Japan Railways (JR) Lines

Contents of this page

Japan Railways (JR) Companies
 Updated: Sep. 25, '16
Shinkansen Lines
 Updated: Nov. 09, '16
JR Limited Express Services
 Updated: Sep. 25, '16
JR Ordinary Trains
in Urban Areas
 Updated: Sep. 25, '16
JR Rapid Service Trains
 Updated: Sep. 25, '16
JR Ordinary Trains
in Rural Areas
 Updated: Sep. 25, '16
Prepaid IC Cards
 Updated: Sep. 25, '16
Japan Rail Pass
 Updated: Sep. 25, '16
How to get on a train
 Updated: Sep. 25, '16

Japan Railways (JR) Companies

The major railways system in Japan is that of Japan Railways (JR) lines.

JR lines were formerly Japan National Railways, owned by the government. They were divided into seven major railway companies and privatized in 1987. Six companies are railway companies which run passenger trains and the other company is for freight trains.

Total railroad system length is approximately 27,800km, nationwide. Approximately 20,000 km are JR lines. Although many local JR lines became abundant in 1980s, still the JR railway network has been widely spread within Japan.

JR has six railway companies. They are "JR Hokkaido", "JR East", "JR Central", "JR West", "JR Shikoku" and "JR Kyushu". As these railway companies used to be government owned railway companies, their train-operation and fare systems are quite similar.

Shinkansen System Map

These JR companies run Shinkansen known as "Bullet Train", except JR Shikoku. Also, they run limited express trains and ordinary trains. To take limited express trains, you need to have both a train ticket and a limited express ticket. This system is the same for Shinkansen.

Please visit the page of Shinkansen for the details: Go to the page of Shinkansen Lines.

Limited Express "Shinano"

JR Limited Express Services

JR companies run limited express trains. Many of them cover the areas where Shinkansen trains do not run. For example, JR Hokkaido runs limited express trains from Sapporo to Hakodate, Kushiro, Asahikawa, Abashiri and Wakkanai. In the case of JR East, they run limited express trains from Shinagawa to Mito and Hitachi, from Shinjyuku to Matsumoto. The limited express trains from Nagoya to Nagano, Toyama through Takayama and Kii-Katsuura are available through JR Central.

"Soya" & "Hokuto" at Sapporo St.
"Hitachi" at Mito St.
"Shirasagi" at Nagoya St.
"Kamome" at Nagasaki St.

JR West runs the limited express trains from Osaka to Kanazawa, from Osaka and Kyoto to the Kita-Kinki area. Also, the limited express trains from Kyoto to Tottori through Himeji, the limited express trains between Tottori, Matsue and Izumo-Shi are available.

As JR Shikoku does not have "Shinkansen", the limited express train network between Okayama or Takamatsu and Matsuyama, Kochi and Tokushima is well developed. JR Kyushu runs the limited express trains from Hakata to Nagasaki and Oita. Also, from Kumamoto to Oita, Oita to Miyazaki. These limited express trains cover almost all JR Kyushu lines.

Many of the limites express trains have "Green Cars" as first-class cars and second-class cars. A "Green Car" has a wider seat pitch with more comfortable seats. Second-class cars have 2 + 2 seat layout. Some "Green Cars" have 2 + 1 seat layout. All "Green Cars" are designated as seat-reservation cars. Also, most limited express trains have seat-reservation cars in second class.

The first-class car of "Shinano"
The second-class car of "Shinano"

Most limited express trains have non-seat-reservation cars, as well. Limited express trains which run in rural areas often do not have a first-class car. Sometimes they do not even have seat-reservation cars, as well. In such cases, it means all the seats are non-reserved.

No limited express trains have restaurant cars. It used to be that wagon cart services was available, but now wagon service carts on limited express trains are minimal. It is recommended to buy food and drinks at the station before taking trains. At major stations, "Obento", meaning lunch box, is available.

