If you’ve ever been to eastern Japan and traveled within the country, chances are you’ve sought help from one of East Japan Railway Company’s “Green Counters “(緑の窓口; midori no madoguchi), its in-person ticket counter service. The company’s been fiercely cutting those counters as a cost-saving measure. However, a fierce public backlash has put that plan on hold – and may cancel it for good.
Behind the green window
The JR ticket counters get their name because the “green” seats on a JR subway or shinkansen (bullet train) line are often wider, more comfortable seats requiring a reservation. In the past, buying a ticket from the counter was the primary way to secure a reservation in a green seat.
Today, however, you can easily reserve a green seat, not only through ticketing kiosks in train stations, but online. Japanese customers can use JR East’s site Eki Net or purchase tickets from third-party vendors. Meanwhile, tourists can book shinkansen reservations through any number of JR-authorized vendors that operate Web sites in their local language.
Given this, JR execs had an idea. By closing ticket counters and redirecting users to electronic purchasing options, the company could save money. It could also avoid some of the staffing headaches that plague all Japanese businesses in the face of an increasingly dwindling Japanese population.
To enact this plan, JR East announced in 2022 that it would reduce the number of ticket counters it supports from 440 down to a paltry 140 by 2025. They embarked on the plan at a breakneck pace, reducing the counters down to 209 – less than half the original number – as of this month. At the same time, the company rolled out more of its “talking ticket machines” to replace human agents.
The outcry and backtrack
That plan was hatched at the tail end of the global health crisis when tourists hadn’t even started returning to Japan. You know how this story goes. Tourism resumed – and along with it, so did the number of visitors seeking help to arrange travel at JR East ticket counters.
It’s not just tourists who rely on the assistance counters, though. People who want to buy a commuter pass, use discount coupons, change existing travel plans, or simply like to interact with people when they buy something also heavily rely on the counters.
The result? Long lines at the remaining 209 Midori no Madoguchi – and frustrated rail users. Hence JR’s hasty announcement that it was pulling the plug on the closures, suspending any new closures until further notice.
JR East’s online services leave something to be desired
So what went wrong? Some experts say that JR East’s major fault was forcing a cutover to online and automated systems before those systems were ready for prime time.
Numerous netizens have complained that Eki Net, JR East’s online service, needs serious work. The iOS version of the online service has a miserable 1.6 star rating. In a 3-star (generous) review, user Kujiranoai writes in English:
“If, as a foreign resident of Japan, you manage to register an account with this app the chances are you’re doing better than the majority of the Japanese population, so you can feel pretty good about yourself. There’s a reason it only has 1.7 stars. Another thoughtful Japanese language review of this app estimates that 90% of logins fail.”
In a 1-star review titled “Absolutely awful usability” posted just two months ago, user sudo_maru writes in Japanese that the app and Web site registration systems are separate. That means you can’t use the app to view or modify a reservation you made online. sudo_maru says the app is also missing critical features, such as updating your profile and credit card information.
The talking ticket machines, which enable talking to a remote operator if you’re having issues, also didn’t perform as expected. Some users reported waiting up to 50 minutes to connect to an operator, with a line or 10 or more people waiting behind them.
As of this writing, JR has given no timetable for when it may resume counter closures. To the contrary, the company says it’s considering re-opening closed counters during hectic travel periods.
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Sources
JR「みどりの窓口」混雑で削減方針を凍結 「自ら売上を減らしてしまっている」 対面必要？ネットサービス重複の課題も. Abema Times
みどりの窓口 JR東日本 削減方針を凍結 3年前は440駅 残るのは？NHK Shutoken
JR東日本の「みどりの窓口」削減計画、なぜ頓挫? 3年間で半減させたら起きたトラブル、利用者の不満は. Tokyo Shimbun
