Photo/Illutration An artist's rendition of a luxury compartment with a large, stand-alone backshell seat, which can be rotated so that passengers can face each other (Provided by Central Japan Railway Co.)

NAGOYA—Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) plans to add luxurious, semi-private seating areas to the Tokaido Shinkansen by March 2028, the company announced.

These premium seats are designed to be even more comfortable than the current first-class green car seats. The company expects demand from foreign travelers and passengers seeking privacy.

It also plans to introduce single or two-seater compartments in the fall 2026 after remodeling the deck areas of the bullet trains.

On the newest N700S series trains, cars No. 8 through No. 10 will be green cars.

Six of the premium, semi-private new seats will be installed in car No. 10—two seats per row—replacing 20 seats currently located in rows 13 through 17.

This high-end seating area will be separated from the aisle and other green car seats by partitions. Passengers will enter and exit through lockable doors and will have access to exclusive Wi-Fi and luggage spaces.

There will be no partitions in front of or behind the seats, allowing passengers to rotate their chairs to face one another.

Meanwhile, E5-series bullet trains serving the Tohoku Shinkansen Line and E7-series trains running on the Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen lines are equipped with premium GranClass seats, which are equivalent to first-class seats.

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