JR Pass
Tokyo to Kyoto Shinkansen price: smartEX, JR Pass, Nozomi
Tokyo to Kyoto Shinkansen price on smartEX by seat and train, the Nozomi extra ticket for pass holders, and how much other travel a JR Pass needs to win.
Short answer
Your trip is one Tokyo–Kyoto round trip and not much else
SmartEX
Two reserved Hikari or Kodama seats on smartEX cost ¥27,300 (2 × ¥13,650, regular season, our calculation). The 7-day Ordinary JR Pass costs ¥50,000 on the official store.
Book single Shinkansen tickets on SmartEX →The round trip is only one part of a long trip with many other rides
the official JR Pass site
At ¥50,000, the pass beats a smartEX Hikari or Kodama reserved round trip once your other rides cost more than ¥22,700 (our calculation). Prices are subject to change.
Buy on the official JR Pass site →
Your own route? Use the JR Pass calculator.
On smartEX, an adult one-way reserved seat from Tokyo to Kyoto costs ¥13,970 on the Nozomi and ¥13,650 on the Hikari or Kodama in the regular season, and a non-reserved seat costs ¥13,320. A JR Pass holder pays ¥4,960 on top of the pass to ride the Nozomi on this route. We read these on smartEX's fare tables and on the Japan Rail Pass site on November 6, 2026.
This page lists the Tokyo to Kyoto Shinkansen price by seat, shows the children's prices, and works out how much other travel a JR Pass needs before it beats single tickets. For the pass price itself, see JR Pass price in 2026. To add up your own rides, use the JR Pass calculator.
Tokyo to Kyoto Shinkansen price on smartEX
smartEX is the Shinkansen booking service for the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu lines. The table is from its fare tables for the regular season, one way, from Tokyo to Kyoto. The tables are dated April 1, 2025.
| Seat | Adult | Child |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary, non-reserved | ¥13,320 | ¥6,660 |
| Ordinary, reserved, Nozomi | ¥13,970 | ¥6,980 |
| Ordinary, reserved, Hikari / Kodama | ¥13,650 | ¥6,820 |
| Green Car, Nozomi | ¥18,840 | ¥12,120 |
| Green Car, Hikari / Kodama | ¥18,520 | ¥11,960 |
The Nozomi costs ¥320 more than the Hikari or Kodama for a reserved seat and for a Green seat (¥13,970 − ¥13,650, our arithmetic). The reserved and Green prices change with the travel season, and the tables list the season adjustments in their header. Read the price on the booking screen before you pay.
smartEX sells tickets "from 5:30 am 1 year prior to boarding date, up to 4 minutes before the departure time shown in the timetable". One booking can cover 1 to 6 people (a maximum of 3 people per reservation between 11:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.), with an option for children. Before you enter the ticket gate or receive your ticket, the page says you can change a reservation "as many times as you wish without any charge". A ticket you have already received can only be refunded at a main station counter of JR Central, JR West or JR Kyushu, with the credit card used for payment, by the day of boarding.
Round trip on smartEX
We priced a round trip as two one-way tickets at the regular-season prices above. One adult pays:
- ¥26,640 non-reserved (2 × ¥13,320)
- ¥27,300 reserved on the Hikari or Kodama (2 × ¥13,650)
- ¥27,940 reserved on the Nozomi (2 × ¥13,970)
- ¥37,040 in the Green Car on the Hikari or Kodama (2 × ¥18,520)
These are our calculations.
The JR Pass and the Nozomi extra ticket
The JR Pass "is not valid for any seats, reserved or non-reserved, on NOZOMI and MIZUHO trains". The Japan Rail Pass site tells pass holders to use the Hikari, Sakura, Kodama and Tsubame. A pass holder can ride the Nozomi by buying a separate "only with Japan Rail Pass" ticket before boarding. From Tokyo to Kyoto it costs ¥4,960, tax included. It is sold from one month before the ride, at reserved-seat ticket machines at JR stations, JR ticket offices (Midori-no-madoguchi), Travel Centers and some travel agencies. The Nozomi extra ticket, route by route lists other sections.
