In this booster
Lesson 6 taught you to ride: catch the stop, ask the smart yes/no question, survive the announcements. This booster is the long-distance layer that lesson deliberately left out — the shinkansen and its rituals: the ticket office, seat classes, transfers, the station bento — plus the one question that makes a rail pass usable: can I take this train with it?
No new grammar — every sentence here is a frame you already own, wearing new nouns. Mostly Lesson 1’s onegaishimasu running the ticket window, Lesson 7’s permission frame carrying the pass, and Lesson 4’s doko / arimasu on platforms. Boosters assume the finished core (Lessons 1–9); take them in any order.
A note on rail-pass rules: they change — prices, which premium trains are covered, how gates read the pass. This booster teaches the vocabulary and the questions, which don’t change; check the current rules when you buy (the apps on the Beyond page carry them).
As always: tap each sentence and listen first, repeat it aloud, then check yourself against the text and meaning that appear. Tap again to listen as often as you like.
The ticket office
midori no madoguchi — literally “the green window”: JR’s staffed ticket office, in every sizable station. This is where passes get exchanged, seats get reserved, and complicated itineraries get solved by a professional. When in doubt, start here.
Kyoto made, onegaishimasu.
The whole ticket purchase is Lesson 6’s made plus Lesson 1’s onegaishimasu — destination in, ticket out. Everything else at the window is refinement.
Shiteiseki, onegaishimasu.
shiteiseki — a reserved seat: your name on a specific seat on a specific train. With a rail pass these are free — reserve every time (see the behavior notes).
Jiyuuseki wa ikura desu ka.
jiyuuseki — the unreserved cars: cheaper, first-come, fine off-peak, a scrum at holidays. The shiteiseki / jiyuuseki pair is the single most useful distinction in Japanese rail travel.
Oufuku, onegaishimasu.
oufuku — round trip; the clerk’s either-or question pairs it with katamichi (one-way, taught next).
Katamichi ga ii desu.
katamichi — one-way, chosen with Lesson 5’s preference frame. The window clerk will ask which you want; now you can answer either way.
Mado-gawa, onegaishimasu.
mado-gawa — window side. Reserving a seat triggers exactly one follow-up question, and this is one of its two answers. (Tokyo→Kyoto tip: Mt. Fuji is on the right.)
Tsuuro-gawa ga ii desu.
tsuuro-gawa — aisle side, the other answer. Long ride and a fondness for coffee? This one.
Guriin-sha wa ikura desu ka.
guriin-sha — the Green Car, JR’s first class: wider seats, deeper quiet. Standard passes don’t cover it; the price of the upgrade is exactly one ikura away.
The pass questions
Pass in one hand, pointing with the other — Lesson 7’s permission frame settles coverage before you board, which beats a conductor conversation after. Ask it at the gate, the madoguchi, or the platform staff.
Tokkyuu desu ka.
tokkyuu — limited express, the fast tier below the shinkansen. Most are pass-covered; the word also headlines departure boards, so recognizing it sorts the fast trains from the ones that stop everywhere.
Shinkansen de ikimasu.
shinkansen — the bullet train itself, riding Lesson 6’s means-de. Announce it at a hotel desk and directions to the right station follow automatically.
On board, on the platform
norikae — the transfer, arguably the best noun in this booster. Big stations signpost transfers in English, but on a tight connection this word aimed at any uniform beats reading signs at a jog.
Homu wa doko desu ka.
homu — platform (from “platform,” trimmed the Japanese way). Your ticket says the number; this question finds the stairs.
Eki-ben wa arimasu ka.
eki-ben — the station bento: regional, beautiful, engineered to be eaten on a train. Buy it on the platform or in the station before boarding — then see the behavior notes for the good news about eating it.
Kono nimotsu, ii desu ka.
nimotsu — luggage. Shinkansen overhead racks fit carry-ons; big suitcases have rules (behavior notes). Pointing plus the permission frame keeps you legal in any car.
Koin rokkaa wa doko desu ka.
koin rokkaa — the station coin locker, and the word that turns a three-hour connection into a stopover: suitcase in the locker, town in your hands, back before the next train. Every real station has banks of them — mechanics in the behavior notes.
Set piece
pasu — the rail pass, in the two-word question that makes it work. Pointed at a ticket gate, a train, a bus, a ferry — anything JR-adjacent — it asks “is this covered?” and gets you a hai or a redirect before mistakes get expensive. Memorize whole; deploy at every ambiguity.
Dialog
At the Green Window: a seat to Kyoto, on the pass, by the window. Listen to the whole dialog cold first.
Sumimasen. Kyoto made, onegaishimasu. Hai. Shinkansen desu ka. Hai. Shiteiseki, onegaishimasu. Pasu, ii desu ka. Hai, daijoubu desu. Mado-gawa desu ka. Hai, mado-gawa, onegaishimasu. Juu-ji no densha desu. Ni-ban homu desu. Norikae wa arimasu ka. Iie, arimasen. Arigatou gozaimasu.The clerk asked exactly the questions this booster predicted — shinkansen or not, window or aisle — and Pasu, ii desu ka settled the money question in two words. Note juu-ji no densha: Lesson 2’s no gluing an hour to a noun, still earning its keep.
What they’ll say to you
Two lines for your ears: one on board, one on the platform. You never say these.
