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What? No. I live in Japan and you absolutely do not need to book trains in advance, ever, for any reason. It's a good idea if you're planning to travel during

What? No. I live in Japan and you absolutely do not need to book trains in advance, ever, for any reason. It's a good idea if you're planning to travel during peak hours on the first and last days of a major holiday period, but there is a free seating area that you can ride. The only downside is that you may need to wait a bit on the platform until you're squeezed onto the shinkansen. You're sacrificing some comfort this way, but it's not a strict need. But that problem only occurs 3 weeks out of an entire year. Also, the normal free seating tickets don't have a reserved time. They're only limited by day. And my experiences in Europe are similar. Show up, buy a high speed rail ticket, hop on a train and go to the next city. I've only ever needed to reserve tickets in two countries: one was dealing with Amtrak in the US, and the other was trying to take a train in China between two cities in the midst of the biggest holiday of the year. Other than that, it's always been a show up, get a ticket, and hop on 5 minutes later sort of deal.

crazygringo 6y ago
> But that problem only occurs 3 weeks out of an entire year. Which is, of course, when you're statistically the most likely to be traveling. And the fact that a ticket is valid the whole day doesn't help much when your flight is delayed overnight or by a day. Some people tend to travel precisely when others are not, and might not run into this problem, seems like that might be your case. Other people travel precisely when others are too, and will run into it all the time. As far as China, every hard sleeper I ever took was sold out in advance, zero holidays. As far as I can tell, you're entirely confirming what I'm saying.
- fomine3 6y ago
  You may expect a situation in Japan to use both flight and shinkansen, but such use is rare for Japanese locals. Flight or Shinkansen + local train (or rent a car) is used in most cases, not both. For a overseas tourist arriving by flight, anyway it's better to avoid the three weeks. I believe it's on May, August, and end of the year, but former two is Japanese local holidays so you can easily avoid. Then you don't always need reservation shinkansen because free sheets are available (but YMMV).
- trainsplanes 6y ago
  What? That makes zero sense. If you book in advance and your plane is delayed by a whole day, your ticket is void. That's it. You're done. ...In which case you can just show up to the station and buy an unreserved ticket and ride, like everybody else and like I mentioned is the better idea. My point is that reserving in advance has no purpose because of reasons you're giving to somehow justify it. If you don't book in advance, there is zero chance of missing your train due to a delayed flight since you're buying it 5 minutes before riding. You seem very, very confused.

crazygringo 6y ago

> But that problem only occurs 3 weeks out of an entire year. Which is, of course, when you're statistically the most likely to be traveling. And the fact that a ticket is valid the whole day doesn't help much when your flight is delayed overnight or by a day. Some people tend to travel precisely when others are not, and might not run into this problem, seems like that might be your case. Other people travel precisely when others are too, and will run into it all the time. As far as China, every hard sleeper I ever took was sold out in advance, zero holidays. As far as I can tell, you're entirely confirming what I'm saying.

fomine3 6y ago
You may expect a situation in Japan to use both flight and shinkansen, but such use is rare for Japanese locals. Flight or Shinkansen + local train (or rent a car) is used in most cases, not both. For a overseas tourist arriving by flight, anyway it's better to avoid the three weeks. I believe it's on May, August, and end of the year, but former two is Japanese local holidays so you can easily avoid. Then you don't always need reservation shinkansen because free sheets are available (but YMMV).
trainsplanes 6y ago
What? That makes zero sense. If you book in advance and your plane is delayed by a whole day, your ticket is void. That's it. You're done. ...In which case you can just show up to the station and buy an unreserved ticket and ride, like everybody else and like I mentioned is the better idea. My point is that reserving in advance has no purpose because of reasons you're giving to somehow justify it. If you don't book in advance, there is zero chance of missing your train due to a delayed flight since you're buying it 5 minutes before riding. You seem very, very confused.