It isn't mandatory, but on the Tokaido line (Tokyo–Kyoto–Osaka) and around holidays, reserved seats sell out on the day. Booking ahead also lets you ask for seats together, a window, or oversized-luggage space — none of which can be arranged once you're at the station.

You can reserve with us before the carrier has opened sales. Japanese carriers typically release seats about one month before departure; if you book earlier than that, your order stays in Processing and we issue the tickets the moment sales open. Your order details show the expected issue date.

It depends on the train and carrier, and your order page tells you which before you pay.

• E-ticket (most Shinkansen and JR routes): a PDF with a QR code, sent by email and available in the app under My Tickets. Scan it at the gate from your phone or print it. Use the PDF, not a screenshot.
• Station collection (some routes and passes): you exchange your confirmation for a paper ticket at a JR ticket machine or office before boarding. The collection point, address and opening hours are in the email with your tickets. This can't be redirected to a hotel or converted to an e-ticket.

One passport is enough to collect tickets for everyone on the booking, and multiple bookings can be collected at the same machine in one visit.

No. Shinkansen tickets are sold per train. You book each leg separately, either as a reserved seat on a specific departure or, in Ordinary class, as a non-reserved seat (Green Car is always reserved).

If you want to ride whenever you like over several days, book a Japan Rail Pass (7, 14 or 21 consecutive days, Ordinary or Green Car). It's delivered as an exchange voucher that you swap for the physical pass at a JR office in Japan; the pass starts on the day you choose at exchange.

Three usual reasons:

• The carrier hasn't opened sales for that date yet (typically about a month ahead). Check back, or book now and we'll issue when sales open.
• The specific service (a named Hikari, for example) doesn't run on that day. Search the route without a train name.
• The route isn't sold through us. We show the trains available through our reservation service, not every connection in Japan.

If there's no direct train, split the journey: Matsumoto–Tokyo on the Azusa, then Tokyo–Kyoto on the Shinkansen, booked as two legs. Shinkansen from Osaka arrive at Tokyo Station, not the airport; Narita is another 60–90 minutes by Narita Express or limousine bus.

Prices change by date, time and class, so search your route for a live price. As a guide: Tokyo–Kyoto is about 2 hours 15 minutes, Tokyo–Hiroshima about 4 hours, with departures every few minutes on the Tokaido line. There's no round-trip discount; outbound and return are priced and booked separately.

You can't add a passenger to a confirmed booking. Place a second booking for the extra traveler and put your original order number in the special requests field; the ticketing team will try to seat everyone together. For groups larger than checkout allows, book what you can and contact support with the order number so the rest can be coordinated. Green Car seats can be booked for groups of six or more, subject to availability.

Two pieces per passenger, plus a small personal item. What matters is size, measured as length + width + height:

• Up to 160 cm (63 in): a normal suitcase. No reservation needed; it goes on the overhead rack or behind the last row.
• 160–250 cm (63–98 in): oversized. You need a seat with reserved oversized-luggage space (see below). Board with an oversized bag and no reservation and the carrier charges 1,000 yen on the train.
• Over 250 cm (98 in): not allowed on board. Use a luggage-forwarding service.

160 cm is almost exactly the airlines' standard checked-bag limit (62 in). A carry-on is about 118 cm (46 in), a medium checked suitcase about 146 cm (57 in); only the largest 30–32 in suitcases cross the line. If your airline checked it as a normal bag, it's under the limit.
Green Car (first class) seats have more space, but that doesn't replace the oversized-luggage reservation if your bag is over 160 cm.

Ask for it in the special requests field at checkout, before you pay. We request a seat in the designated oversized-luggage area (the last row of certain cars); there are only a few per car, so we can't guarantee one. Your e-ticket shows the coach and seat once issued: a last-row seat means the request went through.
If you forgot at checkout, contact support with your order number and we'll try to move you; if it can't be added, you can still board and pay the 1,000 yen fee on the train.

