JR Central said that they will conduct a campaign to promote season tickets on TOICA for Shinkansen riding. This campaign gives applicants a chance to win the TOICA money of JPY 1,000. The applicants are required to be TOICA season ticket holders and the pass must be usable for Shinkansen travel with TOICA pass cards between Mishima and Toyohashi. The campaign will start on October 1, 2010 and end on November 30. To apply, send a postcard with 17 digits of TOICA card's serial number etc.

The Shinkansen riding with seasonal TOICA pass cards is a ticketless service for local passengers in Tokai area. The passengers can take Shinkansen trains simply waving their TOICA over a scanner without purchase other tickets. The free-seating express fee is automatically payed by TOICA money on the card. This service is available on sections between Mishima and Gifu-Hashima.

On September 25, 2010, Kofu Local Meteorological Observatory reported the first snowcap on Mt. Fuji. On the same day, Fuji-Yoshida city at the foot of the mountain declared the first dusted with snow. A season for Mt. Fuji with snowcap is almost here and Shinkansen's passengers can expect watching the more beautiful mountain at their window.

The October issue of commercially published timetable has some difference from the September issue in the train car operation for some Kodama on Sanyo Shinkansen. With the change of car sets, cars for reservation seat are changed and booked seats may need to be rearranged. Passengers having the tickets for those trains should check them again.

The trains with alternative car sets are shown below. Twelve of Kodama trains of Series 100 will be operated with Series 500 of eight-car set and two of Series 500 of eight-car set will be in Series 700 of eight-car set of Hikari Rail Star style.

Westbound Kodama trains with alternative car sets

Kodama 857: Shin-Yamaguchi 07:10 → Hakata 08:01 (free seating cars only)
changed from Series 100 of four-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on September 23, 26

Kodama 721: Okayama 06:00 → Hiroshima 07:04 (free seating cars only)
changed from Series 100 of six-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on October 04, 06, 08, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 30, November 02, 04, 09, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 30

Kodama 733: Okayama 07:51 → Hakata 11:27 [reservation available]
from Series 500 of eight-car set to Series 700 of eight-car set of Hikari Rail Star style on September 23
reservation seats in car 8

Kodama 747: Okayama 13:51 → Hakata 17:22 (free seating cars only)
changed from Series 100 of six-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on October 03, 05, 07, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 29, November 01, 03, 08, 13, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 29

Kodama 751: Okayama 15:51 → Hakata 19:23 [reservation available]
changed from Series 100 of four-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on November 12
reservation seats in car 6

Kodama 831: Hiroshima 18:49 → Hakata 20:57 [reservation available]
changed from Series 100 of six-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on October 04, 06, 08, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 30, November 02, 04, 09, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 30
reservation seats in car 6

Kodama 867: Kokura 22:49 → Hakata 23:08 (free seating cars only)
changed from Series 100 of four-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on September 22, 25

Eastbound Kodama trains with alternative car sets

Kodama 850: Kokura 06:25 → Shin-Yamaguchi 06:58 (free seating cars only)
changed from Series 100 of four-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on September 23, 26

Kodama 736: Hakata 07:18 → Okayama 10:53 [reservation available]
changed from Series 100 of six-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on October 03, 05, 07, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 29, November 01, 03, 08, 13, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 29
reservation seats in car 6

Kodama 742: Hakata 10:20 → Okayama 13:52 [reservation available]
changed from Series 100 of four-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on November 12
reservation seats in car 6

Kodama 764: Hakata 18:17 → Okayama 21:35 (free seating cars only)
changed from Series 100 of six-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on October 03, 05, 07, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 29, November 01, 03, 08, 13, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 29

Kodama 770: Hakata 20:26 → Okayama 23:32 (free seating cars only)
from Series 500 of eight-car set to Series 700 of eight-car set of Hikari Rail Star style on September 22
reservation seats in car 8

Kodama 860: Hakata 22:04 → Kokura 22:23 (free seating cars only)
changed from Series 100 of four-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on September 22, 25

Kodama 868: Hakata 23:28 → Kokura 23:47 (free seating cars only)
changed from Series 100 of four-car set to Series 500 of eight-car set on September 22, 25

JR Central and West said EX Odekake Hayatoku (EXお出かけ早特) will be sold again in this fall and winter. This deal is only for the members of Express Reservation Service (エクスプレス予約), but the traveling companions don't have to be the members. That means the deal will be usable for family vacations in three-day weekends in this fall and New Year Holidays.