JR Ordinary Trains in Urban Areas

JR companies also run ordinary or traditional trains You can take these trains with just a base-fare ticket.

Typical examples of such trains are the Yamanote line, the Ueno-Tokyo line, the Shinjyuku-Shonan line, the Yokosuka-Sobu line, the Chuo line and the Jyoban line in the Tokyo area. These trains have 10 or more cars and they are crowded throughout the day.

The Yamanote Line Train
The Ueno-Tokyo Line Train
The Chuo Line Train

As these trains are very crowded, they mainly have longitudinal seating. During the rush hours, the number of passengers in a car sometimes exceeds 150% of designed capacity of the car. In worst cases, it exceeds 200%. In such cases, it is difficult to get on a train with excessive luggage.

Train with Longitudinal Seats
"Green Car" in Tokyo Area

In the Tokyo area, JR East offers the "Green Car" service on some of the major line trains. They are Ueno-Tokyo line, Shinjyuku-Shonan line, the Yokosuka-Sobu line and the Jyoban line. The Chuo line will also have "Green Car" services within few years.

These "Green Cars" are double deck cars located in the middle of trains.
A "Green Car" ticket is required. You can purchase a "Green Car" ticket from a train conductor, but the fare from a train conductor is more expensive than purchasing the ticket at the station.

In a "Green Car", you can relax and enjoy modern Tokyo, while drinking beer if you desire.

JR Rapid Service Trains

JR Hokkaido, JR Central, JR West and JR Kyushu offer rapid train services in Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka and Hakata areas. Rapid service trains stop at limited stations. These rapid trains run from 120 to 130 km/hr. (75 to 81 MPH) as the maximum speed and 70 to 90 km / hr. (44 to 56 MPH) as the average speed. This is the same speed level as the limited express trains.

In most cases, the frequency of these rapid trains is every 15 minutes.

Rapid Service in Osaka Area
Rapid Service in Nagoya Area

These raid services use cars with switchable cross seats.
Switchable cross seats are shown in the below right picture. These seats are cross seats but they do not have reclining function. You can change the direction of seats by yourself. You can enjoy scenery from the train and relax.

A few of the trains have seat-reservation cars. Good examples are "Airport" from Sapporo to Shin-Chitose Airport and "Mie" from Nagoya to Toba through Ise.

Rapid Service "Airport"
In side of "Mie" with Switchable Cross Seats

In other big city areas; for example, in Sendai, Niigata, Shizuoka, Okayama and Hiroshima, almost all local trains are ordinary trains, but similar train cars such as rapid train cars are used. Often, trains with longitudinal seats are also used.

JR Ordinary Trains in Rural Areas

In rural areas, population density is low and many people drive cars. As a result, only a few people take trains. Main passengers are high school students and elderly people.

In many cases, trains run once every hour or even less. Some trains consist of just one or two cars. In rural areas, many stations are unstaffed. Also in many cases, no conductor is on duty on a train.

Local train in Hokkaido
Local train in Shikoku

In such cases, you can pay the base-fare directly to the train driver when you get off the train.
Please refer to the detailed explanation in below.

How to buy tickets for limited express trains

You need to buy a base-fare ticket and a limited express ticket to take a limited express train.

You had better purchase these tickets prior to taking trains at a station. In urban areas, almost all stations have a "Midori no Madoguchi" which means a green ticket window in Japanese. This is the ticket window at which you can buy tickets for seat reservations for all JR trains. It means you can buy JR Kyushu train tickets at Tokyo Station.

"Midori no Madoguchi"
Vending Machine for Trains Tickes

You can also buy train tickets with seat reservations by a vending machine.
It is a bit complicated to operate such vending machines. If you buy a simple one-way ticket, it is better. But it is very difficult in other cases. So usually fewer people use them, when there is a long waiting line at a ticket window.

