Tokyo to Kyoto by Bullet Train: Times, Fares & Tips (2026)

Nozomi vs Hikari vs Kodama

All three run on the same line, from the same platforms at Tokyo Station, and arrive at the same Kyoto and Shin-Osaka stations. The difference is how often they stop.

• Nozomi stops at Shinagawa, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya and Kyoto on the way to Shin-Osaka. Sample trains from JR Central's timetable: the 6:00am Nozomi reaches Kyoto at 8:09am (2 hours 9 minutes) and Shin-Osaka at 8:22am; the 7:12am reaches Kyoto at 9:25am. Nozomi trains leave every few minutes at busy times.
• Hikari adds a few stops between Shin-Yokohama and Nagoya. The 7:03am Hikari reaches Kyoto at 9:43am (2 hours 40 minutes) and Shin-Osaka at 9:57am.
• Kodama stops at all 17 stations from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka, and some Kodama end at Nagoya or before. The 6:57am Kodama to Shin-Osaka reaches Kyoto at 10:36am (3 hours 39 minutes).

Take the Nozomi unless you hold a Japan Rail Pass (below). It's about 30 minutes faster, much more frequent, and a reserved seat costs just ¥320 more than on a Hikari. Pass holders take the Hikari, which the pass covers in full. On every train, smoking isn't allowed anywhere on board.

Tokyo to Kyoto fares in 2026

A shinkansen fare is two parts, a basic fare and a limited express charge, sold together as one ticket. JR Central's smartEX prices, one way for an adult in the regular season (price list dated 1 April 2025, still current on 4 November 2026):

• Nozomi, reserved seat: ¥13,970
• Hikari or Kodama, reserved seat: ¥13,650
• Any train, non-reserved seat: ¥13,320
• Green Car (first class), Nozomi: ¥18,840; Hikari or Kodama: ¥18,520
• Children aged 6 to 11 pay about half: ¥6,980 for a Nozomi reserved seat (Japanese school pupils follow slightly different rules)

Seasons. Reserved and Green Car prices drop ¥200 on off-peak days and rise ¥200 on peak days and ¥400 on the busiest days; the calendar of dates is on the smartEX site. Non-reserved seats cost the same all year.

Station or app? For a reserved seat, smartEX is cheaper than buying at the station; for a non-reserved seat, the price is the same. Shinagawa costs exactly the same as Tokyo Station on every one of these fares, and the Nozomi reaches it 7 minutes after leaving Tokyo, so board wherever is closer to your hotel; for hotels by either station, see hotels near Tokyo Station and hotels in Shinagawa. Flying into Haneda? The Keikyu line reaches Shinagawa in about 15 minutes (see Haneda Airport to Tokyo).

How to pay less: book ahead on smartEX

JR Central's early-booking Hayatoku fares are sold on smartEX from one month before travel (from 10am). Seats on each train are limited, and none are sold over Golden Week, Obon and New Year. Tokyo to Kyoto, one way per adult:

• EX Hayatoku 21: ¥12,430, a Nozomi reserved seat booked at least 21 days ahead (by 11:30pm). That's ¥1,540 less than the normal smartEX price. You can't change the train once it's booked.
• EX Hayatoku 7: ¥11,940, a Hikari or Kodama reserved seat booked at least 7 days ahead.
• EX Family Hayatoku 7: ¥11,450 each, a Hikari or Kodama reserved seat for 2 to 6 people booking together, at least 7 days ahead.

EX Hayatoku 21 tickets are valid only on the train you booked. With a normal smartEX ticket or a station ticket, if you miss your train you can still ride in the non-reserved cars of a later train the same day.

Reserved or non-reserved?

A reserved seat guarantees a seat on one train. A non-reserved seat lets you board any train that day and sit anywhere in the non-reserved cars, if there's a free seat. JR Central lists the usual non-reserved cars as cars 1 and 2 on the Nozomi, cars 1 to 5 on the Hikari, and cars 1 to 6 and 13 to 16 on the Kodama; the rest are reserved, with the Green Car in cars 8 to 10.

Reserve on busy dates. JR Central runs every Nozomi as all-reserved on the busiest days: in the months ahead, that's 21–23 November 2026, 25 December 2026 to 5 January 2027, 9–11 January 2027 and 20–22 March 2027. On those days a non-reserved ticket lets you stand in the Nozomi's aisle (not in the Green Car), or sit on a Hikari or Kodama if you can find a seat.