The prices for second class travelers have no change from the existing ones, but the prices for first class (Green car) travelers are increased by JPY 200-1,100 (1.3-8.8%).

Overviews of EX Odekake Hayatoku

• Name of the deal: EX Odekake Hayatoku (EXお出かけ早特 meaning EX Outing Early Booking Discount)
• Travel dates: Saturday, Sunday and holidays between October 16, 2100 and January 10, 2011, and New Year holidays from December 30 through January 3
• Period of selling: October 1, 2010 through January 7, 2011
  Tickets are availabe from 10:00 on the day of a month to 23:30 of three days before departure.
• Effects of the ticket: This deals allows one-way travel by one of Nozomi, Hikari and Kodama trains with no transferring. Two types of tickets are available, one is for second class and the other for first class (Green car).
• Available sectors:
  • from/to Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama to/from Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe
  • from/to Shizuoka and Hamamatsu to/from Kyoto and Shin-Osaka
  • from/to Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata
• Prices (e.g.):
  [for second class]
  
  • from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Shin-Osaka (one way) JPY 13,100, saving about 7%
  • from/to Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata (one way) JPY 11,650, saving about 15-21%
  [for first class]
  
  • from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Shin-Osaka (one way) JPY 15,600, saving about 17%
  • from/to Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata (one way) JPY 15,350, saving about 16-26%
  Shown one-way price including fare. The one-way ticket will also be issued at the time of purchas
  
• Terms of use: Only members of Express Reservation Service (エクスプレス予約) can buy and get tickets of this deal.
• Purchasable at: Available only online. Access the site of Express Reservation Service through a mobile or PC.
• Remarks:
  • Reservations for up to six persons traveling along will be acceptable at once. All of the accompanying passengers are not required to be a member of Express Reservation Service.
  • This discount's availability is limited on a train-to-train basis.
  • Reservations are conditioned changeable.
  • EX-IC Cards are not accepted for boarding.

On the official site of Express Reservation (エクスプレス予約) service, an announcement was released about accessing Express Reservation (エクスプレス予約) service through smartphones such as iPhones and those using the Android OS.

The release said that accessing the mobile website of Express Reservation service is restricted only through i-mode, Yahoo! Mobile, EZweb and Willcom Official Site. Accessing the mobile site with smartphones are not permitted. And they said smartphones MAY be able to display website for PCs but changing settings are required to proceed the reservation steps. Even so, some feature such as appointing specific seats is not available on smartphones.

It may be a chance to improve the mobile website that the entire portion of Kyushu Shinkansen will open in March 2011. But the release said that accessing devices and routes to the website are strictly confined to i-mode, Yahoo! Mobile, EZweb and Willcom Official Site because the mobile website is provided with satisfying their security requirements. It seems unlikely that the site will be opened for smartphones in the near future.

Required adjustments for major smartphones are shown below. As for details, please refer to the official release and attached document. Some informal but useful applications for each smartphones are also available.

Overview of required adjustments for smartphones

• iPhone: need to install Opera mini browser and turn on the "Mobile Display Mode"
• Android: need to turn off the "Automatic Page Display Adjustment" on the standard browser
• Windows Mobile: need to select the "Mobile Mode Display" on the standard browser

Informal apps for Express Reservation on smartphones

• iPhone
  • Rapidy Shinkansen Reservation (Rapidy新幹線予約)
  • EX Reservation's Special Browser (EX予約ブラウザ)
• Android
  • BooXpress
  • EX Reservation's Special Browser (EX予約ブラウザ)

In Japan, fall is the holiday-studded season. JR West released Overview of Higaeri JR West's Free Pass (日帰りJR西日本フリーパス), a free pass for one-day travelers. This ticket has two types of for second class and first class.

