Does the Hakone Freepass include the Romancecar?

No. The Freepass from Shinjuku covers one round trip on regular Odakyu trains between Shinjuku and Odawara. To ride the Romancecar, you add a limited express ticket: 1,200 yen each way between Shinjuku and Hakone-Yumoto, or 1,150 yen if you buy it online, as of October 2026. With the 2-day pass (7,100 yen) and Romancecar seats both ways, the total is 9,500 yen, or 9,400 yen with online seats.

How far in advance can I book the Romancecar?

Seats go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Japan time one month before the travel date. Online, you can buy until the departure time. On e-Romancecar you can also hold a seat without paying until 45 minutes before departure, then pay before the deadline or the hold is cancelled automatically.

Is there an extra charge for the Romancecar observation seats?

No. Odakyu says the observation seats cost the normal fare plus the normal limited express fee. They exist only on the GSE (70000 series) trains, with 16 seats at the front and 16 at the rear. Online, they can only be bought outright, not held, and Odakyu recommends buying early because there are so few.

Can I use Suica or PASMO with the Romancecar?

Yes, for the base fare. Touch your IC card at the gate as on any train, and carry a separate Romancecar limited express ticket for your seat. Do not put the limited express ticket through the gate. The IC fare from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto is 1,261 yen, as of October 2026.

What happens if I miss my Romancecar?

Odakyu does not change or refund a limited express ticket after the train has left. Before departure, you can switch to another train with free seats, or cancel for a 100-yen fee. If you are running late, change the ticket before the departure time.

Romancecar from Shinjuku to Hakone: Fares, Booking and Seats

The Odakyu Romancecar (often searched as “Romance Car”) is the direct limited express from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto, the gateway station of Hakone. Every seat is reserved. You pay a seat fee of 1,200 yen each way (1,150 yen online) on top of your normal fare or your Hakone Freepass. This guide covers what that fee buys you in time, how to book it, which seats to choose, and how it fits with the Freepass.

All prices are adult fares. Every figure comes from Odakyu’s official pages, checked on October 9, 2026.

Quick answer

Cost: 1,200 yen per seat each way at the station, 1,150 yen online. Children aged 6 to 11 pay half.

You still need a ticket for the ride itself: a normal fare, an IC card such as Suica, or the Hakone Freepass.

Time: Odakyu says about 80 minutes, against about two hours on regular trains.

Booking opens: 10:00 a.m. Japan time, one month before the travel date.

Observation seats: no extra charge, GSE trains only, 32 seats per train.

Who should do what

Your situation	What to do
Day trip to Hakone with the Freepass	Add the Romancecar both ways and book online: 9,400 yen in total
Tight budget, flexible on time	Skip the Romancecar and take regular Odakyu trains: you save 2,300 yen per person over a round trip
Fixed plans, want a specific seat	Book online when sales open, one month ahead, and pick the seat on the seat map
You want the observation seats	Find a GSE train in Odakyu’s monthly schedule and buy at opening time. Online, these seats can’t be held, only bought
Plans might change	Buy anyway: before departure you can change trains or cancel for 100 yen
No smartphone, or prefer paper	Buy at an Odakyu ticket machine or window. It costs 50 yen more per seat
Group of four, round trip	Book online and save 400 yen in total compared with station prices
Large suitcases	Choose a GSE or EXEα train for the dedicated luggage space (details below)

What the Romancecar is

The Romancecar is Odakyu’s limited express. On the Hakone route, the trains run from Shinjuku through Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto, where you change to the Hakone Tozan train or a bus into Hakone. Odakyu describes it as all reserved seats with reclining seats, onboard restrooms and large windows.

Odakyu runs four Romancecar models: GSE, MSE, EXE and EXEα. Seats and luggage space differ by model, and Odakyu asks you to check the model (along with the train name, time and seat) printed on your ticket.

Timetable: what “about 80 minutes” means

Odakyu advertises the trip as about 80 minutes. The Hakone-Yumoto trains listed on its English Romancecar page (timetable valid from March 14, 2026) take between 75 and 107 minutes, and most take 85 to 100 minutes:

Direction	First train	Last train
Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto, weekdays	7:37 a.m. (arr. 9:22 a.m.)	6:00 p.m. (arr. 7:40 p.m.)
Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto, weekends and holidays	7:00 a.m. (arr. 8:26 a.m.)	6:00 p.m. (arr. 7:35 p.m.)
Hakone-Yumoto to Shinjuku, weekdays	9:32 a.m. (arr. 11:05 a.m.)	7:50 p.m. (arr. 9:26 p.m.)
Hakone-Yumoto to Shinjuku, weekends and holidays	8:34 a.m. (arr. 10:06 a.m.)	7:52 p.m. (arr. 9:25 p.m.)

