Kindly advise if Hyperdia states that there is a reserved seat fee for shinkansen train does it mean that all seats for that train are all reserved and it's compulsory that I need to pay the reserved seat fee.
Hyperdia automatically shows the fare for a reserved seat on the shinkansen. If you click on the box that says "Reserved seat" on the route/train you have searched on Hyperdia, there should be the option to change it to "Non-reserved seat". Select that, and it will show you the fare for a non-reserved seat. You can also select "Green seat" to see the cost of a seat in the Green car (the equivalent of first class).
Nearly all shinkansen have non-reserved seating available. An exception is the new Hokkaido Hayabusa shinkansen. For this shinkansen a seat reservation is mandatory. However when all seats are booked, standing tickets can still be purchased.
If you get the rail pass though, the advanced seat reservations are a free perk thrown in. Very nice for example if you want to see Mt Fuji while going down from Tokyo to Kyoto. And if you travel during a peak season, getting seat reservations is a very good idea.
Comments
Hyperdia automatically shows the fare for a reserved seat on the shinkansen. If you click on the box that says "Reserved seat" on the route/train you have searched on Hyperdia, there should be the option to change it to "Non-reserved seat". Select that, and it will show you the fare for a non-reserved seat. You can also select "Green seat" to see the cost of a seat in the Green car (the equivalent of first class).
Nearly all shinkansen have non-reserved seating available. An exception is the new Hokkaido Hayabusa shinkansen. For this shinkansen a seat reservation is mandatory. However when all seats are booked, standing tickets can still be purchased.
I hope this answers your question.
Kind Regards,
Japan Experience