JR Central and JR West released the train schedule for this autumn from October 1, 2010 through November 31.

According to them, many extra trains will run during busy days and hours. They said up to nine Nozomi services per hour on Tokaido Shinkansen and five direct services to Sanyo Shinkansen will be available in Friday evenings and three-day weekends. The number of direct Nozomi services scheduled is 106 a day on average during this autumn and 117 during three-day weekends.

Additionally more Series N700, most comfortable and energy saving vehicles on Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen, will go into the service and 132 Nozomi trains by Series N700 will run a day at the end of this November. The number of Hikari and Kodama trains of Series 700 is also increased.

Westbound Nozomi Trains newly using Series N700

• Nozomi 207, changed from Series 700 to Series N700 on November 01 (Tokyo 08:00 → Shin-Osaka 10:36)
• Nozomi 241, changed from Series 700 to Series N700 on November 01 (Tokyo 16:40 → Shin-Osaka 19:16)

Eastbound Nozomi Trains newly using Series N700

• Nozomi 226, changed from Series 700 to Series N700 on November 01 (Shin-Osaka 10:47 → Tokyo 13:23)
• Nozomi 252, changed from Series 700 to Series N700 on November 01 (Shin-Osaka 18:07 → Tokyo 20:43)

Westbound Hikari and Kodama Trains newly using Series 700

• Hikari 467, changed from Series 300 to Series 700 on November 01 (Tokyo 10:03 → Okayama 14:17)
• Kodama 647, changed from Series 300 to Series 700 on November 02 (Tokyo 10:26 → Nagoya 13:16)
• Kodama 655, changed from Series 300 to Series 700 on November 01 (Tokyo 12:26 → Nagoya 15:16)
• Hikari 527, changed from Series 300 to Series 700 on November 02 (Tokyo 19:33 → Shin-Osaka 22:30)

Eastbound Hikari and Kodama Trains newly using Series 700

• Kodama 810, changed from Series 300 to Series 700 on November 02 (Mishima 08:49 → Tokyo 09:47)
• Hikari 460, changed from Series 300 to Series 700 on November 02 (Okayama 06:03 → Tokyo 10:10)
• Hikari 510, changed from Series 300 to Series 700 on November 01 (Shin-Osaka 09:13 → Tokyo 12:10)
• Kodama 668, changed from Series 300 to Series 700 on November 02 (Nagoya 16:28 → Tokyo 19:17)
• Kodama 676, changed from Series 300 to Series 700 on November 01 (Nagoya 18:28 → Tokyo 21:17)

JR Central and JR West announced that EX-IC Hayatoku (EX-IC早特), the discount offer for early perchasing EX-IC members, will be good until December 31, 2010. Its available sectors and prices are the same as before.

Overview of EX-IC Hayatoku

• Name of the deal: EX-IC Hayatoku (EX-IC早特 meaning EX-IC Early Booking Discount, shortly called "IC Hayatoku")
• Travel dates: until December 31, 2010
• Period of selling: from 10:00 of a month before up to 23:30 of three days prior to the travel date
• 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 on Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen.
• Available sectors:
  1. for long-distance travel striding over Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen; from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Okayama, Hiroshima, Kokura and Hakata, from/to Shizuoka to/from Hiroshima, Kokura and Hakata, from/to Kyoto, Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata, etc.
  2. for travel by Nozomi trains on Tokaido Shinkansen (including Shin-Kobe) departing by 6:59 or all Hikari trains; from/to Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama to/from Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe, etc.
  3. for travel by Kodama train's Green car between stations on Tokaido Shinkansen separated at least 100 km and excluding from/to Tokyo to/from Atami; from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka, etc.
• Prices (e.g.):
  [for second class]
  • from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Shin-Osaka (one way) JPY 12,000, saving about 14%
  • from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Hakata (one way) JPY 19,300, saving about 13%
  • from/to Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata (one way) JPY 11,450, saving about 16-23%
  [for Green car]
  
  • from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Shin-Osaka (one way) JPY 14,000, saving about 25%
  • from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Hakata (one way) JPY 29,250, saving about 14%
  • from/to Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata (one way) JPY 14,950, saving about 18-27%
• Terms of use: Only members of EX-IC Service can buy and use tickets with this deal.
• Purchasable at: Available only online. Access the site of Express Reservation through a mobile or PC.
• Remarks:
  • Travels by up to three connecting trains are allowed within the sectors (1) shown above, except from/to Kyoto, Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata.
  • Travels within the sectors (1)'s from/to Kyoto, Shin-Osaka and Shin-Kobe to/from Kokura and Hakata, sectors(2) and (3) are for direct service only. No connections are permitted.
  • Changes are permitted before the departure time of the train, if the passenger don't enter the gate with EX-IC card and not receive a boarding bill.
  • This discount's availability is limited on a train-to-train basis.