It is frequently seen in JR West in these days this ticket is for at least two persons traveling along and NOT good for solo trip.

Overview of Higaeri JR West's Free Pass

• Name of the ticket: Higaeri JR West's Free Pass (日帰りJR西日本フリーパス meaning JR West's One-Day Free Pass)
• Travel dates: September 23, November 3, November 23 and December 23, 2010
• Period of selling: from September 10, 2010 through December 22
  Tickets are available from a month to one day before departure.
• Maximum period of travel: one day
• Effects of the ticket: This ticket allows unlimited travel by trains on JR West and Chizu Express Lines and JR West Miyajima Ferry. Passengers with second class ticket can take reserved seats up to four legs and with first class ticket can take Green Car up to four legs.
• Available sectors:
  • Whole of JR West lines including Sanyo Shinkansen
  • Whole of Chizu Express lines
  • JR West Miyajima Ferry
• Prices:
  • [second class] JPY 12,000 (JPY 2,000 for a child)
  • [first class] JPY 15,000 (JPY 4,000 for a child)
• Terms of use: This ticket is for at least two persons traveling along.
• Remarks:
  • This ticket is NOT valid on Tokaido Shinkansen, Kagoshima Line and Sanyo Line between Shimonoseki and Moji.
  • This ticket is NOT valid on other railway company's lines like Kitakinki Tango Railway, Ibara Railway, etc.
  • Passengers can earn privilege of a coupon of JPY 500 to be used at Kiosk etc.
  • Special discount of rent-a-car at station (駅レンタカー), JPY 2,000 of class S car on the travel day, is available.

JR Central and West released that they will extend the selling period and travel dates of Nozomi Hayatoku Oufuku Kippu (のぞみ早特往復きっぷ). That will be good until January 6, 2011. But the ticket of Green Car option, exclusively targeted from Hiroshima to Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama, will not be available after October.

Overview of Nozomi Hayatoku Oufuku Kippu

• Name of the ticket: Nozomi Hayatoku Oufuku Kippu (のぞみ早特往復きっぷ meaning Nozomi Early Booking Discount Round Trip Ticket)
• Travel dates: from October 1,2010 through January 6, 2011
  Final departure date is December 31, 2010.
• Priod of selling: from September 10, 2010 through December 24, 2010
  Tickets are available 21 - 7 days before the departure.
• Maximum period of travel: seven days
• Effects of the ticket: This ticket allows roundtrip by Nozomi train's assigned seats.
• Major available sectors and prices (e.g.)
  Shown discount rates are against regular season's fare and calcurated with assuming "Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama" is Tokyo and "Hakata and Kokura" is Hakata.
  Local stations in the cities are included in the available sectors, like stations in Nagoya city are described as "Nagoya" and Fukuoka city as "Hakata" above.
  
  • from/to Naoya to/from Kokura and Hakata (RT): JPY 25,000, saving about 26%
  • from Okayama to Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama: JPY 26,000, saving about 18%
  • from Hiroshima to Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama: JPY 30,000, saving about 14%
  • from Hakata and Kokura to Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama: JPY 32,000, saving about 24%
  • from Yonago, Matsue, Izumoshi to Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama: JPY 30,000, saving about 17-19%
• Purchasable at: a major JR station, travel center and a major travel vendor around the departing area
• Remarks:
  • The trains and seats of both-way must be assigned at the time of purchase. Changes are not permitted.
  • If Nozomi trains don't stop at the destination or home station, second class non-reservation seats on Hikari or Kodama trains are available.
  • Tickets from Sanin area allow traveling by limited express train's reservation seats between home station and Okayama.
  • This ticket's availability is limited on a train-to-train basis.

JR West said that they will extend the selling period and travel dates of Kodama Shiteiseki Oufuku Kippu (こだま指定席往復きっぷ) and Kodama and Yakumo Shiteiseki Oufuku Kippu (こだま＆やくも指定席往復きっぷ). These will be good until March 7, 2011.