Reserved seats go on sale at 10am one month before the travel day at stations; smartEX takes some bookings up to a year ahead. Non-reserved seats are first come, first served, so reserve if you need a guaranteed seat, have luggage or are travelling at a busy time.

Which side for Mt Fuji: seat E

Going from Tokyo to Kyoto or Osaka, Mt Fuji is on the right-hand side, the mountain side, with the sea on the left. JR Central's own advice: book seat E in an ordinary car (the window on the two-seat side) or seat D in the Green Car. Coming back from Kyoto to Tokyo, the same seats are on the left, still facing Fuji.

The best stretch is around Shin-Fuji station, which the train reaches about an hour after Tokyo, and the view passes in a few minutes. Fuji is often hidden by cloud, so treat it as a bonus. Pick your seat on the seat map in the smartEX app, or ask for "E seat" at the ticket machine or counter. For Fuji up close, see our best day trips from Tokyo.

How to buy a shinkansen ticket

smartEX (JR Central's website and app). The easiest way, from abroad or in Japan. The website works anywhere; the app can only be downloaded in the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand. Registration is free with a credit card (you must be 18 or over). You book a seat on a seat map, change the train as often as you like up to 4 minutes before departure, and board with a QR code on your phone, or by touching an IC card such as Suica that you've registered to your account. Some foreign cards charge a transaction fee on each payment and each change. It's also the only way to get the Hayatoku fares above.

Ticket machines. Every ticket machine at JR Central's stations has English menus, and some of them sell limited express tickets and reserved seats.

Ticket offices. At the JR ticket office, tell the staff the station you're going to, the date and time, Nozomi, Hikari or Kodama, how many people (adults and children), and reserved, non-reserved or Green Car.

If you board with a QR code or IC card, a small seat information slip pops out of the shinkansen gate. Keep it as a reminder of your car and seat; it isn't a ticket, so don't put it into the gate when you leave.

Is the Japan Rail Pass worth it?

The Japan Rail Pass is for foreign tourists entering Japan with "Temporary Visitor" status (and some Japanese nationals who have lived abroad for 10 years or more). Official prices, bought online on the JR Group's site (an overseas agent charges more: ¥53,000 for the 7-day ordinary pass):

• 7 days: ¥50,000 ordinary, ¥70,000 Green Car
• 14 days: ¥80,000 ordinary, ¥110,000 Green Car
• 21 days: ¥100,000 ordinary, ¥140,000 Green Car

It doesn't cover the Nozomi. The pass covers the Hikari and Kodama, but to ride a Nozomi a pass holder must buy a special Nozomi ticket for each trip: ¥4,960 between Tokyo and Kyoto or Shin-Osaka, the same price for any seat class.

The sums, using smartEX Nozomi reserved-seat fares:

• Tokyo to Kyoto and back: ¥13,970 × 2 = ¥27,940, a little over half the price of the 7-day pass.
• Tokyo to Kyoto, Kyoto to Hiroshima (¥11,740), Hiroshima back to Tokyo (¥19,560): ¥45,270, still ¥4,730 less than the pass.

So the 7-day pass only pays if you add more long JR journeys inside the same seven days, and it's poor value if you want the Nozomi, at ¥4,960 extra each way. For a Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka trip, separate smartEX tickets, ideally Hayatoku, usually cost less. Sticking with the pass? Take the Hikari: about 30 minutes slower, no extra charge.

Luggage: the 160 cm rule

Add a bag's length, width and height together. JR Central's rules for the Tokaido Shinkansen:

• Up to 160 cm (63 inches; a carry-on or a medium suitcase): in the overhead rack, at your feet, or in the luggage storage area at the end of some cars. No booking needed.
• 161 to 250 cm (64 to 98 inches; a large check-in suitcase): you must reserve a seat with an oversized baggage area, a back-row seat with space behind it. It costs the same as a normal reserved seat. Choose it in smartEX or ask at the ticket office. Board with an oversized bag and no such reservation, and you pay a ¥1,000 fee.
• Over 250 cm: not allowed on board.

Non-reserved cars have no oversized-baggage seats, so with a big case you need a reserved seat. Those back-row seats are limited and can't be requested before tickets go on sale, so book them as soon as sales open for your date. Or skip the problem: with JR Central's LUGGAGE EXPRESS service, a case left at your hotel or the station can be delivered to your hotel at the other end the same day.

Food, Wi-Fi and the rest on board

Bring your own food. There's no food or drink for sale in the ordinary cars of the Tokaido Shinkansen, so buy a station bento (ekiben), snacks and drinks before you board; Tokyo Station has plenty of shops selling them. Eating at your seat is completely normal, and every seat has a fold-down table. In the Green Car of Nozomi and Hikari trains, you can order snacks and drinks on your phone and staff bring them to your seat.

