Shinkansen and limited express at half price:
“Tokudane Special 28” is back
On 7 August 2026, JR East and JR Hokkaido announced four changes at once to the web-only discount products sold on Eki-net. The headline is “Tokudane Special 28”, which cuts Shinkansen and limited express fares in half. Tokyo–Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto drops from ¥24,000 to ¥11,990 — a saving of over ¥12,000 on a single one-way trip.
The conditions are tight, though: weekday travel only, just 25 eligible days across October and December, and bookings must be made 28 days before departure. Miss any one of the three and you cannot buy it. This article lists every eligible route with its price, explains exactly when and how to book so you actually get a seat, and covers the change and refund rules that catch people out afterwards — all cross-checked against the original press release and the official product pages.
- Three products: Shinkansen eTicket (Tokudane Special 28), Ticketless Limited Express Ticket (Tokuwari Special 28) and Limited Express Tokudane Special 28. All are ordinary reserved seats only.
- Valid only for weekday travel between 14–27 October 2026 and 7–17 December 2026. Weekends and public holidays are excluded.
- Sales run from 10:00, one month before departure, until 23:50, 28 days before — in practice a window of only about four days. This is what most people miss.
- The biggest savings: Tokyo–Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto (¥12,010 off), Tokyo–Akita (¥9,140) and Tokyo–Shin-Aomori (¥8,960). On conventional lines, the Ueno–Sendai limited express ticket falls to ¥1,450.
- The same release also brought 35% off JRE POINT redemptions, ticketless service on the Inaho and Shirayuki, and the end of Tokudane 14 and Tokudane 1. Year-round discounting is being replaced by limited-period sales.
- What Tokudane Special 28 is (the three products)
- When you can travel, and when you can buy
- Shinkansen fares (every eligible route)
- Limited express and Tobu through-service fares
- How to book before it sells out
- Restrictions to know before you buy
- Three other changes announced the same day
- What the end of Tokudane 14 and 1 means
- FAQ
- Summary
What Tokudane Special 28 is (the three products)
Tokudane Special 28 is a limited-period product sold only on Eki-net. The 28 in the name is the booking deadline: you commit 28 days ahead, and in return the discount is unusually large. Three products go on sale.
All three share two constraints: ordinary reserved seats only, and limited trains, routes and seat counts. There is no Green Car or GranClass option. A disability-discount version of the Shinkansen eTicket is also offered, and child fares are available.
When you can travel, and when you can buy
This is where most people lose the ticket. The days you may travel and the days you may buy are set separately — and both windows are narrow.
| Travel period | 1) Weekdays from 14 Oct (Wed) to 27 Oct (Tue) 2026 2) Weekdays from 7 Dec (Mon) to 17 Dec (Thu) 2026 Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are excluded. |
|---|---|
| Sales period | From 10:00 one month before departure until 23:50, 28 days before |
| Eki-net advance request | From 14:00 one month and one week before (same weekday) until 09:54 one month before Seats are actually allocated from 10:00 one month ahead; a seat is not guaranteed. |
| Seat class | Ordinary reserved |
| Where to buy | Eki-net website or the Eki-net ticketless app (membership registration required) |
Applied to this round’s travel dates, the schedule looks like this. These are calculated mechanically from the one-month and 28-day rules — always confirm the real deadline on Eki-net.
| Travel date | Advance request opens | Sales open | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026年10月14日（水） | 9月7日（月）14:00 | 9月14日（月）10:00 | 9月16日（水）23:50 |
| 2026年10月27日（火） | 9月20日（日）14:00 | 9月27日（日）10:00 | 9月29日（火）23:50 |
| 2026年12月7日（月） | 10月31日（土）14:00 | 11月7日（土）10:00 | 11月9日（月）23:50 |
| 2026年12月17日（木） | 11月10日（火）14:00 | 11月17日（火）10:00 | 11月19日（木）23:50 |
Shinkansen fares (every eligible route)
These are the fares published in the press release for the Shinkansen eTicket (Tokudane Special 28): one adult, one way, ordinary reserved seat, compared with the standard Shinkansen eTicket in the regular season.
