norikata 乗り方
English

Seat reservations

Booking the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen (smartEX / EX)

Reserved seats go on sale at 10:00 one month before travel; with smartEX or Express Reservation you can book up to one year ahead and ride by tapping your IC card. Nozomi has non-reserved cars 1–2, except in peak periods when it is all reserved.

How far ahead

  • Reserved seats at stations, ticket machines and other JR online services go on sale at 10:00 one month before the travel day (same date the month before). [1]
  • smartEX and Express Reservation take bookings from 05:30 one year before the travel day. [1]
  • Bookings made more than a month ahead do not get a train and seat number at once: these are confirmed by e-mail from 08:00 one month before travel, but your seats are held. [2]
  • Only some seats can be booked a year ahead, and early-discount (早特) tickets, S Work seats and wheelchair seats are not available that early. [2]
  • You can book on smartEX until 4 minutes before the scheduled departure on the day. [2]

Reserved and non-reserved cars

  • Nozomi normally has non-reserved seats in cars 1 and 2; in peak periods (Golden Week, Obon, New Year and some holiday weekends) these become reserved and every Nozomi seat must be booked. [1]
  • Even in those periods, Hikari, Kodama, Mizuho, Sakura and Tsubame keep their non-reserved cars. [1]
  • Bags whose length + width + height is over 160 cm and up to 250 cm need a seat with an oversized baggage area, booked in advance; otherwise you pay a 1,000 yen fee. [3]
  • Non-reserved cars have no oversized baggage seats: choose an ordinary reserved seat or the Green Car. [3]

smartEX

  • smartEX is a free online booking service for the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen; you can book right after registering. [4]
  • Register a credit card and (optionally) a transport IC card; payment is taken from the card when you book. [4]
  • Changes are free and unlimited until just before departure (some products excluded). [4]
  • Ten nationwide IC cards work, including Suica, PASMO, ICOCA, TOICA, SUGOCA and mobile versions. [4]
  • At the station tap the registered IC card at the Shinkansen gate and take the printed 'EX ご利用票' slip with your seat details. [5]
  • If not every traveller has a registered IC card, collect paper tickets for everyone at a reserved-seat ticket machine first. [6]
  • smartEX paper tickets can be collected at Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen stations and main JR Central, JR West and JR Kyushu ticket offices, but not at JR East ticket offices. [6]

Other ways to book

  • Members of other JR online services (e5489, Eki-net, JR Kyushu Net Reservation) can also book these trains, and seats are sold at JR ticket offices, ticket machines and travel agencies. [1]
  • JAPAN RAIL PASS holders who buy a special supplement ticket can also ride Nozomi and Mizuho. [7]

Applies to

JR Central (Central Japan Railway Company), JR West (West Japan Railway Company), JR Kyushu (Kyushu Railway Company)

Sources and quotes checked 2026-10-09
  1. railway.jr-central.co.jp/nozomi/
    • ご利用になる列車が発車する日の１カ月前（前月の同じ日）の10時から発売します。
    • ・「スマートEX」「エクスプレス予約」では、乗車日１年前（前年同日）の5：30から発売します。
    • 対象期間中、「のぞみ」の自由席1・2号車を指定席に切り替えます。
    • ※上記期間中も、「のぞみ」号以外の列車（「ひかり」「こだま」「みずほ」「さくら」「つばめ」）には、通常通り、自由席を設定します。
    • ・ＪＲ各社のネット予約サービス（ｅ５４８９、えきねっと、JR九州ネット予約）の会員様は、インターネットでもご予約いただけます。
  2. smart-ex.jp/reservation/useful/accept_time/
    • 乗車日1ヵ月前の8:00以降に、列車番号、発着時刻、座席番号を確定して、ご登録のメールアドレス宛にお知らせします。
    • 1年前予約は一部の商品に限ります。さらにご予約いただける座席数には限りがあります。
    • 乗車日1年前（前年同日）※の5:30から乗車日当日の時刻表に表示された所定発車時刻4分前まで
  3. smart-ex.jp/reservation/reserve_smart/oversized-baggage/
    • 予約せずに持ち込まれた場合は持込手数料（税込み1,000円）が必要となります。
    • 自由席には特大荷物スペースの設定がないため、表示されません。普通車指定席またはグリーン車を選択してください。
  4. smart-ex.jp/beginner/
    • 東海道・山陽・九州新幹線のネット予約サービスです。
    • 新幹線代金は、登録したクレジットカードから予約時に決済します。
    • 予約の変更も、列車発車直前まで何度でも手数料無料です。
    • 全国相互利用対象の10種類の交通系ICカードで新幹線に乗車できます。
  5. smart-ex.jp/entraining/iccard/
    • 新幹線を交通系ICカードでご利用の場合は、予約内容を記載した「EXご利用票」が新幹線改札機から出力されるので、必ず受け取って乗車してください。
  6. smart-ex.jp/entraining/ticket/
    • ご利用のお客様全員に対してICカードの指定がない場合（ICカードをお持ちでない場合）は、会員様本人分を含め、指定席券売機等で「きっぷ」を受け取って、新幹線に乗車してください。
    • JR東海・JR西日本・JR九州の主な駅の窓口で受け取れます。（JR東日本の駅の窓口等、JR東海・JR西日本・JR九州以外の駅の窓口では受取できません。）
  7. japanrailpass.net/en/
    • Purchasers of a JAPAN RAIL PASS can also purchase a special ticket to use the fastest "NOZOMI" and "MIZUHO" trains on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen Lines!

Review status: draft_unreviewed.