Reserving Shinkansen Tickets in English

No mean feat!

I went to Tokyo station yesterday (which was the Vernal Equinox public holiday where people visit their ancestors' graves) to investigate Shinkansen (bullet train) ticket prices from Tokyo to Kyoto for my family for the Kansai-leg of our holiday.

Yesterday seemed to go swimmingly, except for the crazy price of Y123,000 (over £600) for five of us (four adults, one child) so I told them I'd return tomorrow (today) and buy them then. I spoke with my family that evening and discussed the best course of action. We decided to go ahead and buy the reserved tickets. I did find unreserved tickets that were much cheaper from a ticket machine at the station for Y71,000 (£350) but unreserved means there is no guarantee of a seat, or that you will be together, plus it will probably be a smoking area. Those tickets are valid for seven days after purchase.

So today I went back to buy the reserved tickets. I didn't get as lost in the maze of underground tunnels and shopping malls as I did yesterday, but it wasn't easy to find the Midori no Madoguchi (Reservation Window).

I got to the front of the line and asked if the man spoke English, same answer as usual - "sukoshi" (a little).

I had written my request for times and type of train down in kanji so I just pointed at it and said "Kore o totte okitai desu" which is probably wrong but it's the closest to "I want to reserve this" that I know! He seemed to understand anyway, and put all the information into the computer and showed me the price. Same as yesterday, Y123,000. I gave him my VISA debit card and everything seemed to be going well. What followed then was about twenty minutes of miscommunication, which eventually resulted in me understanding that there was a limit on my card of Y60,000. He told me I should ring VISA to change it, but I asked if I could pay Y60,000 by card, and the rest in cash. He said that was "Daijoubu" (this is the most useful phrase in the world I think. It means "It's fine" or "Sure" and I say it at least five times every day). I told him I would come back soon, and he held the tickets for me.

So I trekked to several ATMs, all of which didn't accept foreign cards, so I had to go and try to find a combini (convenience store) but stumbled upon a yuubinkyoku (post office) with an ATM Corner. This did take foreign cards so I took Y40,000 (£200) from my Nationwide account. It wouldn't let me take more than this, whether that's because my account had no money left, there was a limit on the card, or on the ATM, I don't know. But I got another Y10,000 from my Lloyds TSB account and headed back to Tokyo station.

I queued again, and waited until the same man was free. This time it was very easy. He took Y60,000 from my debit card, and the rest in cash. I even got Y1,000 change! In the middle of this, a Japanese woman who randomly spoke excellent English interrupted and asked the man to write something down for her, but I didn't mind. Once again, "daijoubu"! I told the woman her English was "sugoi" (great).

The seats I reserved were in the non-smoking section, and were in one row. Shinkansen seats are three on one side, two on the other, so my family will fill a row. My logic for choosing this, rather than a clump of seats, was that whichever side of the train the sights like Mt Fuji are, we will be able to take photos without leaning over anyone. The only thing I'm unsure about is the direction the seats are facing, I don't know if we'll be going backwards or forwards (I later found that all the seats are forward-facing), which may be unpleasant but fingers crossed it will all be okay!

The man gave me five JR rulers, which was very nice, and I thanked him many times and said "Anata wa shinsetsu desu" (You are kind).

I had no idea there was a limit on my card, but Sakura House took Y80,000 from it without a problem occuring. Maybe they did two transactions or something.

We've decided against buying JR Rail Passes for the duration of the holiday because the price of the Shinkansen tickets falls just short of the JR Pass' cost. Random trips on the Yamanote line around Tokyo won't make up the difference, but if the trip to Hakone we'll do was on a JR Line, then it would be worth it, but it's not so we will do without.

Either way, I walked away with a sense of satisfaction, pleased to have accomplished something!