In rural areas, only major stations have a "Midori no Madoguchi". If you take the limited express trains from stations without tickets, you can buy them from a train conductor. However, you can only buy a ticket for non-seat reservations. It would be better to buy tickets at "Midori no Madoguchi" in advance.

Business hours of "Midori no Madoguchi" depends on each station. Some windows close in the early evening.

Purchasing a JR train ticket on the internet is not convenient; especially for people from other countries.
JR companies have their web-site for ticket purchasing on Japanese sites. However, it seems that only JR East has a train reservation site in English.

Here are lists of English web-sites of JR companies:

JR Hokkaido: http://www2.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/index.html
JR East: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/
JR Central: http://english.jr-central.co.jp/index.html
JR West: https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/
JR Shikoku: http://www.jr-shikoku.co.jp/global/en/
JR Kyushu: http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/index.jsp

JR Kyushu posts very good ticket information in English. This site explains well the train ticket system, how to buy tickets etc.
Please refer and use this site: http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/ticket.jsp

Key information to buy limited express train tickets is as follows:

* To buy a base-fare ticket from your original departure station to your final destination.

If your travel distance exceeds 100km, you can get off your train and go out with your base-fare ticket at a station between your departure and destination stations. Base-fare rate become cheaper in terms of Yen / km basis, so base-fare ticket with longer distance will give you benefit.

A good exapmle is between Shin-Osaka ro Hiroshima. The base-fare of the ticket between these two stations is 5,620 Yen with 341.6km. So, you can get out at Okayama with this ticket and again you can take the train to Hiroshima from Okayama. If you buy tickets separately from Shin-Osaka to Okayama and Okayama to Hirosima, it cost 6,040 Yen in total.

This is just for a base-fare ticket. You need to buy limited express tickets from Shin-Osaka to Okayama and from Okayama to Hiroshima, separately. Also, you need to pay close attention as there are exceptions.

* To buy limited express tickets at the same time, when you have connecting trains.

If you have a plan to take Shinkansen and change to a limited express train (or vice versa), it is recommended to buy these tickets at the same time. JR has a rule in which the limited express fare of connecting trains becomes half, especially between Shinkansen and limited express trains.

But, you also need to pay close attention as there are so many exceptions.

Example of train tickets are shown in the pictures below:

Base-Fare Ticket
Limited Express Ticket
(Non-Reservation Ticket)
Limited Express Ticket (Shinkansen)
(Reservation Ticket)

Unfortunately, there is no English explanation. A seat-reservation ticket shows the assigned car and the seat number (Please refer the picture above on the right.). A car number is described in Arabic numerals, and a seat number is described in the combination of Arabic numerals and alphabet (from A to D or E), so hopefully you will be able to understand it.
In the case of the ticket shown in the picture above on the right, the reserved seat was on the fifth car at 17 raw E seat.

How to buy tickets of Short Distance Trains

You can buy a short distance train ticket at the station. "Midori no Madoguchi" or ticket window is the place to buy a ticket. Also, a vending machine is available at stations.

Usually, there is a train system map above the ticket vending machine. First, find your destination and it will identify the base-fare. Second, insert money into the machine, and press the bottom of the fare indicating your base-fare. Then, you will get your ticket and change. Not only single trip tickets, but also round trip tickets and tickets for plural number of passengers are also available.

Ticket Vending Machine
Payment directly to Train Driver

As described above, many stations are unstaffed, and many trains in rural areas have no train conductors. In this case, you can pay the base-fare directly to the train driver.

When you get on a train, take a numbered ticket. There is a small ticket machine just near doors. Then, when you get off a train, approach to the head of the train. There is an electrical board near the train driver's compartment, which shows the table of the ticket number and the base-fare at the arriving station. You identify the base-fare with your identified ticket. Pay the fare into the box, when you get off of the train.

Pre-paid IC Cards

JR companies offer pre-paid prepaid IC cards.
Hokkaido: "KITACA", JR East: "SUICA": JR Central: "TOICA", JR West: "ICOCA", JR Kyushu: "SUGOCA"
These IC cards can be used as tickets.

