A speedy way to get tickets for Japan’s bullet trains.

It’s not just the high speeds that Japan’s bullet trains travel at that makes Shinkansen travel such a joy. Unlike with flying to your destination, there’s no lengthy check-in or security procedure to go through, so as long as you’ve got your ticket, you can be onboard just minutes after arriving at your departure station.

Even the process of getting your Shinkansen tickets is about to become easier and more convenient, as Japan Railway Company’s JR Central, JR West, and JR Kyushu have all announced that starting this autumn, you’ll be able to purchase Shinkansen tickets via text messages sent from your phone.

The system works with Line, the most popular messaging app among Japanese smartphone users. There will be no need to register your email address with JR or create a customer account (both of which are requirements for ordinary online Shinkansen reservations). Instead, you merely have to register the official JR Line account as a friend within the app, and then you’ll be able to reserve tickets on the Tokaido, Sanyo, and Kyushu Shinkansen lines. These three lines connectively stretch from Tokyo Station all the way west across the country to Kagoshima Chuo Station in Kagoshima Prefecture, passing through top travel destinations such as Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka along the way.

Payment for Line-reserved tickets is rendered through PayPay, one of Japan’s largest cashless payment apps, and upon payment you receive a QR or bar code which acts as a digital ticket that you can scan at the station gate. There’s also a 100-yen (approximately US$0.70) discount for tickets reserved through Line, which isn’t going to be a make-or-break factor in anyone’s travel plans, but it’s at least a little something that you can put towards buying some of that famous super-hard Shinkansen ice cream, or maybe a cold drink if you’re sitting in one of the Shinkansen’s weak-air conditioning cars.

The Line ticket purchase system launches on October 4, and allows for reservations to be made up to one month ahead of your travel date.

Source: JR Central via Nitele News via Livedoor News via Hachima Kiko
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