Planning a Golf Trip Around Tokyo and Kyoto
Bullet train times and fares, courses for each half of the trip, and getting your clubs from one city to the other
Bullet train times and fares, courses for each half of the trip, and getting your clubs from one city to the other
Quick answer
Split the trip into a Tokyo half and a Kyoto half, in whichever order your flights suggest, and plan one round per golf day. Nozomi trains take about 2 hours 10 minutes between Tokyo and Kyoto, and a one-way Ordinary Car reserved seat booked on JR’s smartEX service was listed at ¥13,970 in regular season (checked October 19, 2026). Elite Golf Japan lists 24 partner courses within reach of Tokyo; on the Kansai side our partner is Otakarazuka Golf Club in Hyogo. Carry your bag on the train, send it ahead by Golf TA-Q-BIN, or rent clubs.
Last updated: 2026-10-19
About 2 hours 10 minutes by Nozomi (2 hours 9 to 14 minutes in the timetable examples below), and ¥13,970 for a one-way Nozomi reserved seat in an Ordinary Car, booked on smartEX in regular season. The fare moves by ¥200 to ¥400 with the travel season.
| Tokyo to Kyoto | Official figure and conditions |
|---|---|
| Nozomi travel time | Nozomi 1 leaves Tokyo at 6:00 and arrives in Kyoto at 8:09; Nozomi 5 leaves at 6:33 and arrives at 8:47. JR Central timetable, valid from March 14, 2026. |
| Hikari travel time | Example from the same timetable: Hikari 631 leaves Tokyo at 6:21 and arrives in Kyoto at 9:08, a 2 hour 47 minute trip. |
| Reserved Nozomi seat (Ordinary Car) | ¥13,970 one way per adult, Ordinary Car reserved seat, Nozomi for the whole route, regular season, booked on smartEX. Off-peak is ¥200 less, peak ¥200 more and super peak ¥400 more. smartEX price list dated April 1, 2025, checked October 19, 2026. |
| Japan Rail Pass holders | To ride a Nozomi you need an extra NOZOMI MIZUHO Ticket: ¥4,960 for Tokyo or Shinagawa to Kyoto, sold from one month before travel at JR ticket machines and offices in Japan; it cannot be reserved online before you arrive. JR Central. |
| Peak periods | During the major peak periods announced by JR Central, every Nozomi seat is reserved and there are no non-reserved cars. JR Central. |
Fares and timetables change. Check the current price when you buy the ticket.
For the Tokyo leg, play the courses in Chiba, Ibaraki, Saitama and Tochigi. For the Kyoto leg, our course is Otakarazuka Golf Club in Hyogo, and for a round between the two cities there are courses around Nagoya. We do not list a course in Kyoto Prefecture itself.
| Area | Fits | Courses we book | Getting there | Listed weekday fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Around Tokyo (Chiba, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tochigi) | The Tokyo half of the trip | 19 courses | See each course’s nearest station and onward leg in our Tokyo guide | ¥7,000–¥18,000 |
| Mt. Fuji (Shizuoka, Yamanashi) | A day trip or an overnight stay outside Tokyo | 5 courses | Nearest stations are on local lines (for example Kawaguchiko, Gotemba, Susono); in the JR timetable, Nozomi 1 passes Mishima and Shin-Fuji without stopping, while Kodama trains stop there | ¥15,000–¥30,000 |
| Near Nagoya (Gifu) | A stop between the two cities | Hananoki Golf Club | about 15 minutes by car from Toki IC | ¥15,000 |
| Near Nagoya (Gifu) | A stop between the two cities | Mizunami | about 20 minutes by taxi from Mizunami Station; about an hour by car from Nagoya | ¥9,000 |
| Near Nagoya (Mie) | A stop between the two cities | Yokkaichi | about 10 minutes by taxi from Komono Station; about 50 minutes by car from Nagoya | ¥10,000 |
| Kansai (Hyogo) | The Kyoto half of the trip | Otakarazuka Golf Club | Takarazuka Station (JR / Hankyu Line), then about 20 minutes by taxi | ¥12,000 |
Course counts are the courses we list. Whether a course can take your group depends on the date and group size (Asagiri Country Club, for example, does not accept solo golfers), so ask us before you fix a plan around one course. Fees are the weekday figures on our course pages, paid at the course; confirm the price for your date.
Otakarazuka from Kyoto. The club is a 36-hole complex about 20 minutes by taxi from Takarazuka Station, which is on the JR and Hankyu lines. Check the rail journey from your Kyoto hotel to Takarazuka Station. The listed weekday green fee is ¥12,000; confirm the price for your date. Details are on the Otakarazuka Golf Club page.
A round on the way. Nagoya is a Nozomi stop; in the same JR timetable, Nozomi 1 leaves Nagoya at 7:35 and reaches Kyoto at 8:09. Our Nagoya-area courses are Hananoki Golf Club, Mizunami and Yokkaichi. Each course page lists its nearest station or expressway exit.
Booking a Kansai club we do not list. Ask before you build the trip around it. Some private clubs in the region accept visitors only with a member.
Four days fits one round, five days a round in each region, and seven days three rounds with a stop near Nagoya. Alternate golf with sightseeing and keep the Shinkansen days free of golf: a round with the journey takes most of a day, and a standard Japanese round is two nines with a lunch break, though some tee times play straight through.
