I already ranted a bit about this in my conclusion of this blog post [1], but I'm happy to rant again here: it's beyond my comprehension why planning a train journey in Japan has to be this messed up. You first have to figure out the route (and Google Maps doesn't have all the operators there, so good luck), then you have to figure out how to buy the ticket for said route - which is an entire different system for each operator (e.g: JR East and JR West are completely different in their booking system) - even if you do it in person, each operator has its own machine and some tickets cannot be bought by credit card.

Then you have to deal with the consequences of Japan never modernizing (trying to use a credit card for the online reservation is painful, although things are improving a bit on this side). A few years back, less than 5, it was also impossible to reserve a train ticket using a foreign credit card (non Japan-issued Mastercard, with 3d-secure). I also had a very negative experience using a virtual credit card as you need a physical one to pick up your tickets...

I always want to laugh and cry at the same time when I read their domain name for booking the ticket (because of course their app is only available in the Japanese Play Store / App Store): https://e5489.jr-odekake.net/e5489/ibpc/CBTopMenuPC?LANG=en

Try any other variation of the above URL and you get... a 404.

Anyways, beside this, it's such a beautiful country. Can't wait to go back again.

[1]: https://blog.denv.it/posts/goodbye-travel-agents-hello-ai-ag...