JR Tokai and JR West announced that they will add three consecutive holidays to the period covered in the second half of FY2026 for the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen “Nozomi” bullet trains, during which all seats are reserved.
In order to encourage reservation and seating, “Nozomi” trains will be operated during peak season. In addition to the Golden Week, Obon, Silver Week (September), and year-end and New Year holidays that were initially announced, it has been newly decided that all seats will be reserved (no non-reserved seats) on the three consecutive holidays from October to March.
The detailed period is as follows
Golden Week: April 24 – May 6, 2026 (end)
Summer vacation and Obon: August 7-16, 2026
Silver Week: September 18-23, 2026
Sports Days: October 10-12, 2026 (additional)
Labor Thanksgiving Day: November 21-23, 2026 (additional)
Year-end and New Year holidays: December 25, 2026 – January 5, 2027
Coming of Age Days: January 9-11, 2027 (additional)
Vernal Equinox: March 20-22, 2027 (additional days)
During the period when all seats are reserved, passengers with non-reserved express tickets will be required to use the deck and aisles of “Nozomi” trains and will not be seated. The “Nozomi” trains (Hikari, Kodama, Mizuho, Sakura, and Tsubame) will continue to have non-reserved seats, but depending on how crowded they are, passengers with non-reserved express tickets may be directed to the deck or aisle of the “Nozomi” trains.
© Source travel watch