Two patterns stand out:

Weekday mornings are slower. The weekday departures at 7:37, 8:11 and 8:31 a.m. take 102 to 107 minutes.
The fastest train is a weekend one. Super Hakone No. 5 leaves Shinjuku at 9:00 a.m. on weekends and holidays and reaches Hakone-Yumoto at 10:15 a.m. (75 minutes).

When you plan a connection, compare arrival times, not departure times. The timetable changes from time to time, so check the current one on Odakyu’s Romancecar page before booking.

Fares and fees

To ride the Romancecar you need two things: a ticket for the journey itself (a normal fare, an IC card, or a pass such as the Hakone Freepass) and a limited express ticket, which is your reserved seat.

One way, Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto (adult)

Item	At the station	Online / IC card
Base fare	1,270 yen (paper ticket)	1,261 yen (IC card)
Romancecar limited express fee	1,200 yen	1,150 yen (online)
Total	2,470 yen	2,411 yen

Other sections and cases

Case	Limited express fee
Shinjuku to Odawara	1,000 yen (950 yen online); base fare 910 yen (901 yen by IC card)
Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto only	200 yen, sold only on the platform at boarding, on the day, if seats are free. It can’t be booked on e-Romancecar
Boarding without a limited express ticket	Fee plus 350 yen, paid on board, and no seat is assigned. From Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto that’s 1,550 yen
Children aged 6 to 11	Half the adult fee (600 yen at the station for Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto)
Children under 6	No ticket needed when sitting on a lap. A child ticket and a child fee are needed if they use their own seat

Is the Romancecar worth it? The time math

Regular Odakyu trains (Rapid Express, Express) need only the base fare. Odakyu says they take about two hours from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto, have few seats, and don’t guarantee you one.

Round trip without a pass, IC card: regular trains cost 2,522 yen. With the Romancecar booked online both ways, it’s 4,822 yen. The difference is 2,300 yen.
Time saved: using Odakyu’s own figures (80 minutes against about two hours), about 40 minutes each way. Against the actual listed times of 75 to 107 minutes, the saving ranges from about 15 to 45 minutes depending on the train.
Price per minute saved: 1,150 yen for about 40 minutes works out to roughly 29 yen per minute, plus a guaranteed seat.

On a day trip those 40 minutes in the morning matter, because the Hakone Ropeway runs only until 5:00 p.m. (4:15 p.m. in December and January). If you are staying in Hakone and arrival time doesn’t matter, regular trains are a reasonable way to save money.

How to book online

Romancecar seats go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Japan time, one month before the travel date, both online and at Odakyu stations. Odakyu runs several online services. Two are useful for visitors:

	e-Romancecar	EMot Online Tickets / EMot app
Account	Not needed	Registration needed
Language	Japanese, English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Korean	English available (EMot Online Tickets)
Device	PC or smartphone	Smartphone only
Payment	Credit card (3-D Secure 2.0 authentication)	Credit card, PayPay, Alipay+
Hold without paying	Yes, until 45 minutes before departure	Yes, but payment must be completed in the app or site
Buy until	Departure time	Departure time
Choose your seat on a seat map	Until 45 minutes before departure (hold) or 3 minutes before (purchase)	Until 3 minutes before departure (purchase)
Good for	Booking only the Romancecar	Buying the Romancecar and the Digital Hakone Freepass together

Both give you an e-ticket on your phone. You don’t need to print anything or pick up a paper ticket. On board, show the ticket screen if the conductor asks.

Things to know before booking:

Online services are available from 4:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. Japan time.
On e-Romancecar, you can’t hold more than one train for the same stations on the same day. A held seat is cancelled automatically if you don’t pay by the deadline.
e-Romancecar says that, depending on your card’s 3-D Secure settings, a purchase may not go through. After the authentication step, enter the security code and press “Purchase” to finish.
Groups: Odakyu’s FAQ says you can buy several limited express tickets on one smartphone and choose several seats at once. The Digital Hakone Freepass is different: each traveler needs it on their own phone.

Buying at the station

Odakyu ticket machines sell limited express tickets and let you pick your seat on a seat map. They accept cash, IC cards and American Express, Diners Club, JCB, Mastercard and Visa. The limited express ticket machines on the platforms do not accept credit cards. One purchase covers up to 8 people.

