How to take a train in Japan

One of the most important things while traveling in Japan is knowing how to ride the endless train lines that surround Japan. Although many stations have instructions in English, you may need to ask a Japanese native for information. Thinking about this need, we wrote this article that will help you catch trains in Japan and communicate with people and ask for information at the station.

If you are a tourist, to avoid problems with buying trem tickets we recommend purchasing the JRPass, a cardboard that allows you to ride on most train lines throughout Japan.

Catching the tremor in Japan

In Japan you pay per station, tickets are sold at vending machines, do not leave your ticket   it is also used to leave the station. You should pay close attention to the wagons, some trains have wagons exclusively for women and smokers. Remember that trem   stations do not operate 24 hours a day.

To better understand how trains in Japan work, let's leave some videos below:

Phrases about trains in Japan

There are thousands of articles and videos on the internet explaining how to take trains in Japan. We don't want to cover the same things as these sites, let's go deeper and study ways to communicate at a train station.

Below are some phrases that you will probably need to speak or hear during your tremor trip in Japan. Study them well and be prepared because you will not hear exactly the same sentences below.

ć€Œå±±ć®ę‰‹ē·šć€ćÆć©ć“ć§ć™ć‹ļ¼Ÿ
[yamanote sen] wa doko desu ka?
Where's the [yamanote line]?

ć€Œē§‹č‘‰åŽŸé§…ć€ć«č”ŒććŸć„ć§ć™ćŒć€‚
[Akihabara eki] ni ikitai desu ga.
I want to go to [Akihabara Station].

ć€Œå±±ć®ę‰‹ē·šć€ć®ćƒ›ćƒ¼ćƒ ćÆć©ć“ć§ć™ć‹ļ¼Ÿ
[yamanote sen] no hoomu wa doko desu ka?
Where is the platform for [yamanote line]

ć“ć®é›»č»ŠćÆć€Œę±äŗ¬é§…ć€č”Œćć§ć™ć‹ļ¼Ÿ
kono densha wa [toukyou eki] yuki desuka?
Is this the train going to Tokyo station?

åäø€ę™‚ć®é›»č»Šć«ä¹—ć‚Šć¾ć™ć€‚
juuichiji   no densha ni norimasu.
I'm taking the 11 o'clock train

ęø‹č°·ć§é›»č»Šć‚’ć®ć‚Šć‹ćˆćŖć‘ć‚Œć°ćŖć‚‰ćŖć„ć€‚
Shibuya de densha o norikaenakereba naranai.
You have to change trains in Shibuya.

ć‚ćŖćŸćÆćć®åˆ—č»Šć«é–“ć«åˆć‚ćŖć„ć§ć—ć‚‡ć†ć€‚
Anata wa sono ressi ni maniawanaideshou.
You will not be able to take the train.

é›»č»Šć‚’ä¹—ć‚Šé•ćˆć¦ć„ć¾ć™ć‚ˆć€‚
Densha nori chigaete imasu yo
You are on the wrong train.

é›»č»ŠćŒé…ć‚Œć¦ć„ć‚‹ć€‚
Densha ga okurete iru.
The train is late.

é›»č»Šć‚’ä¹—ć‚Šé–“é•ćˆćŸć€‚
Densha the noriga machigaeta.
I took the wrong train.

ćć®åˆ—č»ŠćÆć™ć§ć«å‡ŗē™ŗć—ć¦ć—ć¾ć£ćŸć€‚
Sleep resha wa sudeni shuppatsu shite shimatta.
The train has already left.

åˆ—č»ŠćÆåˆå¾Œļ¼’ę™‚åŠć«å‡ŗć‚‹ć€‚
Ressha wa gogo 2-jihan ni deru.
The train leaves at 2:30 pm.

ę±½č»ŠćÆć¾ć ē€ćć¾ć›ć‚“ć€‚
Kisha wa mada tsukimasen.
The train has not yet arrived.

Vocabulary related to trains in Japanese

What is the difference between the words densha (電車), kisha (汽車) and ressha (åˆ—č»Š)? The word densha is used for electric trains, while kisha for steam trains, while the word resha can be used for both and refers to the trains that form the train. There is also a bullet train called a shinkansen (ę–°å¹¹ē·š).

If you are traveling for the first time by train in Japan, keep an eye out for these words from the list below.

Responsive Table: Roll the table sideways with your finger >>
EnglishJapaneseRomaji
Agenda / Calendarę™‚åˆ»č”Øjikoku hyou
2nd classäŗŒē­‰č»Šnitou sha
Window seat窓偓の席mado gawa no seki
Aisle seaté€šč·Æå“ć®åø­tsuro gawa no seki
Book seat自由席jiyuu seki
Priority seatå„Ŗå…ˆåø­yuusen seki
Reserved seatęŒ‡å®šåø­shitei seki
Subscription ticket定期券teiki ken
Passenger ticketä¹—č»Šåˆøjousha ken
Ticketåˆ‡ē¬¦kippu
Box officeēŖ“å£mado guchi
Cancelå–ć‚Šę¶ˆć—tori keshi
Non-smoking carē¦ē…™č»Škinen sha
Green / First Class Carć‚°ćƒŖćƒ¼ćƒ³č»Šguri-n sha
Station Manager / Manager駅長ekichou
Train conductorč»ŠęŽŒshashou
Destinyč”Œćå…ˆiki saki
Directionę–¹é¢houmen
Employee / gas station attendanté§…å“”ekiin
Station entranceę”¹ęœ­å£kaisatsu guchi
Station駅eki
Express that stops at the main stationsę€„č”Œkyuukou
Track 33 ē•Ŗē·šsan ban sen
Time to goē™ŗč»Šę™‚åˆ»hassha jikoku
Line線路senro
Main line本線honsen
Faster than espresso特怄tokkyuu
Ticket vending machineč‡Ŗå‹•åˆøå£²ę©Ÿjidou kenbai ki
Seat numberåŗ§åø­ē•Ŗå·zaseki bangou
First train始発shi hatsu
Necessary timeꉀ要Ꙃ間shoyou jikan
Ticketå›žę•°åˆøkaisuu ken
Train with more than 2 wagonsåˆ—č»Šreshape
Train Transfer / Exchangeä¹—ć‚Šę›ćˆnorikae
Bullet trainę–°å¹¹ē·šshin kan sen
Express train準怄junkyuu
Train stopping at all stationsꙮ通futsuu
Train stopping at all stationså„é§…åœč»Škakueki teisha
Train電車densha
Change / Change moneyćŠé‡£ć‚Šotsuri
Last stop / Terminal終点shuu ten
Smoking carå–«ē…™č»Škitsuen sha
Vehicle / Locomotives車且sharyou
Round trip往復or fuku
One-way trip片道kata michi
Last trainęœ€ēµ‚é›»č»Šsaishuu densha
Last train終発shuu hatsu
Last train終電shuu den

We already wrote another article talking about trains in Japan, you can read this article clicking here.

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