The size rule above is the Shinkansen rule. Most limited express and local trains don't enforce a strict limit, but you're expected to carry and lift your own bags and there's no dedicated luggage space. The allowance for the train you've chosen is shown during booking.

Contact the lost-and-found of the railway operator that ran the train, as soon as you can. Have your train number, departure time, car and seat number, and a description ready. We can't retrieve items ourselves, but support can help you find the right operator contact.

You can't pick a seat number on the site; the carrier's system assigns seats when the ticket is issued. You can ask for what you want — window or aisle, seats together, forward-facing, the Fuji side (the right-hand side heading from Tokyo toward Kyoto, seats D/E), last row for luggage — in the special requests field at checkout. We pass the request to the carrier. It's a request, not a guarantee.

When the ticket is issued, not when you book. The car and seat number are on the PDF e-ticket. For last-minute bookings the ticket is usually issued within a few hours, and the seat is only confirmed once it is.

Not through us; seat assignment is the carrier's. You can ask train staff on boarding if a different seat is free. To change the car or class, use Upgrade seats in My Tickets and pay the difference.

Yes on the Shinkansen, in designated spaces. Tell us at checkout in special requests and contact support with your order number so the carrier can arrange boarding assistance at both stations. Give us as much notice as you can.

Processing means we've placed the reservation and are waiting for the carrier to confirm the seat and issue the ticket. Nothing is needed from you.

• Travel within the next few weeks: most tickets are issued within an hour, some within 24 hours. Nights and weekends can take up to 3 hours.
• Travel further out: Japanese carriers open sales about a month before departure. Your order stays in Processing until then; the expected issue date is in your order details.
• Departing today: tickets are issued the same day, usually within a few hours. If it's getting close, contact support and we'll escalate.

If you booked several trips, each is issued and emailed separately, so the confirmations can arrive at different times.

Your bank or our payment provider has asked us to confirm the card is yours before we issue tickets. Two ways to do it, either is fine:

• Send the 4-digit code that appears on your card statement next to the Rail Ninja charge (it can take a couple of days to show), or
• Send a photo of the cardholder's passport photo page and both sides of the card, with only the first six and last four digits visible and the CVV covered.

Once verified, the order moves to Processing and tickets follow. If we can't verify before departure, the order is cancelled and refunded in full.

By email as a PDF, and in the app under My Tickets. If the "tickets are ready" email seems to have no attachment, the PDF is attached to that email; check spam and junk. You can always download a fresh copy from My Tickets. If the PDF won't open, contact support and we'll resend it.

The most common reason tickets don't arrive is a typo in the email address at checkout. Contact support from the address you booked with, or with your order number (it starts with RN or HST), and we'll correct it and resend.

Search your inbox and spam for "Booking Confirmation" from Rail Ninja; the order number is in it. Then sign in to the app or site with the same email you booked with; you'll be sent a one-time code. If the code doesn't arrive, check spam, wait a minute and request it again. If you booked through a travel agent or a company account, the booking is under their email, not yours; ask them for it.

Still stuck? Contact support with the email or order number and we'll find it and resend your tickets. If you write from a different email address, we'll ask you to verify your identity first.

Contact support with the order number and tell us which passenger or leg is missing. We'll either send the missing ticket or refund that part. Don't travel on the assumption it will be sorted at the gate.

Don't ignore it. Forward it to support and we'll check whether it's a duplicate submission, an error, or someone else's typo. If it's a duplicate of yours, we cancel it and refund you.

Contact support before you travel; close to departure we escalate to the ticketing team directly. If we can't issue in time, buy the ticket at the station and send us the receipt: we refund the booking in full.

On a Flexible fare, yes: sign in, open the order in My Tickets, choose Change time, pick the new departure and confirm. If the new train costs more you pay the difference; if it costs less there's no refund of the difference. The reissued ticket usually arrives within about 30 minutes. Your old QR code stops working the moment the new one is issued, so always travel on the newest ticket.
Requests must be made at least 24 hours before departure (some fares allow up to 12 hours; the fare conditions on your order say which). Inside that window, contact support: a person reviews it and it isn't guaranteed. At the station on the day, we can't change it; you'd cancel with us and buy at the counter.

