MARS (ticket reservation system)
MARS is Japan’s main ticket reservation network used by the JR Group trains and many travel agencies. It was created by Hitachi Rail and the old Japanese National Railways (JNR) and is now run by JR Systems. In staffed JR ticket offices, called Midori no Madoguchi (Green Window), staff use MARS terminals to sell tickets. The name began as Magnetic-electronic Automatic Reservation System, later became Multi Access Reservation System, and then reverted to the original meaning.
MARS runs a real-time system with very high reliability (about 99.999% uptime). It now handles reservations not only for trains, but also for express buses, hotels, rental cars, ferries, and even tickets for amusement parks and exhibitions. It also does fare calculations for base tickets and passes.
The network includes about 10,000 terminals at JR offices and travel agencies, plus ticket vending machines and online access. It handles around eight million accesses per day and sells about 1.9 million tickets daily. The main computer moved from Kokubunji, Tokyo, in 2013 to a secure site in the northern Kantō region. JR Systems has managed MARS since 1987, after JNR was split and privatized. In 2025, MARS was recognized as an IEEE Milestone.
In the JR Central region, ticket offices are called kippu uriba (ticket sales counters). Reservations can be made up to one month in advance.
MARS history: The original MARS-1, created by Mamoru Hosaka, Yutaka Ohno and others at JNR’s R&D Institute, began service in 1960 as the world’s first train seat reservation system. It ran on a Hitachi mainframe with magnetic drum memory—the source of the MARS acronym. In 2008, it received a commemorative plaque. The newer MARS-501, introduced between 2002 and 2004, used Ethernet-based client-server design and switched to thermal receipts. The current version, MARS-505, started in 2020 and adds more contactless and ticketless options via mobile apps.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 02:59 (CET).