A Step-By-Step Guide To Pre-Booking Luggage On Japan’s Shinkansen Bullet Trains

When we first went to Japan we did many things right: but we also did one very big thing very wrong!

We hadn’t realised that for our bullet train (shinkansen) between Tokyo and Osaka we would need to reserved space for our ‘oversized luggage’ (normal large hold suitcases). And when we got on the train this reservation spaces were already pre-booked and full of bags.

The result? What should have been a very relaxed and straight forward train ride turned into a 2 hour endurance test as we sat with our four very large and very heavy suitcases….on our laps!

So to make sure this doesn’t happen to you too, I thought it would be a good idea to write a step-by-step guide on how to pre-book a space for your oversized luggage on the shinkansen in Japan. This is the kind of thing I wish i’d read before I arrived in the country, so I hope it’s useful, even if it isn’t the most exciting topic!

What Counts As Oversized Baggage?

Your suitcase/luggage will be considered oversized if its total dimension exceeds 160cm. So a suitcase that is 160cm in dimension won’t need a reservation, but one that is 161cm tall will. The maximum dimension of any baggage you take on the shinkansen is 250cm. Anything bigger than this simply isn’t permitted.

Note that if you’re travelling with a wheelchair or a pushchair (stroller) you won’t need a reservation for this even if it does exceed the 160cm measurements.

A Step-By-Step Guide To Booking Baggage on the Shinkansen

Most people book their train tickets and reserve their seats once they arrive in Japan. We had pre-booked the JR Rail Passes and we still had to queue in the (very busy) Tokyo Station to reserve our seats to Osaka.

To book your seats with baggage you need to find one of the JR Rail ticket machines and then follow the following steps:

• First and most importantly, change the language selection to English. This will make your life so much easier!
• Then click the button that reads ‘Seat reservation with coupon ticket’
• Insert the JR Passes of all passengers
• Select the route, date, and time that you would like to take your journey on.
• Click ‘Confirm’ when you are prompted that an oversized baggage reservation is required for that route and choose the button that reads ‘Seat with oversized baggage area’
• Click ‘Select from seat map’ and then you can select the car and seat you fancy: this option should only show you seats with oversized luggage facilities, but as a general rule these are at the first and back rows of each carriage.
• Remember to collect your JR Pass and Reserved Seat Ticket when you leave, and you’re ready to hop on board!

All sound like too much hassle? Although we haven’t tried it ourselves, I have read a press release stating that  if you’re planning on traveling on the Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka, including Nagoya and Kyoto Stations, you can now reserve a seat with oversize luggage space directly on Klook! 

You can book JR Rail Passes on Klook here, and don’t forget my affiliate code THATMUMTRAVEL5KLOOK will get you an extra 5% off.

What Happens If You Don’t Pre-Book Oversized Baggage On The Shinkansen?

What happens if you don’t pre-book your baggage space? Officially, failure to do so will result in a penalty fee of ¥1,000 (~USD7). But this small fine shouldn’t be your only deterrent!

Because the journey between Tokyo and Osaka is SO popular, it’s likely that on this train (and many of the other popular tourist routes) if you don’t pre-book then there simply won’t be any space for your luggage, even if you wanted to try and squeeze it in without a booking. This is what happened to us! We couldn’t have stored our baggage in the storage area even if we wanted to!

The trains that will be impacted and that you will need to make a seat reservation with an oversized baggage area if you have one are:

Kyushu Shinkansen, which runs from Hakata to Kagoshima Chuo

Tokaido Shinkansen, which runs between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, and includes a Shinkansen stop in Kyoto

Sanyo Shinkansen, which runs from Shin-Osaka to Hakata, Fukuoka, and includes stops in Himeji and Hiroshima.

Not reserving our luggage spots was definitely one of our travel fails! Have you got any travel fails you’d love to share? Or top tips for travelling on the bullet trains in Japan?

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