Before ticket is used

• A valid unused ticket can be changed one time to a ticket of the same type for free (includes the day before the validity period begins for advanced ticket sales. Commuter, multi-ride, and discounted tickets are excluded). A ticket of greater value can be changed to by paying the difference. The leftover amount will be refunded when changing to a ticket of lesser value.
• For changes after the first one, refund the ticket at the station or main travel agency and purchase the ticket of your choice.
• Changes for reserved seat tickets (excluding unreserved seat tickets) must be made before the train’s scheduled departure time. Please be careful as a ticket becomes invalid once the train departs.
• Changes to reserved seat tickets must be made at the station’s reception window during business hours.
• Limited express non-reserved seat, express, and Green Car non-reserved seat tickets can be changed to reserved seat tickets of the same kind.
• The way tickets purchased with credit cards are handled differs depending on the credit card company, so please ask a station attendant.

After ticket is used

• When changing a ticket after it has been used, insufficient fares and charges must be paid, but refunds will not be given for excesses. However, the section of basic fare tickets you do not use is over 101 kilometers, you can refund basic fare tickets.
  Also, when riding past one’s stop in specific metropolitan and urban areas or on the Yamanote Line, the fare must be paid for the sections traveled starting from the station at the end of the zone of the missed stop.
• The fare must be paid for the sections traveled to when riding past one’s stop with a passenger ticket. Also, when changing the route to your destination or the destination itself, the difference must be paid after comparing the sections and fares of the route no longer to be taken.
  However, for all sections in the following cases, fares before and after the changes will be compared and the difference must be paid:
  (1) When the destination is changed for a normal passenger ticket with an operating distance of less than 100 kilometers
  (2) When the destination is changed within metropolitan and urban areas to a station in the same area with a normal passenger ticket
• Reserved seat, limited express, express, and Green Car non-reserved seat tickets can only be changed one time. The difference must be paid after comparing charges before and after the changes to be made.

Missed reserved seat trains

• Tickets for limited express reserved seat, Green Cars, sleeper cars, and reserved seat (including discounted tickets) cannot be used and refunds cannot be made after the scheduled departure time for the reserved train.
• Limited express reserved seat tickets can be used to ride on non-reserved seat within the same day of a missed train. You must pay the full price of the limited express reserved seat fare when riding in reserved seating.

Before ticket is used

• Please see the chart below for fees related to refunds.

• A 30% charge will be incurred when receiving a refund for reserved seat tickets changed the day of or before the date of departure.
• Unreserved seating tickets for Hitachi, Tokiwa, Narita Express, Swallow Akagi, Azusa, Kaiji, Fuji Excursion, Hachioji and Ome. differ from the table above. There is a fee of 340 yen before the ticket is used and until the day of departure listed on the ticket.
• When receiving refunds for combinations of “limited express and Green Car tickets”, “limited express and sleeper car tickets”, and “express and reserved seat tickets” that are issued on a single ticket, fees only apply to the Green Car, sleeper car, and reserved seat ticket portions.
• When refunding limited express issued on 1 ticket for rides through Tohoku (between Tokyo and Fukushima) and Tsubasa lines (between Fukushima and Shinjo), Tohoku (between Tokyo and Morioka) and Komachi lines (between Morioka and Akita), and Joetsu and Echigo-Yuzawa lines (includes situation in where train is continually ridden without exiting any ticket gates), fees will be calculated as one ticket by combining Shinkansen limited express tickets and local line express tickets.
• There are restrictions in place of transaction, contents, and methods for refunds of tickets purchased with credit cards. Please bring the credit card used for purchase when requesting a refund.

After ticket is used

• When receiving refunds for basic fare tickets that is valid and the section no longer to be ridden goes over 100 kilometers one-way, the amount received will be what is left over after subtracting the fare for the areas ridden and a 220 yen fee from the original ticket price.
• Refunds can be received for unused ticket pieces of multi-ride tickets that are no longer needed, provided that they are still valid. The amount received for refunds is what is left over after subtracting the normal fares for the amount of times used and a 220 yen fee. However, there are situations where the refund amount is zero.

Refund amount = multi-ride ticket price - (times used * basic fare) - 220 yen fee

• : For discounted tickets that are multi-ride, unused tickets cannot be refunded after using part of the tickets.