| Train | Route | Special 28 | Regular eTicket | You save |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| はやぶさ | 東京 ⇔ 新函館北斗 | 11,990円 | 24,000円 | 12,010円 |
| はやぶさ | 東京 ⇔ 新青森 | 8,950円 | 17,910円 | 8,960円 |
| はやて | 盛岡 ⇔ 新函館北斗 | 6,830円 | 13,680円 | 6,850円 |
| やまびこ | 東京 ⇔ 盛岡 | 7,360円 | 14,730円 | 7,370円 |
| やまびこ | 東京 ⇔ 仙台 | 5,550円 | 11,110円 | 5,560円 |
| なすの | 東京 ⇔ 郡山 | 4,120円 | 8,250円 | 4,130円 |
| こまち | 東京 ⇔ 秋田 | 9,120円 | 18,260円 | 9,140円 |
| つばさ | 東京 ⇔ 山形 | 5,720円 | 11,470円 | 5,750円 |
| とき | 東京 ⇔ 新潟 | 5,390円 | 10,780円 | 5,390円 |
| たにがわ | 東京 ⇔ 越後湯沢 | 3,350円 | 6,700円 | 3,350円 |
| あさま | 東京 ⇔ 長野 | 4,120円 | 8,250円 | 4,130円 |
| かがやき・はくたか | 東京 ⇔ 金沢 | 7,200円 | 14,400円 | 7,200円 |
Coverage is wider than the table above suggests. On the Tohoku/Hokkaido Shinkansen, the Hayabusa runs from Tokyo, Ueno and Omiya to stations between Iwate-Numakunai and Shin-Aomori or Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto; the Komachi covers Tokyo, Ueno and Omiya to Shizukuishi through Akita; the Tsubasa reaches stops between Yonezawa and Shinjo. On the Hokuriku Shinkansen, Toyama, Kanazawa, Fukui and Tsuruga are all eligible from Tokyo, Ueno and Omiya.
Tokyo–Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto saves ¥12,010 one way, or ¥24,020 return. Compared with Tokyo–Echigo-Yuzawa at ¥3,350, the same “half price” lands very differently. If your destination is flexible, the longer route is the rational choice.
Limited express and Tobu through-service fares
Ticketless Limited Express Ticket (Tokuwari Special 28)
This product halves the limited express fee only. You still need a base fare ticket, so travel with an IC card or buy one in advance. The comparison is the regular-season reserved express ticket bought in advance.
| Train | Route | Special 28 | Regular express fee | You save |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| あずさ | 新宿 ⇔ 松本 | 1,270円 | 2,550円 | 1,280円 |
| かいじ | 新宿 ⇔ 甲府 | 790円 | 1,580円 | 790円 |
| ひたち | 上野 ⇔ 仙台 | 1,450円 | 2,900円 | 1,450円 |
| ときわ | 上野 ⇔ 水戸 | 790円 | 1,580円 | 790円 |
| 踊り子（伊東編成） | 東京 ⇔ 伊豆急下田 | 1,190円 | 2,380円 | 1,190円 |
| 踊り子（修善寺編成） | 東京 ⇔ 修善寺 | 890円 | 1,780円 | 890円 |
| 草津・四万 | 上野 ⇔ 長野原草津口 | 1,140円 | 2,290円 | 1,150円 |
| つがる・スーパーつがる | 秋田 ⇔ 青森 | 1,140円 | 2,290円 | 1,150円 |
Coverage is broad: the Azusa runs from stops between Tokyo (Chiba) and Shinjuku out to Nirasaki through Hakuba; the Hitachi from Shinagawa, Tokyo and Ueno to stops between Okumika and Sendai; the Odoriko from stops between Tokyo and Yokohama to Yugawara through Izukyu-Shimoda (or Shuzenji for that formation). This product cannot be issued as a paper ticket — ticketless use only.
Limited Express Tokudane Special 28 (Tobu through service)
This round covers the Nikko and Kinugawa direction, running through from Shinjuku onto the Tobu line. Base fare and express fee are bundled and halved together.
| Train | Route | Special 28 | Regular (fare + express) | You save |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| スペーシア日光 | 新宿 ⇔ 東武日光 | 2,070円 | 4,140円 | 2,070円 |
| きぬがわ | 新宿 ⇔ 鬼怒川温泉 | 2,070円 | 4,140円 | 2,070円 |
¥2,070 one way from Shinjuku to Nikko or Kinugawa-Onsen is strong for a day-trip distance. Note that the Nikko and Spacia Kinugawa services are only set when they actually run, and that this product alone must be issued as a ticket before you travel.
How to book before it sells out
Seat numbers are capped, and JR East states plainly that it will not answer any enquiry about how many seats are available or allocated. Nobody knows the inventory; it simply disappears first-come, first-served. Here is the order to work in.
- Register on Eki-net beforehand. Starting registration on the morning of the sale already puts you behind. Add your credit card in advance too.
- Shift your travel dates onto weekdays. Only weekdays between 14–27 October and 7–17 December qualify. Build a weekend into the trip and one leg may fall outside the offer.
- Use the Eki-net advance request. It opens at 14:00, one month and one week before departure. You avoid the 10:00 scramble, but a seat is not guaranteed.
- If the advance request fails, book at 10:00 one month out. That is the real start of sales, and popular routes move there.
- Confirm by 23:50, 28 days before. After that you cannot buy at the discounted price even if seats remain.