Kippu o haiken itashimasu. Mamonaku, san-ban-sen ni densha ga mairimasu.The conductor’s line needs no spoken answer at all — the pass held up is the answer. And mamonaku completes its hat trick: platforms (Lesson 6), fireworks (Festivals), and now back where it started.
Repair drill
Ask about a transfer and the answer arrives with a station, a line change, a connection time, and a platform — all at once. You are not expected to parse it.
Sumimasen. Norikae wa doko desu ka. Nagoya de zairaisen ni onorikae kudasai. Norikae jikan wa happun de, go-ban homu kara no hassha to narimasu. Sumimasen. Kaite kudasai. Nagoya desu. Go-ban homu desu. Hai, douzo.Station names, platform numbers, connection minutes — this is exactly the material Lesson 1’s paper rung was built for. Kaite kudasai, and the itinerary is on the conductor’s note pad where it can’t be misheard.
How to behave: pass, seats, suitcases
- Ask the pass question before boarding, and check the current rules when you buy. Pass products change — prices, which premium trains are covered, what the gates accept. The vocabulary here is permanent; the fine print isn’t. Pasu, ii desu ka before you board costs two words; sorting it out mid-ride costs more.
- Reservations are free with a pass — make them every time. Two minutes at the madoguchi or a machine converts “hoping for a jiyuuseki” into a guaranteed shiteiseki. On holidays and Friday evenings this is the difference between sitting and standing for three hours. (Missed your reserved train anyway? With a pass, board the next departure’s jiyuuseki — no penalty, no conversation.)
- Big suitcases need a plan. Oversized luggage on the shinkansen requires the special rear-of-car seats (reserve them); better yet, ship the suitcase hotel-to-hotel with takkyuubin — Japan’s luggage-forwarding service, the great traveler cheat code — and ride with a day bag. It’s now its own booster.
- The city side of the station — IC cards, ticket gates, lines, numbered exits, buses — is its own booster. This booster is the intercity layer; that one is the twenty-taps-a-day layer.
- The cheap way between cities is the highway bus. Daytime kousoku basu and overnight yakou basu run every major route at a fraction of the shinkansen fare — and the overnight ones double as a night’s lodging. The big operators’ sites book in English; boarding is just the Arrival booster’s basu noriba by the station, ticket on your phone.
- Coin lockers turn any stop into a stopover. Banks of them at every real station: roughly ¥300 small, ¥500 medium, ¥700+ for a suitcase, paid with ¥100 coins — or, at the newer touchscreen banks, tapped with your IC transit card, in which case the card (or a printed QR slip) is the key; guard the slip like one. Storage runs up to three days, charged again each calendar day. Big-station banks fill by mid-morning on busy weekends — the fallbacks are the staffed luggage-storage counter, or takkyuubin from the bullet above.
- On board: eat, yes; call, no. The eki-ben at your seat is not just allowed but traditional — shinkansen tables exist for it. Phone calls happen in the vestibule between cars, never at the seat; and on the platform, queue on the painted marks and let riders off first — your ticket names a car, and the platform floor numbers where each car stops, so stand at yours.
- A bicycle counts as luggage only inside a bag. Bikes ride free on nearly any train if folded or partly disassembled and fully enclosed in a rinko carrying bag; uncovered bikes are refused at the gate. If you’re renting rather than touring, skip the bag entirely — that day is the Cycling booster.
Checkpoint
Your exit exam, out loud. Each line below sets a scene from this booster — say the Japanese before you tap; the tap plays the answer. Check yourself, repeat after the audio matching its pronunciation, rhythm, and speed, and if one won’t come, replay its section. These are this deck’s speaking cards — in Anki they queue up after the listening cards, so you’ll always have heard a line before you’re asked to produce it.
Vocabulary reference
| # | Romaji | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | shinkansen | bullet train | Shinkansen de ikimasu. |
| 2 | shiteiseki | reserved seat | a specific seat, yours by number |
| 3 | jiyuuseki | unreserved seat | unreserved — first come, first seated |
| 4 | guriin-sha | Green Car (first class) | usually not pass-covered |
| 5 | midori no madoguchi | JR ticket office | when in doubt, start here |
| 6 | pasu | (rail) pass | Pasu, ii desu ka. |
| 7 | norikae | transfer | Norikae wa doko desu ka. |
| 8 | homu | platform | the ticket has the number |
| 9 | eki-ben | station bento | buy before boarding |
| 10 | nimotsu | luggage | Kono nimotsu, ii desu ka. |
| 11 | tokkyuu | limited express | headline word on departure boards |
| 12 | katamichi | one-way | Katamichi ga ii desu. |
| 13 | oufuku | round trip | Oufuku, onegaishimasu. |
| 14 | mado-gawa | window side | Fuji is on the right, going west |
| 15 | tsuuro-gawa | aisle side | the coffee-drinker’s seat |
| 16 | koin rokkaa | coin locker | the stopover unlock — see behavior notes |
Recognize only — never say these. The train scripts:
| Script line | It means | You do |
|---|---|---|
| Kippu o haiken itashimasu. | tickets, please | hold up your pass or ticket — no words needed |
| Mamonaku, san-ban-sen ni densha ga mairimasu. | train arriving at platform 3 | step behind the painted line — mamonaku again |
Anki deck
Drill this booster’s audio anywhere: download the Trains & Rail Pass Anki deck. Sentence cards are the course; vocab cards are backup — suspend them unless a word won’t stick.