Train late in Japan? The railway gives you a certificate

In Japan, when a train runs late, the railway gives you a document to prove it. The delay certificate, called chien shōmeisho, lets passengers show their boss or school that being late wasn't their fault.

The threshold is the surprising part. At JR East, which runs much of Tokyo's rail network, five minutes is enough to trigger a certificate.

When JR East issues a delay certificate

According to JR East, certificates cover the company's conventional lines when a train is delayed by about 5 minutes or more. Only local trains count. Express trains, special trains, charter trains, freight trains and trains out of service are excluded.

Delays are rounded up into ten-minute bands. An actual delay of 5 to 10 minutes shows as 10 minutes on the certificate, 11 to 20 shows as 20, and so on, up to a band for 61 minutes or more.

How to get one

These days, JR East posts the certificates on its website, by line and time slot. They go up once each period's delay is confirmed: around 7:00, 10:00, 16:00 and 21:00 on the same day, and around 2:00 the next morning. The site keeps the last 45 days of certificates.

There's a detail many people miss. The document certifies the longest delay on that line during the period, not the delay of one specific train. It also doesn't prove you were on the train.

Tokyo Metro issues them too, and has ditched paper

JR East isn’t the only one. Tokyo Metro, which runs nine of the capital’s subway lines, follows a similar rule: delays of 5 minutes or more produce a certificate, rounded up in 10-minute blocks. Shorter delays, as a rule, don’t.

Tokyo Metro updates its certificates online several times a day, on a schedule tied to the morning rush: around 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 and 10:00, then at 17:00 and, for the end of the day, after 0:40. They also appear in the company’s official app.

Paper is on its way out. Certificates used to be handed out in printed form at stations too. In March 2026, Tokyo Metro announced that, as a rule, it would stop issuing paper certificates and offer only the online version.

Punctuality measured in seconds

The certificate makes sense in a country where delays are rare. On the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train line between Tokyo and Osaka, the average delay per train was 1.4 minutes in fiscal 2024, according to JR Central. That average includes delays caused by natural disasters, and the line ran 383 trains a day.

Leaving early is a problem too. In May 2018, a JR West train pulled out of Notogawa Station in Shiga Prefecture at 7:11:35 instead of 7:12. That's 25 seconds early. The conductor thought departure was at 7:11, closed the doors and, seeing nobody on the platform, carried on. There were passengers waiting. The company apologised publicly, calling the inconvenience "truly inexcusable", NPR reported.

Practical tips

• Delayed on a JR East line? Look for the certificate on the company's delay certificate page, which has an English version.
• Express trains and the Shinkansen aren't covered by JR East's certificate system.
• A certificate isn't a refund. It justifies the delay; it doesn't get you money back.
• Other railways have their own rules. Each operator sets its own threshold and decides where to publish the document.

FAQ

What is a chien shōmeisho?

It's the delay certificate issued by Japanese railways. Passengers use it to justify being late for work or school.

How late does a train have to be for a certificate in Japan?

At JR East, about 5 minutes or more on conventional lines. Other operators may use different thresholds.

Where can I get a JR East delay certificate?

On JR East's train information website, which publishes certificates by line and time slot and keeps the last 45 days.

Does the Tokyo subway issue delay certificates?

Yes. Tokyo Metro issues certificates for delays of 5 minutes or more, on its website and app. Since 2026, paper certificates have been abolished as a rule.

Does a delay certificate entitle you to a refund?

No. It only confirms that the line was delayed during that period.

At Tokyo's rush hour, what stands out isn't delays but crowding. Read about Tokyo's train pushers.

Sources

• Delay certificate, JR East (also in Japanese): the roughly 5-minute threshold, which trains are included and excluded, the delay bands, publication times, the 45-day window and what the document certifies.
• 遅延証明書はどのように掲載されますか, Tokyo Metro, updated March 21, 2026 (in Japanese): the 5-minute threshold, rounding to 10-minute blocks, update times and the app.
• 遅延証明書配布方法の変更（原則紙発行の廃止）について, Tokyo Metro, March 24, 2026 (in Japanese): the end, as a rule, of paper certificates.
• 東海道新幹線～不断のサービスの充実～, JR Central: the 1.4-minute average delay per train in fiscal 2024 and the number of trains per day.
• Japanese Rail Operator Says Sorry For 'Inexcusable' Departure 25 Seconds Early, NPR, May 17, 2018: the early departure at Notogawa and the apology.