These tickets are for passengers at least two taking round trip together between Sanyo Shinkansen stations by Kodama trains and from Osaka and Hyogo to Sanin district by Kodama and Yakumo trains. Because a ticket is good for seven days, it will be useful for not only a weekend trip but a travel for a little long period. The price for an adult depends on travel distance but that for a child is flat of JPY 3,000, exceptionally JPY 4,000 for the Kodama and Yakumo Shiteiseki Oufuku Kippu's Green Car option. It means these ticket has a great advantage for a family trip.

Kuroshio Shiteiseki Oufuku Kippu (くろしお指定席往復きっぷ) for travelers to Wakayama and Kitakinki Shiteiseki Oufuku Kippu (北近畿指定席往復きっぷ) for to north part of Hyogo will also be extended their period of selling.

Overview of Kodama Shiteiseki Oufuku Kippu

• Name of the ticket: Kodama Shiteiseki Oufuku Kippu (こだま指定席往復きっぷ meaning Roundtrip Ticket for Reservation Seats on Kodama Trains)
• Travel dates: through March 7, 2011
  Final departure date will be March 1, 2011.
• Period of selling: through February 28, 2011
  Tickets are available 21 -1 days before departure.
• Maximum period of travel: seven days
• Effects of the ticket: This ticket allows roundtrip between Sanyo Shinkansen Stations by Kodama and specific Hikari train's assigned seats.
• Major available sectors and prices (e.g.)
  
  • Shin-Osaka to Okayama (RT): JPY 6,880, saving about 41%
  • Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima (RT): JPY 11,920, saving about 40%
  Shown discount rates are against regular season's fare.
  The price for a child is flat fare of JPY 3,000 regardless of actual travel distance.
  See the web site of JR Odekake Net (by JR West) for other sectors and prices.
• Terms of use: This ticket is for at least two persons traveling along.
• Purchasable at: Major stations and travel vendors around the departure area
• Remarks:
  • The trains and seats of both-way must be assigned at the time of purchase. Changes are not permitted.
  • This ticket's availability is limited on a train-to-train basis.
  • Special discount of rent-a-car at station (駅レンタカー), JPY 2,000 for 24 hrs for a class S car, is available for a group of 2 or more adults. This offer's blackout dates are from December 28 through January 6.

Overview of Kodama and Yakumo Shiteiseki Oufuku Kippu

• Name of the ticket: Kodama and Yakumo Shiteiseki Oufuku Kippu (こだま＆やくも指定席往復きっぷ meaning Roundtrip Ticket for Reservation Seats on Kodama and Yakumo Trains)
• Travel dates: through March 7, 2011
  Final departure date will be March 1, 2011.
• Period of selling: through February 28, 2011
  Tickets are available 21 -1 days before departure.
• Maximum period of travel: seven days
• Effects of the ticket: This ticket allows roundtrip from Osaka and Hyogo to Sanin district by Kodama and Yakumo train's assigned seats. Two types of ticket are available, one is for Yakumo's second class and the other for Green car.
• Major available sectors and prices (e.g.)
  [for second class]
  
  • from Osaka and other stations within the city to Yonago (RT): JPY 12,000, saving about 38%
  • from Osaka and other stations within the city to Izumo-shi (RT): JPY 13,600, saving about 36%
  [for Green car]
  
  • from Osaka and other stations within the city to Yonago (RT): JPY 14,000, saving about 42%
  • from Osaka and other stations within the city to Izumo-shi (RT): JPY 15,600, saving about 45%
  Shown discount rates are against regular season's fare.
  The price for a child is flat fare of JPY 3,000 for second class and JPY 4,000 for Green car regardless of actual travel distance.
  See the web site of JR Odekake Net (by JR West) for other sectors and prices.
• Terms of use: This ticket is for at least two persons traveling along.
• Purchasable at: Major stations and travel vendors around the departure area
• Remarks:
  • The trains and seats of both-way must be assigned at the time of purchase. Changes are not permitted.
  • This ticket's availability is limited on a train-to-train basis.
  • Special discount of rent-a-car at station (駅レンタカー), JPY 2,000 for 24 hrs for a class S car, is available for a group of 2 or more adults. This offer's blackout dates are from December 28 through January 6.