Pre-paid IC cards are not accepted by all JR lines, but limited to the greater Sapporo area, the Niigata area, the greater Tokyo area, the Shizuoka area and the greater Nagoya area, the greater Osaka area, the greater Hiroshima and Okayama area, and the greater Hakata (Fukuoka) area.

These pre-paid IC cards are compatible with all other cards. SUICA is effectively used in the Sapporo area. Major private railway companies also offer pre-pared IC cards. All IC cards are compatible with each other.

TOICA

You can buy these IC cards at each companies' ticket window. It requires a 500 yen of deposit and an amount of money you wish to charge. If you pay 2,000 yen to buy a IC card, 1,500 yen is available for the base-fare.

To use a pre-paid IC card, you can touch the designated portion of a ticket-gate with a prepaid IC card, when you enter a ticket-gate in a station before taking a train and again after getting off a train. Base-fare is automatically withdrawn from your prepaid IC card.

IC cards are quite similar to debit cards in the U.S.A.

In the Tokyo area, some JR trains run onto subway lines, for example, the Jyoban line onto the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda-line. In such cases, you can use a prepaid IC card for this train between a JR station and a Tokyo Metro station.

However, pre-paid IC cards cannot be used across JR lines.
For example, the Atami station is the junction station between JR East and JR Central and the Atami station is governed by JR East. You can use a pre-paid IC card between Atami and other JR East stations. But, it is not possible to use such cards between Atami and other JR Central stations (for example Mishima).

Japan Rail Pass

"Japan Rail Pass" isa very convenient and cost saving pass for people from other countries visiting Japan. Japan Rail Pass is effective only for JR lines (rail, bus and ferry). "Nozomi", Shinkansen trains run between Tokyo and Hakata, and "Mizuho", Shinkansen trains between Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima-Chuo, are not covered. In some cases, JR trains run through a third-sector company line. In this case, you have to pay base-fare and limited express fare in addition to Japan Rail Pass.

Official site of "Japan Rail Pass" is here: http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/index.html

Each JR company also offers their Rail Passes. You can reach to the web-site for Rail Passes from the Japan Rail Pass page. Such pass holders need to make seat reservation at a station in advance of taking a train.

How to get on a train

After buying a train ticket, let's go to the platform where your train departs.
In Japan, there are ticket gates between ticket windows and platforms. Station staff will check your tickets.

In most urban areas, most stations have automatic ticket gate machines. Just insert your ticket into the ticket gate machine. If your ticket is deemed authentic, the gates will open and remain open until you retrieve your ticket on the other side of the gate/machine. Please do not forget to take your tickets with you.

Ticket Gate
Automatic Ticket Gate

There is an electrical board showing departure time of trains, destinations and track numbers. You can see an electrical board on the above pictures. English explanations will appear, following Japanese explanations. After identifying the truck number of your train, proceed to the platform of of the truck number of your train.

On the platform, the location of train doors is displayed. It makes it easy for passengers to wait in line for their train.

Displayed Location of a Door of Train
Passengers Waiting for a Train in a Line

Most train drivers or engineers have good skill to stop trains to match the train door to the displayed position on the platform, as shown in the above-left picture.

After getting off the train, if you need fare adjustment, please contact with station staff. In the case of a station with automatic ticket gates, fare adjustment machines are also available.

In rural areas, many stations are unstaffed. There is no ticket-gate.
In some cases, there is a ticket machine at the station. Unfortunately, English signs are not very common in such rural areas.


Arii St. example of unstaffed station
Tomidahama St., un-staffed station
with machines for IC Card holders

In the case an unstaffed station is located near big cities, there are necessary machines for IC card holders. You can touch your IC card for payment as you exit and also enter to the platform.
The yellow and green boxes are the machine for IC Card holders in the above right picture.