- Link an IC card to the booking. With the Shinkansen eTicket you simply tap the linked card at the gate. Linking is possible until four minutes before departure on the day, and no later than 23:50.
Squeeze more out of how you pay
How you pay for a half-price ticket still matters. Per View Card’s official figures, buying a Shinkansen eTicket on Eki-net earns 2%, and paying with a non-Gold View Card adds another 3% — 5% in total (Gold cards add a further 5%). The catch: this applies when you ride ticketless on a reserved Shinkansen eTicket. View Cards including the JRE CARD also return 1.5% on Suica auto-charge.
A Shinkansen eTicket earns JRE POINT only if you ride with an IC card or collect it from a reserved-seat ticket machine. Collect a paper ticket at a Midori-no-Madoguchi counter and you get no points. To build the point balance from everyday spending, see our Pointnavi guide.
Eki-net also sells a Shinkansen eTicket at a JRE BANK preferential discount. If your dates fall outside the Special 28 window, holding a JRE BANK account gives you another option.
Restrictions to know before you buy
The half price comes with more restrictions than an ordinary ticket. These five are the ones that hurt if you only notice them after buying.
| Restriction | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Changes | You can change up to four minutes before departure, but the discount does not carry over. Keeping Special 28 after a change is only possible within the sales window (28 days out) and while seats remain. |
| Refund fee | ¥320 for a reserved seat where the Eki-net benefit applies; otherwise the sale price multiplied by the discount rate (minimum ¥560). No refunds once you have passed the Shinkansen gate with the linked IC card. |
| City-zone fares | Zone systems such as “Tokyo city area”, “inside the Yamanote line” and “Sendai city area” do not apply. Local trains before or after the Shinkansen need a separate ticket (within Suica areas, the linked IC card covers it). |
| Missing your train | The express portion is void. Only the base fare stays valid that day, so you buy a new express ticket. Unlike an ordinary ticket, you cannot simply take an unreserved seat on a later train. |
| Breaking the journey | Unused sections are void with no refund. Travel beyond your booked section and you pay the full undiscounted fare for the excess. |
The ticketless limited express ticket cannot be issued as paper — check your seat on screen and board. It is also an express fee only, so you need an IC card or a separately purchased base fare ticket.
Three other changes announced the same day
The same press release contains three more items besides Special 28. All of them affect how you plan a trip, so they are worth reading together.
1. JRE POINT redemptions are 35% off for a limited time
The Shinkansen eTicket redeemed with JRE POINT will cost 35% fewer points than usual across every JR East Shinkansen line. It applies to travel from 25 September to 9 October 2026 and from 18 to 31 January 2027. Eligible classes are broader than Special 28: ordinary reserved, Green Car reserved and GranClass (without drinks and snacks).
Sales run from 10:00 one month ahead until four minutes before departure on the day (and no later than 23:24) — there is no 28-day cut-off here. The JRE POINT system is offline between 00:50 and 05:00. Redemption rates are covered in our article on the 35% off JRE POINT redemptions.
2. Ticketless service extends to the Inaho and Shirayuki
The ticketless limited express service — boarding without collecting a paper reserved ticket — extends to the Inaho and Shirayuki from 1 November 2026, year-round. The Inaho covers stations between Niigata and Akita; the Shirayuki covers Niigata to Arai (excluding journeys entirely on the Echigo Tokimeki Railway).
A 25%-off “Tokuwari” version and a JRE POINT version are set at the same time. Regular-season Tokuwari fares on the Inaho from Niigata are ¥780 to Toyosaka, Shibata, Nakajo and Sakamachi; ¥1,110 to Murakami and Fuya; ¥1,410 to Atsumi-Onsen and Tsuruoka; ¥1,710 to Amarume, Sakata and Yuza; and ¥1,880 from Kisakata through Akita. On the Shirayuki from Niigata: ¥1,290 to Kashiwazaki, ¥1,790 to Naoetsu and ¥2,040 to Joetsumyoko; from Nagaoka, ¥960, ¥1,290 and ¥1,540 respectively.
3. Tokudane 14, Tokudane 1 and others end
At the same time, the year-round discount range is being cleared out. The Shinkansen eTicket (Tokudane 14) ends on 16 September 2026 and Tokudane 1 on 29 September. Limited Express Tokudane 14 ends on 17 October for the Inaho; Limited Express Tokudane 1 ends on 29 September (30 October for the Inaho and Shirayuki). The ticketless Tokuwari ends on 30 September for the Azusa/Kaiji, Hitachi/Tokiwa, Narita Express, Odoriko, Kusatsu-Shima and Kamakura.
