Ultimate guide to the ONE PIECE Shinkansen – including how to book tickets

The “ONE PIECE Shinkansen” will begin running on the Sanyo Shinkansen line from April 2025 and you will soon be able to book tickets to travel on one of three different trains.

The ONE PIECE Shinkansen trains will run between either Okayama and Shin-Osaka station and Hakata (Fukuoka) station depending on their schedule.

The first train services will run from the 12th of April 2025 and the first train to enter use will be the “ONE PIECE Shinkansen – Setouchi Blue”.

Two trains additional trains based on Monkey D. Luffy and Chopper will enter service from a later date.

Let’s take a look at how to book tickets on the ONE PIECE Shinkansen trains!

Booking ONE PIECE Shinkansen Tickets

To book a journey on the ONE PIECE Shinkansen, you’ll need to know the date and time of the train you want to book – you can use the guide further down this article to find out the exact routes the trains will operate on for a specific date.

Once you’ve determined which route and date you want to travel, you can either reserve a ticket or take your chances at grabbing a seat on the day. We’d strongly recommend booking in advance to avoid disappointment.

Tickets will go on sale between 1 month and 21 days before the first service.

It is unclear exactly which date tickets will first be made available, as this is the standard pre-booking period for Shinkansen tickets and varies based on route and expected demand.

You’ll therefore need to check availability regularly from around 1 month prior to your booking date to make sure you don’t miss out.

Shinkansen tickets can be pre-booked via the Smart-EX online reservation website or app.

If you are unable to reserve a seat online, unreserved seats may be available to book via a ticket office or ticket machine on the day of travel.

Unreserved seats are seats which do not have an assigned seat number and can only be used in certain carriages on the train.

If you sit in a reserved seat carriage with an unreserved ticket, you will be asked to move when ticket inspectors walk through the train. This will happen even if the area you are sat in would otherwise be unoccupied and the reserved seat carriage is not full.

Shinkansen tickets can be purchased at one of the “Midori no Miguchi” ticket counters found in most major Japanese railway stations, or from a ticket vending machine.

Not all ticket vending machines sell Shinkansen tickets, but those that do will be clearly marked in Japanese and English.

The ONE PIECE Shinkansen will make between 2 and 6 journeys per day and so far has only been confirmed as a Kodama service.

Kodama services are the slowest of the Shinkansen services available as they usually stop at every station on their route. They may also only operate on shorter routes e.g. Hakata to Okayama rather than the full Sanyo Shinkansen route between Hakata and Shin-Osaka.

The times and stations the the train will stops at will vary depending on the day of travel but JR West have confirmed exactly which services the ONE PIECE Shinkansen trains will be operating on between 12th April and 30th June.

It is therefore important to plan ahead and ensure that you book a ticket on the correct route if you want to experience the ONE PIECE Shinkansen.

ONE PIECE Shinkansen Schedule

So far, West Japan Railway Company have only released service schedules for April to June 2025. Details for services for July and beyond will be confirmed closer to the time.

The following key can be used to see which routes the ONE PIECE Shinkansen will be operating on:

If you compare the key to the following calendars, you can determine which routes will operate on each day.

The exact timetables for each route are as follows:

Days marked with a FLAG:

Days marked with a TELESCOPE:

Days marked with a ANCHOR:

Days marked with a SHIPS WHEEL:

Only the “ONE PIECE Shinkansen – Setouchi Blue” will be in operation during the initial period between April 12th and May 28th.

The “ONE PIECE Shinkansen – Tony Tony Chopper” train will begin service from May 28th and the “ONE PIECE Shinkansen – Monkey D. Luffy” train will begin service from June 22nd.

Current indications from JR West are that only 2 of the ONE PIECE Shinkansen trains will be in service at the same time and their assignment to the listed routes will be random.

This unfortunately means that it will not be possible to know exactly which of the trains you will be travelling on from May 28th onwards.

The designs for each train have now been revealed, so let’s take a look at each of the three possible trains you might end up riding!

One Piece Shinkansen 1 – Setouchi Blue (start date April 12th 2025)

The Setouchi Blue train has a design that showcasing all of the members of the Straw Hat Crew.

One Piece Shinkansen 2 – Tony Tony Chopper (start date May 28th 2025)

The train’s design will incorporate the iconic coloring of the Straw Hat Crew’s doctor Tony Tony Chopper with the pink and blue colors creating a friendly and visually appealing aesthetic.

One Piece Shinkansen 3 – Monkey D. Luffy (start date July 22nd 2025)

The third train’s exterior will feature 32 different images of Luffy wearing outfits based on many of the popular story arcs from the series.

His famous straw hat has provided inspiration for the color and theming used throughout the train.

JR West have also confirmed that other One Piece inspired details will be rolled out as part of the ONE PIECE Shinkansen service and they will include additional interior design details on the trains as well as special chimes and station announcements:

Vehicle Interior

• Original designs will feature throughout each train’s interior including the the automatic doors and washbasins. The combination of designs used will vary for each train formation.

• In addition to seat wrapping, “ONE PIECE” themed head covers will be installed on all seats on the trains.

Chimes and Melodies, In-Train Announcements

• The in-car chime melody on each train will be “We Are!”, the opening theme of the “ONE PIECE” TV anime.
• The voices of Luffy and Chopper will be included in the train announcements during arrivals and departures at select stations.
• These audio elements are original sound sources exclusive to the “ONE PIECE Shinkansen.”

Original Goods

Once you’ve bought your ticket, the will also be ONE PIECE Shinkansen merchandise available for purchase from train stations from the day the services start. Two items have been announced already with additional merchandise to be revealed nearer the time.

• Release Date: Saturday, April 12th, 2025.

• Sales Locations:
  • Select station stores within the JR West area
  • JR West Official Direct Sales Online Shop “DISCOVER WEST mall” 　
  • JR West Japan Trading mail order site “Train Box”
  • Trainbox WESTER Mall Store　　　　　　
    

To get travellers in the mood, JR West have created a special promotional video to celebrate the the launch of the “ONE PIECE Shinkansen” service:

Source: Official Website

© WEST JAPAN RAILWAY COMPANY all rights reserved.

© Eiichiro Oda / Shueisha, Fuji Television, Toei Animation.