JR Central and JR West announced that free seating car's smoking carriage of Nozomi and Hikari trains will be swept away in the spring of 2011. This is because they will turn a smoking car, which is car 3 in 16-car train of series 700 and 300 and 2 in 8-car for Hikari Railstar, into non-smoking. The other smoking cars, which are car 10, 15 and 16 in 16-car train and 6 in 8-car, will be remained. Because car 15 and 16 in 16-car train and 6 in 8-car are free seating of Kodama, free seating car's smoking carriage of Kodama will be available beyond next spring.

JR Central and JR West said that they met passengers' demands for avoiding secondhand smoke and smoking rates declining.

No exact date has been available officially. But they said that is scheduled for next spring. That indicates that the shift will be done along with train schedule revision in the spring of 2011 with opening of Kyushu Shinkansen's entire portion. Sakura train, which will start to run in the next spring between Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima-Chuo, has no smoking cars and four smoking compartment in the deck.

new smoking/non-smoking carriage arrangement

Car 3 in 16-car train of series 700 and 300. Starting from the top, Nozomi, Hikari and Kodama.

Car 2 in 8-car train for Hikari Railstar. Starting from the top, Hikari and Kodama.

JR Central, JR West and JR Kyushu announced that their IC cards of TOICA, ICOCA and SUGOCA will will be accepted in each other's IC card areas from the spring of 2011. The specific date is not released at this time, but from the day, TOICA holders and ICOCA holders can get on the trains and enjoy shopping in SUGOCA area in Kyushu with their IC cards. Likewise, SUGOCA holders can do so in TOICA area of Tokai and SUGOCA area of Kinki and Chugoku. Of course, automatic ticket checker at transfer gates in Hakata and Kokura Stations will accepts combination of EX-IC service or paper tickets, and IC card of TOICA, ICOCA or SUGOCA.

Suica cards of JR East have already been interoperable with SUGOCA since March 13, 2010. From the spring of 2011, four IC cards of Suica, TOICA, ICOCA and SUGOCA can be used in other cards area and help travelers when they use local transportations and buy something at their destinations.

It has passed about half a month since Hamamatsu Depot Tour (新幹線なるほど発見デー) taken on July 24 and 25, 2010. On July 30, 2010, JR Central said that the factory will be renovated drastically.

The Shinkansen's Depot in Hamamatsu is the only factory which can provide overhaul inspection for Tokaido Shinkansen's vehicles. Because each of the vehicles must be checked within 36 months or running for 1.2 million km, the Shinkansen's nomal operation is tied to the Hamamatsu Depot's availability.

Along with promoting operation's streamlining and energy saving, the purpose of this work is quakeproofing of buildings for contributing to keep the Shinkansen's operation when a severe earthquake hit the area. The daily inspection works will go on at the depot under renovation. So the improvement requires about nine years and the work will finish in March, 2019.

The open house of Hamamatsu Depot has been conducted annually since 1994. No official announcement has been made for the future event's go/no-go decision. According to a published report, former Shinkansen vehicles like 0 series and 100 series displayed on public open days are carried from Hamamatsu to JR Central's new museum constructing in Nagoya. That suggests the image of the event must be changed in the next year, even if the decision was "GO".

For this summer, JR Central and West estimated that the peak of crowding will be on August 12 for westbound trains and on August 15 for eastbound.

The charts shown below indicate seat availability of around the peak days by this site Shinkansen Timetable's independent survey. They maybe of some help to find remained seats. On the graphs, horizontal axes mean hours of 6 to 24 of each day and vertical the number of trains. The bar of blue shows underoccupied trains, yellow near capacity and red full occupancy. So it may easy to book trains at the hours with stretching blue bar.

