From 2019 Spring, You Will Be Able to Book Train Tickets Online from JR-WEST Directly

This will be a totally great news for international travelers to Japan, especially who’ve been breaking their neck trying to get a train ticket to avoid any hassle after they arrive in Japan.

JR-WEST (West Japan Railway Company) announced that they will start offering an online ticketing service “JR-WEST ONLINE TRAIN RESERVATION” from 2019 spring. Multiple language available: English, Chinese (Simplified, Traditional), and Korean.

Payment can be done by credit card during reservation (except for some cases).

Source: JR WEST

Places to receive physical tickets are:
JR WEST, JR Shikoku, JR Kyushu: Station ticket offices and ticketing machines, which show service symbol “5489” on their counter/surface.

JR Tokai: Reserved ticketing machines and ticket offices, which show service symbol “5489” on their counter/surface.

JR EAST Travel Service Center located at:
Tokyo Station, Shinjuku Station, Ikebukuro Station, Shibuya Station, Ueno Station, Hamamatsucho Station
Haneda Airport International Terminal Station, Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station and Narita Airport Terminal 2 Station.

“5489” Symbol

*If collecting a special ticket for overseas tourists from a Midori ticket machine, these can only be collected from machines with a JR-West passport reader.

Source: JR WEST New Release (Dec 19, 2018)

Launch of online reservation service for overseas visitors to Japan (PDF / English)