Is the Shinkansen's Fully Private "Supreme Class" Worth ¥60,000 One Way? Why JR Is Shifting Its Focus to Revenue per Seat

Supreme Class is a new class that JR Central and JR West are launching on October 1, positioned above the Green Car. It consists of fully private compartments that can even be locked.

Between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, a single-occupancy compartment costs ¥42,000. A larger compartment costs ¥60,790. Riding all the way to Hakata costs up to ¥64,000. Since a regular reserved seat is around ¥14,000, the speaker notes that this is "roughly more than four times as much."

The speaker explains that Japan's shrinking population lies behind the move. We are no longer in an era when passenger numbers keep growing. As a result, in the speaker's view, rail companies will shift from making money by "carrying lots of passengers" to making money by "raising the price per seat." The speaker says this is close to the approach airlines have long taken.

The speaker also points out that the compartments are being created by converting space that had fallen out of use. The speaker praises this approach of repurposing existing assets to generate new revenue as "really clever."

On the core question of whether ¥60,000 is expensive, the speaker chooses premium airline classes as the point of comparison. For Haneda to Itami, the speaker says JAL's First Class costs about ¥35,000 and ANA's Premium Class about ¥38,000. On price alone, the Shinkansen compartment is more expensive.

Even so, the speaker points out that fares aren't the only thing to compare. Flying involves security screening, and getting to the airport takes time as well. The Shinkansen, by contrast, departs from stations in the heart of the city. What's more, from the moment you board until you arrive, you can spend the whole trip in a lockable private compartment. During that time, you can hold web meetings or spread out documents you'd rather others didn't see.

This is where the speaker shifts perspective. What you're paying for with this fare isn't transportation. Instead, think of it as renting a workspace or meeting room sealed off from the outside world for two to three hours. There's no need to worry about anyone peeking at your screen, either. The speaker describes this as the sense of "buying time with money."

According to the speaker, Shinkansen trains with private compartments also existed from the end of the Showa era through the bubble years. Back then, however, their main purpose was status and a sense of luxury.

This time, the speaker says, it's "the exact opposite." Highly practical reasons take center stage, such as preventing information leaks and staying productive with online meetings while on the move. The speaker's takeaway is that even for the same kind of private compartment, what people want from it has changed dramatically over time.

For the time being, Supreme Class will launch on a limited basis, with 12 trains a day. The speaker says it won't be clear how popular it actually becomes until after October, and holds off on drawing a conclusion.

That said, the speaker calls the shift in thinking—seeing travel time not as "time to endure" but as "time that creates value"—"very of the moment." The speaker says they'd like to try riding it themselves, and closes the video by asking viewers whether a ¥60,000 private compartment is a yes or a no.