The survey was performed at the evening of August 8, 2010. Visit the site of JR Cyber Station and get up-to-the-minute details.

westbound: from Tokyo to Hakata

eastbound: from Hakata to Tokyo

westbound: from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka

eastbound: from Shin-Osaka to Tokyo

westbound: from Shin-Osaka to Hakata

eastbound: from Hakata to Shin-Osaka

JR companies reported the availability of reserved seats on Shinkansen trains from August 11, 2010 to 18, as of July 29.

According to JR Central, 890,000 of available 2,750,000 seats on Tokaido Shinkansen trains have been reserved already. JR West said 510,000 of 1,460,000 seats on Sanyo Shinkansen trains have been taken. In shortly, about 32% and 35% of available seats are now occupied. And they said the peak of crowding will be on August 12 for westbound trains and on August 15 for eastbound.

The charts shown below indicate seat availability of around the peak days by this site Shinkansen Timetable's independent survey. They maybe of some help to find remained seats. On the graphs, horizontal axes mean hours of 6 to 24 of each day and vertical the number of trains. The bar of blue shows underoccupied trains, yellow near capacity and red full occupancy. So it may easy to book trains at the hours with stretching blue bar.

The survey was performed at the evening of August 1, 2010. Visit JR Cyber Station and get up-to-the-minute details.

westbound: from Tokyo to Hakata

eastbound: from Hakata to Tokyo

westbound: from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka

eastbound: from Shin-Osaka to Tokyo

westbound: from Shin-Osaka to Hakata

eastbound: from Hakata to Shin-Osaka

Shizuoka Hobby Fair was opened on July 24, 2010 and a full-scale model of Gundam is now standing in Shizuoka city. The site is located on the north side of Tokaido Lines's Higashi-Shizuoka Station, between the station's north exit and NTT DoCoMo Shizuoka Building [map]. The 18-meter-tall Gundam model can be seen from Shinkansen trains and many tweets are on Twitter.

On the westbound trains, passengers can see the Gundam on their rite side windows [YouTube]. Because the Shinkansen tracks are generally running on elevated bridges, the trains don't go under an overpass often. Before arriving Shizuoka Station, Shinkansen runs over Route 1 by a truss bridge and passes under five bridges of Tomei Expressway, local streets and Shizuoka Railway tracks. Then the passengers on trains will find NTT DoCoMo Shizuoka Building and the Gundam soon. If they on the trains which pass Shizuoka Station like Nozomi, they will find the statue about 7 minutes after passing Shin-Fuji Station (about 6 minutes and 30 seconds by N700 series). When the trains like Hikari and Kodama are going to stop at Shizuoka Station, the English announcement's phrase of "Passengers going to the Tokaido Line" may mean "The Gundam is standing on your right windows."

On eastbound trains, the Gundam is on their left. Shizuoka and Higashi-Shizuoka Station serve as landmarks. 35 seconds after Shizuoka Station by the trains passing Shizuoka like Nozomi or one minute and 50 seconds after departing Shizuoka by the trains stopping there, passengers can see him for a moment.

JR Central said that "Kyoto Full Moon Concert" (京都 観月の夕べコンサート) will be taken on October 9 and 11, 2010 and it is the 20th anniversary. The guest players of this year are Zagreb Soloists and Ana Vidovic (guiter) from Zagreb, Croatia, which has the sister-city relationship with Kyoto. Audience members are required to apply for one of these events. 420 pairs (840 persons) for the performance at Kamigamo-Jinja shrine and 800 pairs (1,000 persons) for Kyoto Concert Hall selected in a drawing will be invited to the concert.

The concert at Kamigamo-Jinja shrine will be taken on the following day of the new moon and silvery full moon is not available at the concert site. Moreover, it is the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth and his Piano Concert will be played by a Japanese young pianist Kiyozuka, Shinya at Kyoto Concert Hall. This Full Moon Concert is famous as an outdoor one under the shining moon but the performance at Kyoto Concert Hall of this year may more interesting.

Applications can be submitted by a postcard or through JR Central's web site. The preferred concert place must be specified at the entry step.

