What to Know About Japanese Train Tickets

You can't possibly think that a country with such an advanced railway system as Japan didn't think about making the railway tourist-friendly. And you are completely right, as not knowing the Japanese is definitely not an obstacle for traveling by train. The stations are clean, modern, and provide all the main information in both Japanese and English. Traveling by high-speed trains, a connection favored among locals and tourists alike, is not a problem even if you don't speak the language of your host, as everything significant is translated to English as well, and a bit of logic allows to fill the blanks. On this Shinkansen ticket, you can see that most things seem clear, but it's always better to know for sure what is what. So we've marked all sections of the ticket for you to see what is worth paying attention to. ​

Apart from on-the-surface information like the date of the departure or the arrival time, we can easily deduce that this is a reserved seat limited express ticket (the passenger was assigned the 6th seat in the 1st car, 5th row) for a Tokiwa train number 55. ​
Ok, all is clear with high-speed travel, but what about other types of trains? To be honest, the picture is not so bright here. As tourists are rarely interested in exploring the villages nearby, some companies (especially small private ones) didn't translate even the basic information. So not all local railway tickets are understandable more or less intuitively as Shinkansen tickets are.

Plus, unfortunately, the layout of various tickets is not set in stone. In the picture, you can see a local train ticket issued by Chichibu Railway. Clearly, if you don't command the Japanese at least a bit, understanding anything without a Google Translate app is pretty much impossible.

Now, when everything is, hopefully, more or less clear with the types of train tickets and you have a general idea of how to read them, let's cover another very important question - how to book train tickets in Japan.

The old-school way is to purchase them at a train station before the departure. A valid option, of course, but not without several drawbacks, such as the possibility of already sold-out tickets and long lines at the check-out. So why spend your time on something so unproductive as queuing when you can buy everything online? The Rail Ninja booking platform is among the best online tools for the job, as it is incredibly easy to use and allows purchasing Japan train tickets in a matter of just a few minutes and several mouse clicks.

At the station, you won't need to spend half an hour of your holiday waiting in line and worrying that the train will take off before you board it. When you purchased your tickets online beforehand, all you need to do is printing a ticket via a ticket machine available at every station and enjoy the wide choice of in-house facilities to occupy yourself before the departure. Seem much nicer than queuing, right?
In order to print the ticket, you will need two things - the ticket machine at the departure station and a unique combination of login and password you receive with every confirmation of the seat reservation. When you enter the data in the machine, you immediately print your tickets and you are free to board your train or explore the station's facilities.