I’m arriving at Naritaa Airport at 08:35 and would like to continue my journey by train to Kyoto.

I’ve found I can take the Naritaa Express to Shinagawa. From there I can take the Shinkansen Hikari on the Tokaido line to Kyoto.

The problem is I’d like to reserve/purchase tickets beforehand. I understand I can purchase them online and I’ll need to pick them up. It seems that I can’t pick them up on Naritaa airport or in Tokyo because the Tokaido line is operated by JR West whilst Tokyo is in JR East.

If I purchase a train ticket online from Naritaa Airport to Kyoto where can I pick this up on the Naritaa airport?

  • @[email protected]MEnglish
    3•1 year ago

    It sounds like you are doing the route:

    • Narita Airport to Shinagawa Station via Narita Express
    • Shinagawa Station to Kyoto Station via Hikari Shinkansen

    If this is the case, then I think you can pick up the ticket from Shinagawa Station. From my understanding, you take the info in your purchase receipt to the Shinkansen ticket machine to get a ticket for the gates. Or you could go to the JR office and have them do it for you. I would email the station to double check.

    I think that if you purchase through the SmartEX app and link to a digital Suica in your iPhone wallet, you can use your iPhone to tap on and off through the Shinkansen gates, and you won’t have to get a physical ticket.

    • @AteshgaRubyTeethOPEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      Thanks for answering. That seems like a logical explanation. After having thought about this some more I’ve decided not to prebook my train ticket as it’s going to cause sone stress as I don’t know exactly how long customs and getting my bags is going to take. There’s too many variables to accurately determine the time of departure from Shinagawa. It seems that the Hikari Shinkansen on the Tokaido line is going pretty regularly.

      I’ll look up digital Suica card, seems to me it could come in handy.

      Edit: The digital Suica card can only be added if the region for the phone is set too Japan.