The ticket windows at Shinjuku, Machida and Odawara are open from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The Odakyu Sightseeing Service Centers at the West and South Exits of Odakyu Shinjuku Station also sell Romancecar seats and Hakone passes, with English support.

Two Odakyu ticket machines for limited express and regular tickets under a fare map — Odakyu ticket machines, where you can also buy limited express tickets.Photo: MaedaAkihiko / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)

The observation seats

The Romancecar’s best-known seats are the observation seats in the very front and back of the train, behind a large front window.

Which trains: only the GSE (70000 series). Odakyu lists 16 observation seats in car 1 and 16 in car 7, in four rows of 2 + 2.
Price: no extra charge. Odakyu says they cost the normal fare plus the normal limited express fee.
Booking: online, observation seats can only be bought, not held. Odakyu recommends buying early because there are so few.
Finding a GSE train: Odakyu publishes a monthly schedule of GSE trains (Japanese PDF, linked from its Romancecar fare and booking pages). In October 2026, for example, the 10:00 a.m. departure from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto is listed as a GSE on most days: Hakone No. 3 on weekdays and Super Hakone No. 9 on weekends and holidays. The schedule can change with operations, so check it again before you book.
Luggage: the GSE’s lead cars have no overhead racks, which keeps the view open. If you sit in the observation area, plan where your bags will go.

Empty observation seats at the front of a Romancecar, with the track curving ahead through the wide front window — The observation seats at the very front look straight down the line.Photo: MaedaAkihiko / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)

Other seats and luggage

GSE general seats: Odakyu says these are its widest Romancecar seats, with power outlets on the armrests and luggage space under most seats.
Large suitcases: per Odakyu, the GSE has space for large luggage, and the EXEα has a luggage area made for suitcases. The EXE, EXEα and MSE have overhead racks for carry-on bags.
Families: “kosodate ouen” (child-friendly) seats in car 3 run on trains leaving Shinjuku between 11:00 a.m. and 4:59 p.m., and on trains arriving at Shinjuku between 11:00 a.m. and 5:59 p.m. Choose them when you book.

Changes, refunds and delays

Situation	Odakyu’s rule
Change to another train	Before the departure time only, and only to a train with free seats. Same-day changes are unlimited. Moving to another day is free once
Change on EMot	Only for the same section, the same number of people and the same price
Cancel and refund	Before the departure time: refund minus 100 yen per ticket
Cancel a held, unpaid seat (e-Romancecar)	No fee
You miss the train	No change and no refund after departure
Train cancelled	Full refund of the limited express fee. For online tickets, it’s refunded automatically to your card
Train 1 hour or more late	Full refund of the limited express fee, automatically for online tickets

The practical rule is simple: if you will be late, change your ticket before the train leaves.

Using the Romancecar with the Hakone Freepass

The Hakone Freepass from Shinjuku includes one round trip on regular Odakyu trains between Shinjuku and Odawara, then unlimited travel in Hakone. It doesn’t include the Romancecar fee, but the pass replaces the base fare, so you only add the seat:

Setup (adult, from Shinjuku)	Total
2-day Freepass, regular trains both ways	7,100 yen
2-day Freepass + Romancecar one way	8,300 yen (8,250 yen online)
2-day Freepass + Romancecar both ways	9,500 yen (9,400 yen online)
3-day Freepass + Romancecar both ways	9,900 yen (9,800 yen online)
Freepass from Odawara (6,000 yen) + regular fare Odawara to Shinjuku (910 yen) + Romancecar one way (1,200 yen)	8,110 yen, Odakyu’s example for travelers arriving from the Kansai area

At the gate, use your Freepass (or IC card) as you would for any train. Don’t put the limited express ticket through the gate. Then take the car and seat printed on your ticket or shown on your e-ticket.

Whether the pass pays off depends on how much you ride in Hakone. The full fare math is in Is the Hakone Freepass Worth It?. For a timed day plan built around the Romancecar, see Hakone day trip itinerary from Tokyo. If you’re unsure whether to stay a night, Hakone: day trip or overnight? compares the two.

Before you travel: the Hakone Ropeway closes Sounzan to Owakudani from December 7 to 24, 2026, and Owakudani to Ubako to Togendai from January 12 to February 26, 2027, for inspections, with replacement buses on the closed section. Check the Hakone Navi real-time status page on the morning you travel.