Date: Change date in My Tickets, same rules as above. Station or route (a different departure station, a different destination, or swapping outbound and return): contact support with the order number; we check availability with the carrier, tell you any fare difference, and reissue. Only stations and trains sold on rail.ninja can be swapped in. Saver fares can't be changed.

Yes. Open the order, choose Manage booking, and apply the change to that passenger only. The others keep their original tickets. Each ticket is valid only for its own train.

Either your fare doesn't allow self-service changes (Saver), or the carrier hasn't released the seats you're seeing to our reservation channel. Contact support; a person can check the carrier directly and, if your fare allows, make the change manually.

Check the request you sent: if it didn't name a specific new train, the ticket may have been reissued without a change. Contact support immediately with the order number and the train you want; if it's after departure and you had to buy new tickets, send the receipts and we'll review a refund.

Yes. You can submit a change request on a Processing order, and cancelling before tickets are issued refunds you in full, whatever the fare.

Sign in, open the order, choose Cancel tickets, select the tickets (each leg of a round trip separately), accept the terms and submit. You'll get an email when it's done.
What comes back depends on when you cancel and your fare:

• Before tickets are issued (order still Processing): full refund, any fare.
• Flexible fare, issued tickets, more than 24 hours before departure: the ticket price minus the carrier's cancellation fee and our service fee. Typically about 80% of what you paid back to your card. You can instead take 100% as Ninja Cash toward a future booking.
• Less than 24 hours before departure: self-service is closed; contact support. A person reviews it; a refund isn't guaranteed.
• Saver fare: not refundable. In some cases we can offer part of it as Ninja Cash.
• After the train has departed: no refund.

We confirm the cancellation by email, usually within a day. The money reaches your card in 5–7 business days after that; some banks take up to 14. The original charge may show as a pending hold until your bank clears it. If nothing has arrived after 14 business days, contact support with the order number and we'll chase it with the payment provider.

Once the train has left, the ticket can't be changed or refunded. Go to the JR ticket counter: on the Shinkansen, a reserved-seat ticket for a missed train can usually be used the same day in the non-reserved cars of a later train on the same route, at the staff's discretion. Contact us afterwards; in some cases we offer Ninja Cash toward your next booking.

Two bookings: cancel one from My Tickets; the refund follows the rules above (full if it's still Processing). If one attempt failed but still shows in the app, contact support and we'll remove it; you weren't charged for it. Charged twice for one booking: contact support with both charges and we'll refund the duplicate; it reaches your card in the same 5–7 business days.

Contact support with the order number. We confirm cancellations with the carrier and correct the status; the refund is calculated from the date you first requested it, not the date it's fixed.

If the carrier suspends or cancels the train, you're refunded in full; contact support and we claim it from the carrier. If the train runs and you choose not to travel, the normal cancellation rules apply. Check your order's fare conditions: some fares promise a full refund up to two days before departure regardless of reason.

One ticket covers everything: the base fare and the seat. Scan the QR code on your PDF at the automatic gate to enter, and again to exit at your destination. If a gate rejects it, go to the staffed gate and show the PDF. A printed copy works as a backup. You don't need a separate "regular fare" ticket.

No. The ticket is valid only between the stations it names, even if the train stops elsewhere. Booked from Tokyo Station, you can't board at Shinagawa. If you need a different station, change the booking (see above) before you travel. Getting to the booked station, including from the airport, isn't included.

We don't operate the stations, so we can't tell you. The departure boards throughout the station list every train by number and destination, and staff at the gate will point you to the platform. Your train number is on your ticket.

E-tickets, yes: print the PDF anywhere. Station-collection tickets and the Japan Rail Pass can only be issued in Japan at the collection point named in your email.

No. A cancelled ticket's QR code is invalidated with the carrier. Don't try to use it; buy a new ticket instead.