The samples assume you arrive in Tokyo and fly home the day after the last day shown; reverse them if you land in Kansai.
| Day 1 | Arrive in Tokyo; sightseeing |
| Day 2 | Golf at a course near Tokyo |
| Day 3 | Shinkansen to Kyoto in the morning; sightseeing in Kyoto |
| Day 4 | Sightseeing in Kyoto |
Rent clubs for the single round and you never carry a golf bag on the train.
| Day 1 | Arrive in Tokyo |
| Day 2 | Golf near Tokyo |
| Day 3 | Sightseeing in Tokyo; send your golf bag to Otakarazuka by Golf TA-Q-BIN |
| Day 4 | Shinkansen to Kyoto; sightseeing |
| Day 5 | Golf at Otakarazuka Golf Club |
For a Day 5 round, the bag has to be handed in by the sending deadline at your drop-off point on Day 3, or on Day 2 where Yamato needs three days. Check the deadline before you travel; if it does not fit, carry the bag on the train or book rental clubs in advance. After the last round, keep your own bag with you for the flight home.
| Day 1 | Arrive in Tokyo |
| Day 2 | Golf near Tokyo |
| Day 3 | Shinkansen to Nagoya; stay near Nagoya |
| Day 4 | Golf at a Nagoya-area course; stay near Nagoya |
| Day 5 | Shinkansen to Kyoto; sightseeing |
| Day 6 | Golf at Otakarazuka Golf Club |
| Day 7 | Sightseeing in Kyoto |
With three courses in three places, decide before you travel whether to carry your own bag, use a delivered rental set for the whole trip, or rent at each clubhouse; see the next section.
Carry the bag on the Shinkansen, send it ahead to the course with Yamato’s Golf TA-Q-BIN, or leave it at home and rent. To send it ahead, hand it over by the sending deadline at least two days before play, or three days in some areas.
On the train. On the Tokaido Shinkansen, baggage over 160 cm in total dimensions normally needs a seat reserved with an oversized baggage area, or a ¥1,000 fee is charged. JR Central states that this rule does not apply to sports equipment, with bicycles as its example; golf bags are not named. The general carry-on limit is two pieces of 30 kg or less, each no more than 250 cm in total dimensions and 200 cm in length, and your suitcase and golf bag count together toward the two pieces (JR Central luggage rules). Ask JR staff where to stow the bag on your train.
By Golf TA-Q-BIN. Yamato Transport asks you to drop the bag off at least two days before you arrive at the course, or three days in some areas, and delivers it to the course at least a day before you play. You can set a play date up to 10 days after the ship date; if the bag arrives early, the course may charge for storage. A bag cover is required, parcels over 30 kg are not accepted, and you can hand the bag in at home, a Yamato office, a TA-Q-BIN agency, a convenience store or a delivery locker. To send it back, leave it at the course reception desk (Golf TA-Q-BIN, Yamato FAQ, checked October 19, 2026).
Rent instead. Many courses rent sets at the clubhouse. We can also have a full set delivered to your course for ¥10,700–¥14,550 per set, delivery included for most of Japan. On a multi-course trip, one delivered set can go to your first course and be collected from a different course after your last round, so you play the same clubs throughout. You take the set with you between rounds, as you would your own bag, but you never bring it back to where it started. A rental covering several days costs more than a one-round set; we quote the total before you confirm. Payment for a set must be received by 12:00 noon Japan time, five business days before you play. See renting golf clubs in Japan and the rental lineup.
Request tee times as soon as your dates are fixed, then book the Shinkansen around the confirmed rounds. Ask us to check when your chosen course accepts bookings for your dates.
With Elite Golf Japan, a request made 15 or more days before play needs no card until the tee time is booked; within 14 days, the booking fee is held on your card and charged only if we secure the tee time. On the rail side, JR Central makes every Nozomi seat reserved during the major peak periods it announces, so book early if your travel day falls in one. Lead times, seasons and short-notice requests are covered in when to book golf in Japan.
We book the tee times and arrange rental clubs and caddies. You book the Shinkansen, hotels and sightseeing. Transfers to a course and an English-speaking host are available on request at additional cost.
Our booking fee is US$60 for a solo golfer, US$90 for two or three, US$120 for a foursome, and US$30 per golfer for groups of five or more, charged only once a tee time is secured. Green fees are paid at the course on the day in yen, and we do not mark them up. Multi-day tours are quoted individually. Fees and payment details are in what golf in Japan costs, and the steps are in how to book golf in Japan.
We do not list a course in Kyoto Prefecture. Our partner course in the Kansai region is Otakarazuka Golf Club in Hyogo, about 20 minutes by taxi from Takarazuka Station. If you have a particular Kansai club in mind, ask us before you plan around it: some private clubs in the region accept visitors only with a member.
About 2 hours 10 minutes on a Nozomi: in JR Central’s timetable from March 14, 2026, Nozomi 1 leaves Tokyo at 6:00 and reaches Kyoto at 8:09. A one-way Ordinary Car reserved seat on the Nozomi, booked on smartEX, was listed at ¥13,970 in regular season (price list dated April 1, 2025, checked October 19, 2026).
Within JR Central’s limits, yes: up to two pieces of 30 kg or less each, no more than 250 cm in total dimensions and 200 cm in length. JR Central says its oversized-baggage reservation rule does not apply to sports equipment, with bicycles as the example; golf bags are not named, so ask JR staff where to stow it. Your suitcase counts toward the two-piece allowance; alternatively, send the golf bag ahead with Yamato’s Golf TA-Q-BIN.
Yes, if you spend two nights near Nagoya, where the Nozomi stops, and play on the day in between. We book 3 courses in Gifu and Mie: Hananoki Golf Club, Mizunami, Yokkaichi.
No; you book trains and hotels yourself. We book tee times and arrange rental clubs and caddies, with transfers to a course and an English-speaking host available on request at additional cost.
Send your travel dates, group size and the cities you are staying in. We reply within 12 business hours (JST 9:00–18:00), then check tee times with the courses.
Request a Tee Time