shinkansen with a suitcase: the checklist so you're not that passenger

learned some of this by watching someone else hold up a whole car.

Measure length + width + height together, not just the biggest side

I measured only the longest side once and was wrong by 30cm.

Confirm the total is over 160cm before you panic-book anything

Reserve the oversized luggage seat if it's 160-250cm

This only applies to Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen lines, not all of them.

Book the reservation before you're at the station, not at it

walk-up reservations exist but the good seats near the rack are gone by mid-morning.

Know the fee is 1000 yen if you skip the reservation and still bring an oversized bag

Ask for a 'tokudai nimotsu seat' if the counter staff looks confused

Said it wrong the first time and got a normal seat with no rack space at all.

Pick the last row of the car when booking, that's where the rack is

Screenshot the seat reservation before you lose signal underground

Get to the platform early enough to actually find your car number

the platform floor markings are exact but the car numbering isn't intuitive if you're jet-lagged.

Don't block the aisle stacking bags while everyone else boards

Keep your IC card loose in a pocket, not zipped inside the big bag

off-peak trains still move fast through the gates and you will hold up the line digging for it.

Have coin lockers at the origin station as a backup plan

Know 250cm is the hard cutoff, bigger needs a courier service instead

Takkyubin counters at big stations will ship a bag ahead for you same or next day, cheaper than a taxi anyway.

Double check your dates if you booked more than 3 months out

reservation windows and exchange rules move around each year, don't assume an old post is still accurate.

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