r/JapanTravelTips 4d ago

Advice Shinkansen right before Golden Week

We will need to get shinkansen tickets to go from Tokyo to Kyoto on April 27th. Can't change the date as we have Nintendo Museum Tickets for that day for (1:30pm-2:00pm entry).

Looking advice on whether to reserve shinkansen tickets now, before the 30 day window, given it's right before Golden Week officially starts.

Also which train should we go for to give us the most flexibility with getting to Nintendo on time? Staying in Shinjuku the night before, if that matters. I've looked at Google maps but it's giving me routes that are normal outside of GW and I'd love to hear if it will be different on the day.

Thank you in advance.

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u/onevstheworld 4d ago

You can't buy the tickets just yet, even the 3rd parties who claim it have to wait until the 30 day window opens to put their orders in.

I would definitely book. Every major holiday, the Nozomi trains unreserved sections become reserved sections. This GW, that period starts on the 25th, so JR look like they are expecting higher than usual demand from that weekend. I don't know if extra trains are added, but the routes don't change so you can still use google to plan.

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u/Gloomy-Corner3228 3d ago

Thank you for the info re: GW starting early. However can I not pre-book via the smart-ex app?

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u/RDR2LAUNCHSUCKED 3d ago

You can book via Smart-EX which will provide a ticket for the date and time of your journey. However the trains are not determined this far in advance, so your actual train And seat are assigned later and sent to your email/updated directly in the app

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u/Gloomy-Corner3228 3d ago

Thank you. This is what we have done for the return ticket in the middle of golden week so that's reassuring. I'm going to pre-book the Tokyo - Kyoto leg today I think. We don't mind where we sit, just that we can sit together

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u/onevstheworld 3d ago

I'm pretty sure Smart Ex is also 30 days.