Last Updated: Jan 30, 2024

Jiyuseki Tricks

How to Take Advantage of Your Freedom

This really shouldn’t come as a surprise given how much I travel, but I take a lot of bullet trains. In fact, when people ask me where I live, I often say that my official address is in Tokyo, but I actually live on the Shinkansen. Over the course of my many years traversing the countryside, I’ve come up with a plethora of little tricks and hacks that can be used here and there to eke out a bit more value from your ride. Today, I’d like to share with you some of what I’ve learned while on the road.

In this article, we’ll mainly be taking a look at what is called the Jiyuseki in Japanese. Essentially meaning ‘free seating,’ the Jiyuseki are those seats at the front of the bullet train that don’t require a reservation. Though these seats can be had for a few hundred yen less than their reserved counterparts, sitting in the Jiyuseki area often comes with a major downside — namely, you might not be able to snag a good seat (or even get one at all on the busiest of days).

Now, when sitting in the Jiyuseki, it’s wise to be waiting on the platform a good 10–15 minutes before your departure. The reason for this is that the Jiyuseki is on a first-come, first-served basis. Thus, to ensure you get a seat, you want to be one of the lucky people…