How much more is the Green Car on the Shinkansen?

From Tokyo to Kyoto or Shin-Osaka on the Nozomi, the Green Car costs ¥4,870 above an ordinary reserved seat when booked on smartEX. The extra grows with distance, from ¥3,660 to Nagoya up to ¥7,260 to Hiroshima.

Do children pay less for the Green Car?

No. Children aged 6 to 11 pay half the fare and the limited express charge, but the Green Car charge is the same for adults and children. A child under 6 on a parent's lap rides free.

Does the Japan Rail Pass cover the Green Car?

Only the Green Car pass does. With the ordinary pass you pay extra for the Green Car, and on the Nozomi and Mizuho you cannot use it. Gran Class is not covered by either pass beyond the basic fare.

Do Green Car seats need a reservation?

Yes. All Green Car seats on the Shinkansen are reserved. The Green Cars on Tokyo's local commuter trains are different, because their seats are unreserved.

Is food included in the Green Car?

No. On the Tokaido line, Green Car passengers on the Nozomi and Hikari can order drinks and snacks to their seat by QR code and pay for them. Free food and drinks come only with Gran Class on certain trains and the new Supreme Class.

Which cars are the Green Cars?

On the Nozomi, Hikari and Kodama between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, the Green Cars are cars 8, 9 and 10. On other lines, check the car number on your ticket and the platform signs, which show a green clover.

Shinkansen Green Car: Prices, Seats and When It Pays Off

09/10/202510/10/2026

Rows of wide brown reclining seats inside a Shinkansen Green Car

Quick answer

The Green Car is the Shinkansen's first class, with four seats across instead of five, more legroom and a quieter cabin.
Tokyo to Kyoto on the Nozomi costs ¥18,840 in the Green Car online, ¥4,870 above an ordinary reserved seat.
Children pay the same Green Car charge as adults, so for a family the upgrade adds up fast.

Contents

What Is the Shinkansen Green Car?

The Green Car is the first-class carriage on the Shinkansen. You get a wider seat, more legroom, a deeper recline and a calmer cabin, for a supplement of roughly ¥3,500 to ¥7,500 per person on the routes most visitors ride.

It is not a different service. You travel on the same train, at the same speed, and arrive at the same time as everyone in the ordinary cars.

Green Cars are marked with a four-leaf clover symbol on the outside of the car and on the platform signs. On the Nozomi between Tokyo and Osaka they are cars 8, 9 and 10, in the middle of the train.

Every seat in a Shinkansen Green Car is reserved, so you always board knowing where you will sit.

The green four-leaf clover symbol beside the door of car 8 on a Hikari Shinkansen — The clover symbol marks a Green Car. On the Nozomi and Hikari it is cars 8 to 10

The name comes from the green tickets that first-class passengers once carried on Japanese railways. Today the word "Green" means first class across the whole JR network, including the double-deck Green Cars on Tokyo's local trains.

For the wider picture of lines, fares and seat classes, start with our guide to the Shinkansen in Japan, part of our Japan travel tips for first-timers.

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What You Get in the Green Car vs the Ordinary Car

You pay for space and quiet. The service is the same. The ordinary car on the Tokaido Shinkansen has five seats across (three and two).

The Green Car has four (two and two), so every seat is either a window or an aisle with nobody squeezed in the middle.

	Ordinary car	Green Car	What it means for you
Seats across	5 (3 + 2)	4 (2 + 2)	No middle seat
Legroom and recline	Good	Noticeably more	Easier to sleep or work
Footrest and reading light	No	Yes	More comfortable on a long ride
Power outlet	Some seats (all seats on newer trains)	Every seat	Charge phones and tablets
Passengers per car	Up to about 100	About 60 to 70	A quieter cabin

Folding footrests in front of Green Car seats on the Shinkansen — Footrests are one of the small extras in the Green Car

On the newer N700S trains, JR Central fitted power outlets at every seat in all cars, so charging is no longer a reason to upgrade on its own. The real gains are the extra width, the footrest, and a cabin with fewer people walking up and down the aisle.

What you do not get. The Green Car comes with no meals or free drinks. The food trolley no longer runs on the Tokaido Shinkansen.

On the Nozomi and Hikari between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, Green Car passengers can instead order drinks and snacks to their seat by scanning a QR code on the leaflet in the seat pocket. Buy your ekiben lunch box before boarding.

