee, this is a fee paid for limited express trains and Shinkansen. You always have to pay this fee when traveling on these kinds of trains.

Green Seat, this is the fee you pay when traveling in Green Class (first class).

Seat reservations fee, some trains have reserved seats. This is the fee you pay if you wish to reserve a seat in advance.

The JR Pass covers all these fees, so you don't have to worry about them if you have one. Of course you do need a Green Pass if you wish to travel using a Green Car.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Usually, Ltd Express Shinano consists of 6 cars.

Car 1 is a green car.
Car 2 3 4 are cars for reserved seating
Car 5 6 are cars for unreserved seating.

So does that mean local trains have no reserved seating , and you can sit anywhere if there's a seat. , and these trains are a lot slower with many stops .

And ltd express trains with unreserved seats are sit anywhere in unreserved if seat is available or stand if you are allowed to stand ?

example Nagoya - Nakatsugawa

LTD Exp Shinano : 49 minutes, 2500yen(unreserved seat), and you can sit on unoccupied seats if there's a seat in unreserved car.
Rapid : 75 minutes, 1320yen, and you can sit anywhere, there's no reserved seats