Shinkansen’s S Work Cars Aren’t Immune to Bad Manners — JR Central Responds

Are children with parents appropriate in a work-designated car?

You board the Shinkansen for a business trip, only to find that the seats next to you have turned into a daycare center. An unexpected situation is unfolding in the “S Work Car,” designed for business travelers.

During busy travel periods, such as summer vacation and the New Year holidays, more families with children and leisure travelers take the Shinkansen. As the variety of passengers increases, so does the likelihood of trouble.

The Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines have an “S Work Car” intended for business travelers. Initially available on the Nozomi, the service has since been expanded to the Hikari and Kodama. It is assigned to Car 7 on 16-car trains. The fare is the same as that for a regular reserved ordinary-class seat, but passengers can pay an additional fee to reserve an “S Work P Seat,” which provides more personal space.

You might assume that passengers in these work-designated cars would all be businesspeople. However, families with children have increasingly been spotted using them. Recently, I witnessed a toddler sitting in a stroller making so much noise that the sound echoed throughout the carriage.

Most people would probably consider business travelers and strollers an awkward combination. Yet, in a recent development, a child fare has also been introduced for the S Work Car—a fare category that did not previously exist.

Many business travelers deliberately choose the S Work Car. For those who pay extra for an S Work P Seat specifically to secure a more suitable working environment, such situations could feel like paying extra for nothing.

If they encounter such a scene, are business travelers simply expected to put up with it? I contacted JR Central to ask about its approach to operating these carriages.

Strollers left unattended and carriages turned into party venues

The incident I witnessed took place on a weekend in early August 2026. I had specifically selected an S Work Car on a Nozomi at the Midori-no-Madoguchi ticket counter and boarded at Tokyo Station. At Shin-Yokohama Station, a young couple with a stroller boarded the same carriage.

The couple had reserved an S Work P Seat arrangement that provides two seats across a space normally accommodating three. They placed their small child between the front and rear rows of seats while leaving the stroller unfolded. It remained that way throughout the journey. The child’s voice intermittently rang out across the carriage, but the parents did not intervene and simply left the situation as it was.

Since there was still some time before the next stop, Nagoya Station, I went to the conductor’s compartment adjoining Car 7 and explained the situation to a crew member.

Afterward, as the conductor made several rounds through the carriage, the child began calling out again. Rather than approaching the couple with the child, the conductor came to my seat and repeatedly apologized, saying, “We are sorry for the inconvenience.”

In the end, the couple remained on board and got off at the final stop, Shin-Osaka Station.

When I described what had happened to business travelers who frequently take the Shinkansen for work, they told me about other behavior that appeared to violate the S Work Car’s rules, beyond cases involving noisy children whose parents failed to intervene.

For example, one person described a group of men who boarded in the evening and started drinking together, turning the carriage into something resembling an izakaya, or Japanese pub. Another described middle-aged and older women who were clearly traveling for leisure, rotating their seats to face one another and talking so loudly that their voices echoed throughout the carriage.

Some passengers also said that such incidents had been rare when S Work Car tickets were initially sold exclusively through the EX service, but had become more common following recent changes to the rules.

The S Work Car is explicitly promoted as being for business travelers. Activities that are discouraged in other carriages—such as online business meetings, phone calls, and the sound of typing on a computer—are permitted here. However, JR Central’s website and the leaflets in the seat-back pockets also warn passengers:

“To maintain a comfortable working environment, please refrain from chatting in groups or rotating your seats to face other passengers.”

When purchasing tickets through the EX service or station ticket machines, passengers must also select the S Work Car using a separate button, distinguishing it from ordinary reserved seats.

JR Central Asked Directly About How It Handles Disruptive Passengers

Why are passengers traveling with children allowed to use the S Work Car in the first place, given that it is intended for businesspeople? When I asked JR Central’s Public Relations Department, they explained:

“In response to requests from business travelers, including requests to make the service available to customers who are balancing childcare and work, we introduced child fares for the S Work Car starting with journeys on Wednesday, May 22, 2024.”

JR Central also provided the following explanation for expanding ticket sales, which had previously been available exclusively through the EX service, to include station ticket machines and Midori-no-Madoguchi ticket counters:

“JR Central has continued implementing measures to increase transportation capacity on the Tokaido Shinkansen so that passengers can be seated and travel comfortably. In March 2020, for example, we introduced a timetable allowing up to 12 Nozomi services per hour in each direction. We have consistently aimed to ensure a sufficient supply of seats. In light of these measures, we made S Work Car tickets available at station ticket counters, ticket machines, and other locations so that customers who are not EX service members could also use the service.”

What should business travelers do if their work is disrupted while using the S Work Car? JR Central responded:

“We ask passengers to be considerate of those around them so that everyone can use the carriage comfortably.”

The company added:

“When our crew members observe behavior in the carriage that causes inconvenience to other passengers, they speak to the individuals involved.”

This is how staff currently handle such situations on board. JR Central also says it will work with relevant organizations, including external parties, to address these issues.

I informed the company that, in the incident I had witnessed, the crew member had observed the behavior but had not approached the couple traveling with a child. JR Central replied:

“If you notice anything or encounter any difficulties while on board, we apologize for the inconvenience, but please inform a crew member.”

The decision about when and how directly a conductor should approach a passenger is left to the judgment of staff on site. If something concerns you during the journey, the best course of action is to consult a crew member. If the situation becomes genuinely unbearable, it would be advisable to ask whether you can move to another seat.

Has the Honor System Reached Its Limits? The Future of Passenger Etiquette

Among Japan’s many Shinkansen lines, the Tokaido Shinkansen runs along the country’s main artery between Tokyo and Osaka. It serves an exceptionally diverse range of passengers, and business travelers have long made up a significant part of its clientele. In this context, the introduction of the S Work Car was well suited to the needs of the times. When it was first introduced, it was available exclusively through the EX service, could only be booked for one passenger, and was limited to adult fares.

Child fares were subsequently introduced because a new working arrangement had emerged: traveling on business with children, something that would once have been difficult to imagine. With more dual-income households, there are presumably situations in which parents have little choice but to bring their children along on work trips. Nevertheless, when I saw the couple traveling with a child in the earlier incident, leaving their stroller unfolded in the carriage and showing no apparent intention of opening a laptop to work, I could not help wondering whether they had simply chosen the S Work Car because it was less crowded, quieter, and more spacious than other carriages.

In the past, if a child made excessive noise in a quiet train carriage, another passenger might have stepped in to tell them to quiet down. Today, however, confronting someone carries its own risks: the person might react aggressively or publicly shame the individual who spoke up on social media. The assumption that people will naturally follow the rules in public places is becoming increasingly difficult to rely on in Japan. This issue is not limited to the Shinkansen.

Some time ago, disputes over where to put large suitcases became frequent on the Shinkansen, partly because of an increase in inbound foreign tourists. In response, measures were introduced, including seats with designated oversized-baggage spaces at the rear of carriages, which must be reserved in advance, as well as luggage storage areas that do not require reservations.

The S Work Car has always been intended for business travelers. Although traveling with children is not prohibited, the service’s designers may not have anticipated situations in which children disturb other passengers or strollers are left unfolded. Business travelers who specifically choose this carriage may understandably feel uncomfortable if they regard it as a shared workplace.

Complaints about Shinkansen seating and passenger etiquette have become increasingly common online. It is to be hoped that measures suited to the realities of the present day will be introduced for the S Work Car as well.