Overview of Kyoto's Full Moon Concert Performed at Kamigamo-Jinja Shrine

• Date： October 9, 2010
• Place： Kamigamo-Jinja shrine's Hosodono
• Program:
  • Canon, by Johann Pachelbel
  • Divertimento in B flat major K.137, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Ancient Dances and Airs for Lute Suite No.3, by Ottorino Respighi
  • Guitar Concerto in D major RV.93, by Antonio Vivaldi
    etc.
• Players:
  • Zagreb Soloists
  • Ana Vidovic (guitar)
• Invited: 420 pairs (840 persons)

Overview of Kyoto's Full Moon Concert Performed at Kyoto Concert Hall

• Date: October 11, 2010
• Place: Kyoto Concert Hall's Main Hall
• Program:
  • Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major Op.11 chamber version, by Chopin
  • Memories of the Alhambra, by Francisco Tarrega
  • Mandolin Concerto in C major RV.425, by Antonio Vivaldi
  • Serenade for Strings in E minor Op.20, by Edward Elgar
    etc.
• Players:
  • Zagreb Soloists
  • Ana Vidovic (guitar)
  • Kiyotzuka, Shinya (piano)
• Invited: 800 pairs (1,600 persons)

JR Central said special trains for passengers with children will run on Tokaido Shinkansen in this August.

The four trains will run between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka on August 5 and 19, 2010. All seats are for being reserved and the tickets are available at JR Tokai Tours counters. Because the trains are only for passengers with children, parents can feel free to let their kids frolic in the trains. Even if the passengers are traveling with bulky baggages like buggies, they will not feel cramped because one or two extra seats will be assigned by a group. Moreover, the price is lower than the usual trains, even though other benefits of drink vouchers, a drawing for toys, special presents for kids aged three or under and so on, are also available. The trains are accessible because their departure times are around 11.

Another campaign "DS with Tokaido Shinkansen" will also be held from July 17, 2010 through August 31. Passengers traveling from Tokyo, Shinagawa or Shin-Yokohama to Kyoto can join that concurrently.

Overview of "Family Shinkansen"

• Name of the wares: Family Shinkansen (ファミリー新幹線)
• Travel dates: August 5 and 19, 2010
• Period of selling:
  • from July 1, 2010 through July 26 for trains on August 5
  • from July 1, 2010 through August 9 for trains on August 19
• Effects of the wares: Special Nozomi trains for passengers with children between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka
• Available sectors: from/to Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama to/from Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka
  # Traveling between stations of Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama and between stations of Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka are not permitted.
• Schedule:
  
  • [from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka]
    Tokyo 10:47 - Shinagawa 10:54 - Shin-Yokohama 11:06 → Nagoya 12:31 - Kyoto 13:08 - Shin-Osaka 13:23
  • [from Shin-Osaka to Tokyo]
    Shin-Osaka 10:43 - Kyoto 10:59 - Nagoya 11:38 → Shin-Yokohama 13:01 - Shinagawa 13:13 - Tokyo 13:20
  # Trains run along the same schedule on August 5 and 19. The train for Shin-Osaka runs like Nozomi 329 and for Tokyo like Nozomi 326.
• Prices (e.g.):
  
  • from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Shin-Osaka
    [second class] JPY 13,200 for an adult, JPY 5,900 for a child
    [green-car] JPY 15,200 for an adult, JPY 7,900 for a child
  • from/to Tokyo and Shinagawa to/from Kyoto
    [second class] JPY 12,700 for an adult, JPY 5,700 for a child
    [green-car] JPY 14,700 for an adult, JPY 7,700 for a child
  • from/to Shin-Yokohama to/from Shin-Osaka
    [second class] JPY 12,900 for an adult, JPY 5,800 for a child
    [green-car] JPY 14,900 for an adult, JPY 7,800 for a child
  # Child fare is applied for a baby because a seat will be assigned for him/her. So the tickets may be more expensive than the regular trains if the passengers are traveling with babies.
  # One or two extra seats will be assigned by a group seating in the second class cars. For green-car passengers, the same number of seats as the people will be assigned.
• Terms of use: Passengers must be traveling with one or more children of primary schooler or younger.
• Purchasable at: Counters of JR Tokai Tours except in Shizuoka area
• Special benefits:
  • drink vouchers
  • a drawing for Plarail sets
  • free rental of Plarail cars
  • presents of Plarail stickers and babywipes for children
  • presents of barley tea and snacks for children aged three or under
• Remarks: The trains are nonsmoking.