Book Hokuriku and Joetsu Shinkansen seats on JR East from 10:00 one month ahead, Tokaido seats on smartEX. No booking fee, and skis need no luggage seat.
To book a Shinkansen ticket online at the normal fare, use the rail company's own site: JR East's JR-EAST Train Reservation for the Hokuriku, Joetsu, Tohoku and Hokkaido lines (Nagano, Niigata, Tohoku and Hokkaido ski trips), and JR Central's smartEX for the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu lines (Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka). JR East opens bookings at 10:00 Japan time one month before the travel date. smartEX takes requests up to a year ahead but confirms seats only from one month out. Neither charges a booking fee, so a reseller that adds one is costing you money for the same seat.
| Line | Ski areas it serves | Official booking site |
|---|---|---|
| Hokuriku Shinkansen | Karuizawa, Nagano (Hakuba, Shiga Kogen), Iiyama (Nozawa Onsen), Joetsumyoko (Myoko) | JR-EAST Train Reservation |
| Joetsu Shinkansen | Echigo-Yuzawa, Gala Yuzawa | JR-EAST Train Reservation |
| Tohoku, Yamagata, Akita Shinkansen | Zao (via Yamagata), Appi (via Morioka area) | JR-EAST Train Reservation |
| Hokkaido Shinkansen | Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto | JR-EAST Train Reservation |
| Tokaido, Sanyo, Kyushu Shinkansen | Osaka or Nagoya to Tokyo before changing trains | smartEX |
JR East's system does not sell Tokaido, Sanyo or Kyushu Shinkansen tickets, so a trip from Osaka to Nagano usually means two bookings: smartEX to Tokyo, then JR East from Tokyo (JR East FAQ). From Osaka there is also the Hokuriku route via Tsuruga and Kanazawa, which our Hakuba access guide covers.
On JR-EAST Train Reservation, requests open at 10:00 JST one month before departure and close at 23:40 three days before departure; after that, buy at the station (JR East FAQ). For a ski weekend around New Year or a Saturday in February, book on the day sales open.
smartEX accepts reservations from 5:30 JST one year before the boarding date, but a request made earlier than one month out is not a confirmed seat until the normal sale date. Some products, including the EX Hayatoku 21 discount fare, cannot be booked that early (smartEX reception times). Membership is free and there is no annual fee (smartEX FAQ).
There are two ways, and both avoid the ticket office queue.
smartEX works the same way: board with a QR ticket or an IC card registered to the booking (smartEX).
| Route | Reserved | Unreserved |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo to Nagano | ¥8,340 | ¥7,810 |
| Tokyo to Echigo-Yuzawa | ¥6,900 | ¥6,370 |
Adult one-way fares from the JR fare tables. Gala Yuzawa Station opens only in the ski season and is about 74 minutes from Tokyo on the fastest train; not every train stops there (GALA Yuzawa).
Not on the lines to Nagano and Niigata. The oversized-baggage reservation rule, with its ¥1,000 fee for unbooked large bags, applies only on the Tokaido, Sanyo, Kyushu and Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen, and even there skis and snowboards count as sports equipment and are exempt (JR Central). Booking a seat in the last row still helps on a busy train, because the space behind it fits a ski bag. Size limits and when to ship instead are in our guide to taking skis on Japanese trains.
Many trains have unreserved cars: on the Hokuriku line the Hakutaka and Asama do, and on the Joetsu line the Toki does. Buy an unreserved ticket at the station and queue at the marked doors; you may have to stand in the vestibule. Kagayaki and Hayabusa trains are all reserved. On the Tokaido line, Nozomi trains run all reserved during JR Central's peak periods such as New Year, though unreserved ticket holders may stand on the deck of ordinary cars (JR Central).
For Niseko and other Hokkaido resorts, flying to New Chitose is faster than the Hokkaido Shinkansen, which ends at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto. More rail-friendly ideas are in day trips from Tokyo. If you are building a longer trip around the Shinkansen, our 10-day itinerary with Nagano skiing, Tokyo and Kyoto shows one way to order the legs.
No. smartEX cannot be used with the Japan Rail Pass, and JR-EAST Train Reservation does not book seats for it. If you bought the pass on the official Japan Rail Pass site, reserve there; otherwise reserve at a station ticket machine or office.
No. Both sites have English versions for overseas visitors. If a card is declined, try another one or buy the ticket at a station machine.