Our guide to ekiben at Tokyo Station lists the best counters.

Shinkansen Green Car Prices in 2026

A Green Car ticket is the usual fare and limited express charge, plus a Green Car charge that grows with distance. On the Tokaido line the total works out to about ¥3,500 to ¥7,500 above an ordinary reserved seat for most trips from Tokyo.

These are JR Central's smartEX online prices for the Nozomi, one way, regular season.

From Tokyo to	Ordinary reserved	Green Car	Difference
Nagoya	¥11,100	¥14,760	¥3,660
Kyoto	¥13,970	¥18,840	¥4,870
Shin-Osaka	¥14,520	¥19,390	¥4,870
Hiroshima	¥19,560	¥26,820	¥7,260

Prices go up by ¥200 in peak season and ¥400 in the busiest weeks, and down by ¥200 in quiet periods. Tickets bought at the station cost a little above smartEX.

On JR East lines (Tohoku, Hokuriku, Joetsu), the Green Car charge is set by distance and printed on JR East's fare tables, for example ¥4,190 from Tokyo to Sendai, ¥6,600 to Shin-Aomori and ¥6,990 to Kanazawa. When you ride in the Green Car, JR East takes ¥530 off the limited express charge, so the real difference is a little smaller than the charge itself.

Child prices are the catch for families

Children pay the full Green Car charge. JR halves the fare and the express charge for children aged 6 to 11, but the Green Car charge is the same for adults and children.

A child's Green Car ticket from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka on the Nozomi costs ¥12,390 online, against ¥7,250 for an ordinary reserved seat.

For a family of four (two adults, two children aged 6 to 11) going from Tokyo to Kyoto, the Green Car adds about ¥19,500 each way. A child under 6 can still ride free on a parent's lap in the Green Car, but takes no seat of their own.

Which Trains Have a Green Car?

Almost every Shinkansen has a Green Car. The exceptions are a few services on the western lines.

Tokaido Shinkansen (Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka). Every Nozomi, Hikari and Kodama, cars 8 to 10.
Sanyo Shinkansen (Shin-Osaka to Hakata). The Nozomi and Mizuho have one. Most Hikari and Kodama running only on the Sanyo line do not.
Kyushu Shinkansen. Some Sakura and Tsubame trains have none.
Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen (Kamome). No Green Car.
Tohoku, Hokkaido, Hokuriku, Joetsu, Yamagata and Akita lines. A Green Car on almost all trains. The Hayabusa, Kagayaki and some Toki trains also carry a Gran Class car above it.

Check the seat map when you book. If a train shows no Green Car option, it does not have one.

Green Car vs Gran Class vs Supreme Class

On the lines north and west of Tokyo there is a class above the Green Car, and since October 2026 there is one on the Tokaido line too.

	Green Car	Gran Class	Supreme Class Cabin
Lines	Almost all	Tohoku, Hokkaido, Hokuriku, Joetsu	Tokaido and Sanyo (some N700S trains)
Seats	2 + 2	2 + 1, 18 seats per car	Private room for 1 or 2
Food and drinks	Pay to order	Included on some trains	Included on Nozomi and Hikari
Example price	Tokyo to Shin-Aomori Green charge ¥6,600	Gran Class charge ¥13,600	Tokyo to Shin-Osaka from ¥42,390

Gran Class has 18 leather seats in rows of three, and on the full-length Hayabusa and Kagayaki an attendant serves a light meal and drinks. See our Shinkansen Gran Class guide for the routes and prices.

Supreme Class started on 1 October 2026. JR Central and JR West fitted one private Cabin in car 10 (one person) and one in car 7 (up to two people) to some N700S trains, about 12 a day at first.

A one-person Cabin from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka on the Nozomi costs from ¥42,390 on smartEX, and the car 7 Cabin from ¥60,790, with a second traveller in car 7 buying their own ticket. It sells out fast and is not something most families need.

Using the Japan Rail Pass in the Green Car

The Green Car pass covers Green Car seats. The ordinary pass does not.

Green Car pass. A 7-day pass costs ¥70,000 online, against ¥50,000 for the ordinary pass. Green Car seat reservations are included, except on the Nozomi and Mizuho, where you buy the extra Nozomi/Mizuho ticket first (the same price as for the ordinary car, for example ¥4,960 from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka).
Ordinary pass. You pay extra to sit in the Green Car on the Hikari, Kodama and JR East trains, and you cannot use the Green Car on the Nozomi or Mizuho at all.
Gran Class. With either pass, only the basic fare is covered. You pay the limited express charge and the Gran Class charge on top.

