（This is originally posted on "travel happy" Japan Travel Blog. https://tictokyo.wordpress.com/ )

Hello everyone!

One of the question we got quite often is, what is the different between Shinkansen ordinary car and green car? If you buy JR Pass, the gap of price is pretty big. You would want to know, is it worth it? Should I just stick with ordinary car?

For your reference, this is the price list for JR pass 7 days

Ordinary car 29,110 yen

Green car 38,880 yen

(Updated on July 2015, price in local currency depends on exchange rate. Please contact your local H.I.S. office)

Today I have the answer for you.

Many people misunderstood that Green car is some kind of eco-friendly car as the name might suggest it.

Easily speaking, green car is business class and ordinary car is economy class. There is more leg room on green car and the seats are of course more comfortable.

Last weekend, I made a trip to Kyoto by Shinkansen and had a chance to ride on a green car. Definitely it’s more comfortable comparing to ordinary car.

Please note that there is an additional cost for upgrade, 1,500 yen for Kodama train – if you don’t have JR pass. For Nozomi or mizuho, it’s more expensive to upgrade price is around 6,000-7,000 yen)

Green car

Ordinary car

Shinkansen is generally very clean. I’m impressed every time I ride on one. There is plenty of leg room on the ordinary car. Perhaps the seats is even bigger than those on the planes. Trip by shinkansen is fast, effective and always on time. By Nozomi (the fastest of all 3), it only take 2.30 hrs from Tokyo to Kyoto and about 4 hours by Kodama.

Please noted that if you have JR pass, you can’t take Nozomi or Mizuho shinkansen which are the fastest types. The speed is the same but Nozomi makes fewer stops thus it gets you to the destination faster.

Shinkansen toilet

 

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