The official online store sells the 7-day Ordinary pass for ¥50,000 and the 7-day Green pass for ¥70,000. JR-designated travel agencies outside Japan sell them for ¥53,000 and ¥74,000. The site says prices are subject to change. The pass is for foreign tourists visiting Japan under the entry status of "temporary visitor" and for Japanese people living abroad who meet the conditions on the official eligibility page. The conditions of use say a refund is only available before the starting date of the period of use, in principle, and that no refund is issued if trains are suspended or delayed once use has started.
When does the JR Pass beat single tickets?
The table shows how much other travel you need on top of a Tokyo to Kyoto round trip before the 7-day pass costs less than single tickets. It is our calculation: the pass price minus the smartEX round trip above, so the pass wins only if your other rides, at the prices you would pay for them, add up to more than the figure shown. For whole trips with more cities, see JR Pass vs individual tickets.
| Round trip on the Hikari / Kodama | Round trip, single tickets | Other rides needed, online price | Other rides needed, agency price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary, non-reserved | ¥26,640 | ¥23,360 (pass ¥50,000) | ¥26,360 (pass ¥53,000) |
| Ordinary, reserved | ¥27,300 | ¥22,700 (pass ¥50,000) | ¥25,700 (pass ¥53,000) |
| Green, reserved | ¥37,040 | ¥32,960 (pass ¥70,000) | ¥36,960 (pass ¥74,000) |
If you want the Nozomi too, add the extra ticket: ¥4,960 each way, ¥9,920 for the round trip. Against a smartEX Nozomi reserved round trip (¥27,940), the online pass plus the extra tickets costs ¥59,920, so your other rides would need to add up to more than ¥31,980. At the agency price the figure is ¥34,980 (¥62,920 against ¥27,940).
These figures use the 7-day pass, so they only apply if all your rides fall within the seven days.
What changes in 2027
JR Central and JR West announced on October 16, 2026 that the reserved-seat express charge on the Nozomi and Mizuho will be revised for tickets bought on or after July 1, 2027. The date that counts is the day you buy the ticket. For Tokyo to Kyoto the charge table shows ¥6,510 after the change, a rise of ¥700. The notice says the non-reserved Nozomi charge is not revised. It also announces a revised Green charge for rides on or after December 15, 2027.
Where to buy
The official store sells the JR Pass at the online price.
Buy on the official JR Pass site →
smartEX sells reserved Shinkansen seats in English for the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu lines.
Book single Shinkansen tickets on SmartEX →
For the same route priced to Shin-Osaka, see Tokyo to Osaka by Shinkansen.
Sources
All checked on November 6, 2026.
- smartEX, fare tables, reserved seat, adult and child (PDFs dated April 1, 2025): https://smart-ex.jp/en/product/plan/service/pdf/service_fares_reserved.pdf
- smartEX, fare tables, Green Car: https://smart-ex.jp/en/product/plan/service/pdf/service_fares_green.pdf
- smartEX, fare tables, non-reserved: https://smart-ex.jp/en/product/plan/service/pdf/service_fares_non_reserved.pdf
- smartEX, service page (purchase period, people per booking, seasons): https://smart-ex.jp/en/product/plan/service/
- JAPAN RAIL PASS, Nozomi/Mizuho Special Ticket (Tokyo–Kyoto ¥4,960): https://japanrailpass.net/en/use/special-ticket/
- JAPAN RAIL PASS, prices: https://japanrailpass.net/en/purchase/price/
- JAPAN RAIL PASS, eligibility: https://japanrailpass.net/en/about_jrp/riyou/
- JAPAN RAIL PASS, conditions of use (refunds): https://japanrailpass.net/en/use/conditions-for-use/
- JAPAN RAIL PASS, covered trains: https://japanrailpass.net/en/about_jrp/route/
- JR Central and JR West notice of October 16, 2026 (Nozomi/Mizuho charge and Green charge revisions): https://jr-central.co.jp/news/release/_pdf/000046069.pdf
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