The rest: free Wi-Fi on every train (re-log in every 30 minutes); power outlets at every Green Car seat, and at window seats and the front and back rows of ordinary cars (at every seat on the newest trains); toilets in the odd-numbered cars, with an accessible toilet in car 11. Take phone calls in the area between cars.

Supreme Class, a private cabin above the Green Car, started on some Nozomi in October 2026. Tokyo to Shin-Osaka costs ¥42,390 for the one-person cabin. The two-person cabin is ¥60,790 for the first adult, and the second passenger also needs their own ticket for that train. Both are booked on smartEX only.

Arriving in Kyoto, and on to Osaka

Kyoto Station sits just south of the city centre, with a big city-bus terminal outside and a stop on the Karasuma subway line, so most hotels are a short ride away. For the first day, one area beats a city-wide dash: Higashiyama (Kiyomizu-dera, the old lanes and Gion) is the easy choice.

Shin-Osaka, the end of the line, isn't central Osaka. Change to the JR line for Osaka Station, one stop away, or the Midosuji subway line for Umeda and Namba.

Tokyo to Osaka by bullet train

The same trains go on 13 to 15 minutes past Kyoto to Shin-Osaka. JR Central's smartEX prices, one way, adult, regular season:

• Nozomi, reserved: ¥14,520, from 2 hours 21 minutes
• Hikari or Kodama, reserved: ¥14,200; the Hikari takes about 2 hours 55 minutes to 3 hours, the Kodama about 3 hours 55 minutes
• Non-reserved, any train: ¥13,870
• Green Car, Nozomi: ¥19,390
• EX Hayatoku 21 (Nozomi, 21 days ahead): ¥12,980; EX Hayatoku 7 (Hikari or Kodama): ¥12,490; EX Family Hayatoku 7 (2 to 6 people): ¥12,000 each
• Japan Rail Pass Nozomi ticket: ¥4,960, the same as to Kyoto

First and last trains: the first Nozomi leaves Tokyo at 6:00am (Shin-Osaka 8:22am), and the last leaves Tokyo at 9:24pm (Shin-Osaka 11:45pm). Visiting both cities? Book Tokyo to Kyoto, then take a JR train from Kyoto to Osaka, and fly home from Kansai Airport or ride the shinkansen back from Shin-Osaka.

Can you do Kyoto as a day trip from Tokyo?

Yes, but it's a long day. The first Nozomi leaves Tokyo at 6:00am and reaches Kyoto at 8:09am. The last Nozomi back to Tokyo leaves Kyoto at 9:38pm and gets in at 11:45pm. That's up to 13 hours in Kyoto, with about 4 hours 20 minutes on the train.

It costs ¥27,940 return on smartEX Nozomi reserved seats, or ¥24,860 on EX Hayatoku 21 if you book three weeks ahead. Pick one area rather than trying to see the whole city. Our best day trips from Tokyo has a Kyoto day plan; if you can, spend at least one night instead.

Night bus or flight?

Night bus. JR Bus Kanto and West JR Bus run the Gran Dream and Seishun Eco Dream night buses from Tokyo Station (Yaesu South Exit) and Busta Shinjuku, leaving between about 9pm and midnight; the ones that stop in Kyoto reach Kyoto Station (Karasuma Exit) between about 4am and 7am (timetable revised 1 August 2026). Fares change by date and seat type, and you see them when you pick a date on the JR bus booking site, Kosoku Bus Net. Children pay half. It saves a night's hotel, but you arrive tired and very early.

Flying. Kyoto has no airport of its own. Flights from Tokyo land at Osaka's Itami or Kansai airports, and for most trips from central Tokyo to central Kyoto, the transfers to and from the airports and the security wait use up the time the flight saves. Compare your exact route; fares are on the airlines' own sites.

How to get from Tokyo to Kyoto

Take a Nozomi from Tokyo or Shinagawa: about 2 hours 10 minutes, ¥13,970 for a reserved seat on smartEX, or ¥12,430 if you book 21 days ahead. Sit in seat E for Mt Fuji. Reserve a seat with an oversized baggage area if your suitcase is over 160 cm, and on the all-reserved Nozomi dates. Buy food before you board. Skip the 7-day Japan Rail Pass unless you're taking several more long JR journeys that week.

Once you know your dates in each city, Tourli, the app that turns travel guides into day-by-day plans, helps you lay out the Tokyo days around the train.