- There are essentially two types of tickets in Japan; tickets that are necessary for riding all types of trains, and tickets you need to buy when you take trains or use seats with additional services. The former is called “Basic Fare Ticket” and the latter includes the “Limited Express Ticket” and “Green Car Ticket.”
- When you take local/rapid trains and do not need seat reservations, only a basic fare ticket is required.
- When you take Shinkansen/limited express trains, you need to buy a limited express ticket valid for the specific train you are going to ride in addition to the Basic Fare Ticket. Limited express tickets show that you have paid the surcharges for additional services the trains/seats supply.
- Some trains have “Green Cars” (first-class cars), for which passengers are required to pay additional fees and get “Green Car Tickets” to ride.
Basic Fare Ticket (one-way, round-trip, continuation)
Basic Fare Ticket (one-way, round-trip, continuation)
- One-way ticket = Ticket to go from station A to station B.
- Round-trip ticket = Ticket to go from station A to station B, then back to station A with the same route.
- Continuation ticket = Ticket to go from station A to station B, and then loop back to station C. It is neither a one-way nor a round-trip ticket.
Commuter ticket (work, school, flat, green)
Multi-ride ticket
Group ticket (normal, student, tourist)
Charted train ticket
Limited Express Ticket
Limited express reserved seat ticket
Limited express non-reserved seat ticket
Express Ticket
Green Car Ticket (for limited express and express trains, local trains)
Sleeper Car Ticket (sleeper car A, sleeper car B)
- : Sleeper car A has private rooms for individuals, while B has private rooms for individuals and two person use.
Reserved Seat Ticket (for use of Home Liner)
- In addition, there are discounts for the above tickets and there are reduced prices for many tickets that combine passenger tickets and Limited Express Tickets.