Separately, the Tokuwari discount on the Tsugaru and Super Tsugaru falls from 35% to 25% for travel from 1 October 2026: Akita–Odate/Hirosaki goes from ¥1,220 to ¥1,410, Akita–Shin-Aomori/Aomori from ¥1,480 to ¥1,710, and Odate–Shin-Aomori/Aomori from ¥960 to ¥1,110. The product survives, but this is a price rise. The ¥100 adult and ¥50 child reduction on ticketless limited express tickets also ends with purchases made on 30 September. Product-by-product end dates are in our article on the Eki-net discount tickets being withdrawn.
What the end of Tokudane 14 and 1 means
This part is my own reading, but the announcement makes most sense as a switch from “slightly cheaper any time” to “much cheaper on a handful of days”.
Tokudane 14 rewarded anyone who booked 14 days ahead, all year round. Rates varied by route, but if you could fix your plans early you travelled cheaply in any season. That design — where planning ahead pays — ends in late September. Eki-net’s own page states that Tokudane 1 and 14 are withdrawn for travel through 30 September 2026. (The 16 and 29 September dates in the press release are the last days you can buy; add the 14-day and one-day booking rules and both land on 30 September for travel.)
Special 28 replaces it with a much deeper 50% cut, but only 25 eligible days a year, a four-day booking window and capped seats. The ceiling on savings went up; the odds of getting one went down. It is powerful if you can move your dates, and much weaker for fixed-date business trips or trips home.
The realistic substitutes are the year-round standard Shinkansen eTicket and the JRE POINT redemption now discounted by 35%. Building a point balance from everyday spending lowers the real cost even when the date cannot move. Heading west, there are separate schemes such as the new My Number Card discounts on the EX service.
FAQ
- Q. When can I buy Tokudane Special 28?
- From 10:00 one month before departure until 23:50, 28 days before — a window of roughly four days. The Eki-net advance request lets you submit a booking a week earlier, from 14:00 on the same weekday.
- Q. Can I travel at the weekend?
- No. Only weekday travel between 14–27 October and 7–17 December 2026 qualifies. If one leg of a return trip falls on a weekend or public holiday, book that leg as a regular product.
- Q. Does it cover the Green Car or GranClass?
- No — Special 28 is ordinary reserved seats only. For a discount on the Green Car or GranClass, use the 35% off JRE POINT redemption announced the same day (travel 25 September–9 October 2026 and 18–31 January 2027).
- Q. Can I change my booking if plans shift?
- You can change on Eki-net up to four minutes before departure, but the discount does not carry across. Keeping the same product requires the sales window still to be open (28 days out) and seats to remain. If your plans are likely to move, a regular product is safer.
- Q. What is the refund fee?
- Refunding through the Eki-net site costs ¥320 for a reserved seat where the Eki-net benefit applies, or the sale price multiplied by the discount rate (minimum ¥560) where it does not. No refund is possible once you have passed the Shinkansen gate with the linked IC card.
- Q. Is Tokudane 14 finished?
- Sales of the Shinkansen eTicket (Tokudane 14) end on 16 September 2026 and Tokudane 1 on 29 September. Eki-net states both are valid for travel through 30 September 2026. After that you fall back on the standard Shinkansen eTicket or JRE POINT redemptions.
Summary
In one line
- Shinkansen and limited express at 50% off. Tokyo–Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto is ¥11,990 one way, saving ¥12,010.
- Travel is limited to weekdays from 14–27 October and 7–17 December; weekends and holidays are out.
- The buying window is 10:00 one month out to 23:50, 28 days out — about four days. The advance request starts a week earlier.
- Ordinary reserved seats only. Changes drop the discount, and seat numbers are capped.
- The 35% off JRE POINT deal announced the same day covers more seat classes with looser dates — the better bet if you cannot travel midweek.
If you can move your dates, Special 28 is one of the strongest discounts in recent years. If you cannot, build the trip around the 35% off JRE POINT redemption or the standard Shinkansen eTicket instead. To review the rest of your fixed costs as well, see our Mottoku guide.
Beyond 25 half-price days a year
That said, this half price is available on just 25 days a year. To cut travel costs continuously, a card welcome bonus moves far more money. Two cards are running increased offers right now, and both pay more through a referral than a direct application. If hotel elite status is the goal, look at the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Premium; if you want points you can put straight towards flights and travel, the Amex Gold Preferred (up to 170,000 points via referral) is the one to check.
This article is based on the press release issued by JR East and JR Hokkaido on 7 August 2026 covering the launch and revision of web-only discount products on Eki-net, together with Eki-net’s official product pages for the Shinkansen eTicket (Tokudane). Prices, periods and conditions are as of 7 August 2026 and may change or be withdrawn without notice. The deadline table is calculated mechanically from the one-month and 28-day rules. Always confirm the current terms and cut-off times on Eki-net before booking.