of the largest railway company under the Japan Railways  group to see how to buy Japan train tickets online  

before you come to Japan

this video is not  sponsored I just want to share with you   

what we actually use to buy our train tickets when  we travel in Japan so that you can use it

as a reference when you come visit if you like this  video please give me a thumbs up

and subscribe to my channel to help me create more content  I really appreciate it

now let's dive right in

the website I want to share with you today  is called Eki-net.com

so what is Ekinet 

Ekinet is the official ticket booking  website of the JR East company

this is the largest passengers Railway company  of Japan Railways Group  

and it operates the JR trains in Tokyo area, Hokuriku and  Tohoku area

so basically Northeast of Tokyo  

for that reason you can use this website to  purchase train tickets in the areas that the JR East operates

for example going from Tokyo  areas to Nagano, Sendai, Fukushima, Aomori, Etc

so when do you use this ekinet website

if you  just use a commuter train you don't need this website

you can just buy a normal ticket  at a ticket machine at the train station  

before boarding the train or you can pay for the  train ticket using an IC card at the ticket gates  

this website is for reserving seats on inter-city trains and bullet trains or shinkansens  

let me show you some examples within the  website so that it's easier to understand  

so from your web browser search for  Ekinet English

click on the JR East train reservation link to access to the website

and this is what it looks like  

in order to use the website you'll need to  create an account

after you provide your email address you will receive an email from JR East

with a link for you to register your account

let me show you how you can create an account on your phone

to create your account you'll need to provide basic information of yours

like your name, birthday, country of your passport and your phone number that you use in your country

then create a password for this Ekinet account

after that you need to provide information of your credit card  that you want to use on this account

if your card is accepted your account will be activated right away

and you can log in to start buying tickets 

this is the main interface when you log in 

basically there are two options

option one is for passengers who are considering buying a pass  or for those who already have a pass

and are using this website to reserve a seat

and option two  is for passengers who don't have a pass

and just want to buy a one-off ticket

as you can see the  only difference is whether you have a pass or not  

so what is a pass

what kind of passes available

and should you buy one  

a pass is like a set of discount tickets that  might or might not help to save money

it depends on how you use the pass

let's have a look at the passes they have here

and take an example to see when you should and should not buy a pass

for now there are eight passes on this website and  

when you click on a pass you'll see the area  where you can use the pass highlighted on the map  

with location names as well as the price  valid time of the pass and most importantly  

who can buy the pass  

some of the passes are  only available to those with a Temporary Visitor Visa status

and some of them are also  available to foreigners who are living in Japan  

for example the N'EX or the Narita Express  Tokyo round trip ticket is available

to both visitors and foreigners living in Japan

if you  buy a one-off ticket of the Narita Express 

the one-way ticket price is 3070 Yen or 6140 yen  in total for a round trip

which means if you buy this pass at 4070 Yen you can save more than 2000 Yen which is 34 percent

so this is really a good deal  

in another example

let's say you want to go to  Kawaguchiko to enjoy the amazing view of Mount Fuji

over Lake Kawaguchi a ticket from  Shinjuku station in Tokyo to Kawaguchiko station

is 4130 Yen or 8 260 Yen for a round trip

whereas if you buy the Tokyo Wide Pass which covers this trip  

the cost is 10 180 Yen  which is more than 20 percent more expensive 

so if you only go to one location included in  the pass it might not worth buying the pass  

but if you go to two locations or more the  pass can save you money

for example if you can combine a round trip to Kawaguchiko

with a round trip from Narita Airport to Tokyo  

it's gonna be cheaper to buy the Tokyo Wide Pass than  buying all the tickets separately

I'll leave a link below so that you can check out all the passes in  details

now let's see how to buy a one-off ticket

on the front page of your account click on  purchase tickets

then click on search by station  

and type in your departure station  and arrival station

let's say we want to buy a ticket from Narita  Airport Terminal 2 to Tokyo station

select the day when you want to go and select  the time you want to get on the train

or you can set it to be the time you want to arrive at  your destination

and then select the number of tickets for adults or children that you want to buy

after that click on search to find the suitable trains

then you can select the train  you want to get on and confirm details of the ticket

before proceeding to The Next Step where  you can select the seat you like from a map  

moving on you can select where you want to  pick up your ticket

for example you can pick it up at Narita Airport or Haneda airport

or any station on the list that is close to your place  

and you can also pick it up anytime at a ticket  machine which is a lot faster

I'll show you how in a minute for now you need to check the details of your tickets

and if you're fine with it click Reserve now to finalize your reservation

so how to get on the train after you buy a ticket online  

there are two ways to get on the train after  purchasing tickets online

the first way is to use a paper ticket

you can pick up this paper ticket  at a ticket counter at a location that you set  

or you can pick up the ticket at a ticket machine  using the QR code you got after buying the ticket online

on your departure day or any day after you  buy the ticket you can go to one of the ticket machines at the station

and print out the tickets using the QR code

and then insert the paper ticket at the gate to get on the train

this method works for both Express trains and bullet trains  

the second way is to integrate the  ticket you buy online with your IC card if you have one

and use the IC card at the ticket gate

you can use any IC card for  this method including the 28 day IC card for visitors like the Welcome Suica card  

however for now this method only works for bullet  trains it doesn't apply for Express trains

so that's how you can buy train tickets on  the Ekinet website directly from the JR East  

previously I shared with you how to buy shinkansen  tickets on an app called SmartEX

so what's the difference between Ekinet and SmartEX

SmartEX is an app and website by JR Central JR West and JR Kyushu

that allows you to buy shinkansen tickets  from Tokyo to Southwest areas in Japan

it doesn't sell Express train tickets

on the other hand  Ekinet is a website by JR East

that allows you to buy both Express train and shinkansen  tickets from Tokyo to North East areas of Japan  

while SmartEX has discounts for early bookings  Ekinet gives you the option to buy a pass to  

save money if you travel to multiple locations  covered in the pass

but what if you don't know which pass to buy

well in that case you just  type in the station name where you want to go to 

and it will suggest the passes accordingly

you only need to do the calculation on whether you need a pass or not

and make sure you check  their official website for latest updates

well that's it for today's video thank  you so much for watching

if you're coming to visit Japan check out other videos on my channel about travel tips in Japan

I hope you can find some helpful information for your trip

until my next video take care and have a nice day