5khours

1. I would give yourself 30 minutes for large stations in big cities.

2. You can book tickets ahead at ticket vending machines at JR stations. These have English menus and are sometimes easier and quicker than going to the counter. They don't accept all credit cards so you may need cash.

3. You can ship your bags 2 or 3 stops ahead and then handle the intervening days with a collapsible duffel or smaller rollerboard. Big suitcases are a pain on trains especially if you hit rush hour at a big station.

ringingup

I'm starting to get worried about being able to reserve a seat from Hiroshima to Kyoto on 13 April, given the cherry blossom season...

jib71

The cherry blossom season is not a reason for you to worry - because it's pretty much over in Kyoto.
http://sakura.weathermap.jp/area.php?city=Osaka

That said, Kyoto is a popular destination on any weekend in the spring (and the fall). If you're flexible, I'd suggest going to Kyoto during the week. Hotels will be cheaper.

As for trains - There are just so many. Unless you need to ride a specific train, you should be fine. At exceptional times - like New Years and Golden Week - you can expect tickets to be scarce. But I don't see that this should be the case on April 13.

ringingup

No flexibility unfortunately, as all the hotels are booked.

However, you're reassuring me that it should be fine. The train to Kyoto will be in the late evening on Sunday, so I imagine that most people will be travelling from Kyoto rather than to Kyoto.

AlwaysAisle

Tokyo - Shin-Osaka portion of Shinkansen (bullet train) is the busiest during none holiday period. Majority of riders are business people traveling between Tokyo and Osaka during weekdays. Early morning and late afternoon Shinkansen are busiest and if trains are to sell out then it usually happen about one to two hours before departures.

Under worse case, Shinkansen Hikari and Kodama both have unreserved cars. For example, every Hikari has three unreserved cars. Seats are not guaranteed but unreserved cars allow standing room only. So even your choice of Hikari train is sold out but if you have to take that particular train then you can get on unreserved cars no problem.

jib71

Ach. For some reason I was thinking that Apr 13 was a Saturday. My bad.

On Sunday evening, there should be no shortage of seats and most hotels won't be charging their inflated weekend rates. Of course, if you're picky about which train and which seats you want, then book your tickets as far in advance as possible. You won't exactly be "going against the flow" of traffic flooding out of Kyoto. People sometimes assume that Kyoto is just a holiday destination, but actually it's a pretty large city with industry and commerce. You'll find some people going home to Kyoto. And on weekdays, a lot of people visit for business purposes too.

AlwaysAisle

Sorry but self proclaimed train geek here... How late of Sunday evening are you talking about? Sunday evening Shinkansen on Tokyo - Nagoya - Shin-Osaka portion can be surprisingly busy. Many businesses people spending weekend with family till very last moment on Sunday evening and taking Shinkansen back to work for Monday is actually quite common. There are Japanese salary men living alone away from family due to job assignment. Add to that young couple with long distance relationship due to their job.

Many Japanese media talk about this phenomenon, including main stream news. Especially the last Shinkansen on Sunday evening there are a lot of young couples saying goodbye, Japanese tend to be more reserved when it comes to PDA and what you see on late Sunday evening Shinkansen platform at Tokyo station can be quite different from any other time.

Even NHK (Japanese Public Broadcast station) did news segment about last Shinkansen train on Sunday evening and it has unofficial nickname of "Lover's Train" because of that.

Anyway, just wanted to add that late Sunday evening Shinkansen can be surprisingly busy. But as I mentioned there is always unreserved car.

5khours

How geeky? Were you one of those students who used to memorize train schedules?

RichardInSF

You're a bit out-of-date. Nozomi trains (and I believe the JRWest equivalent) have had unreserved cars as well for at least a couple of years.

mapleg

OF course, with a few Japanese skills one can always check JR Cyberstation and see real time availability.

http://www.jr.cyberstation.ne.jp/

AlwaysAisle

Thank you, I am aware of Nozomi having unreserved cars. I can be slow but I am up to date on that. My mistake was assuming the person asking the question will be using JR Pass.

ringingup

From 6:30pm onwards

AlwaysAisle

I do think you will be fine but do not want to give you false impression… Your Shinkansen ride from Hiroshima to Kyoto will be anywhere from one hour and half to two hours, depending on trains. Your Shinkansen ride will run through Okayama and Shin-Osaka.

If you cannon get a reserved seat then most likely situation will be that there are seats available on Hiroshima – Shin-Osaka portion but all seats are booked from Shin-Osaka, as mentioned previously Shin-Osaka – Tokyo portion is the busiest part of Shinkansen. Under such situation likely you will be simply told no seat available for Hiroshima – Kyoto.

Shin-Osaka – Kyoto is short 13 minutes ride. If seats are all sold out then one possibility is to ride on a reserve seat on Hiroshima – Shin-Osaka portion and move to unreserved car on last 13 minutes ride on Shin-Osaka – Kyoto portion.

But again, I think you will be fine…

One more question. Are you going to be using JR Pass? Because you cannot ride on Nozomi using JR Pass. Under such situation departing Hiroshima after 6:30 p.m. to Kyoto on Shinkansen will require transfer of train at Shin-Osaka anyway.

jaybert

Where can I find prices for individual train tickets? Trying to decide if it is worth getting a rail pass vs purchasing individual tickets. We are probably doing 2 or 3 day trips to: Yokohama, hakone, and maybe 1 more place

milepig

This website is great:

http://www.hyperdia.com/

Times, stations, prices (broken into basis and upcharge for a reserved seat) and even the track number you'll be departing from.

On our last trip, I had everything figured out, and typed it all on a piece of paper along the lines of:

June 2, 2 tickets Shinkansen xxx from Tokyo Station, reserved seats, 2nd class.

I then just stopped by the JREast ticket office at NRT upon arrival. It took a few minutes, but then we were done for the entire trip.

The person just went down the list and booked all the itins and printed everything out, and then went through them one by one explaining what each was for, circling dates and train numbers. He also issued the NEX/SUICA combo passes for us, although he had to charge them as a separate transaction. Easy as could be.

As an aside, if you're departing Kokyo station, plan time to stop by the massive department store in the station that has an entire floor of Bento boxes and other treats, and buy something for the train.