For most families the Green pass is ¥20,000 per adult per week that is better spent elsewhere. Our Japan Rail Pass guide works through whether any pass pays off for a Tokyo-based trip.

How to Book a Green Car Seat

Book a Green Car seat the same way as an ordinary seat, and choose "Green" when you pick the car.

Online. SmartEX for the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu lines. JR-EAST Train Reservation for the lines north of Tokyo. Both are in English and let you choose your seat on a map.
Ticket machines. The red or green reserved-seat machines at JR stations switch to English and sell Green Car tickets.
Ticket office. The Midori no Madoguchi, if you have a JR Pass or want a person to check the details.

Seats go on sale at 10:00 one month before travel. Green Cars have fewer seats than the ordinary cars, so on Friday evenings, at Golden Week, in mid-August and over New Year, book as soon as you know your train.

Our guide to buying Shinkansen tickets covers the sites and machines step by step.

Which side for Mt. Fuji? JR Central's own advice for the Green Car is seat D, on the right going from Tokyo towards Kyoto and Osaka.

Is the Green Car Worth It with Kids?

Usually not for a short hop, sometimes yes for a long ride. On a 2-hour trip from Tokyo to Kyoto, the ordinary car is comfortable, and the ¥19,500 a family of four saves buys a good dinner in Kyoto.

The upgrade earns its price in a few situations.

A baby or toddler who needs to sleep. The quieter cabin, the footrest and the deeper recline make a nap on a parent more likely, and two-seat rows mean you are not climbing over strangers.
Very busy travel days. At Golden Week, Obon and New Year, ordinary reserved seats can sell out while a few Green Car seats are still free, and that may be the only way for the family to sit together.
Long rides. From Tokyo to Hiroshima (about 4 hours) or Kanazawa, the extra space is felt by the end.
A tired parent with work to do. Every seat has a power outlet and a larger table.

ONO

I have ridden in the Green Car with families. I recommend it because it is comfortable, but an ordinary reserved seat is enough.

With young children, the train class matters less than the plan. Our private tours are on foot in Tokyo and Yokohama. Your guide rides the trains with you, and each of you pays your own fare with an IC card. See our Tokyo private tour with kids.

Green Cars on Tokyo's Local Trains

The JR commuter lines around Tokyo also have Green Cars. They are the double-deck cars in the middle of the train on lines such as the Tokaido, Yokosuka and Utsunomiya lines, and they are a different product from the Shinkansen Green Car.

The seats are not reserved. You buy a Green ticket and sit in any free seat.

Bought with a Suica card before boarding, a Green ticket costs ¥750 up to 50 km, ¥1,000 up to 100 km and ¥1,550 beyond, and more if you buy it on board. They make a calmer ride to Yokohama or Kamakura with children on a crowded weekend morning, when the ordinary cars are standing room only.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much more is the Green Car on the Shinkansen?: From Tokyo to Kyoto or Shin-Osaka on the Nozomi, the Green Car costs ¥4,870 above an ordinary reserved seat when booked on smartEX. The extra grows with distance, from ¥3,660 to Nagoya up to ¥7,260 to Hiroshima.
Do children pay less for the Green Car?: No. Children aged 6 to 11 pay half the fare and the limited express charge, but the Green Car charge is the same for adults and children. A child under 6 on a parent's lap rides free.
Does the Japan Rail Pass cover the Green Car?: Only the Green Car pass does. With the ordinary pass you pay extra for the Green Car, and on the Nozomi and Mizuho you cannot use it. Gran Class is not covered by either pass beyond the basic fare.
Do Green Car seats need a reservation?: Yes. All Green Car seats on the Shinkansen are reserved. The Green Cars on Tokyo's local commuter trains are different, because their seats are unreserved.
Is food included in the Green Car?: No. On the Tokaido line, Green Car passengers on the Nozomi and Hikari can order drinks and snacks to their seat by QR code and pay for them. Free food and drinks come only with Gran Class on certain trains and the new Supreme Class.
Which cars are the Green Cars?: On the Nozomi, Hikari and Kodama between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, the Green Cars are cars 8, 9 and 10. On other lines, check the car number on your ticket and the platform signs, which show a green clover.

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