Sapporo: Do I need to reserve train tickets?

Hi all,

In the past, I've reserved tickets for long-distance JR trains the same time I activate my JR Pass.

The Sapporo leg of my trip might be a tad organic. I might take longer (or shorter) than expected at certain locations. For instance, I might be in the Asahikawa area a bit later than anticipated.

That said, during the Snow Festivals time, is it okay to board trains without a ticket or are they packed like crazy that weekend? Notably for trains like the Super Kamui? I noticed they have "U Seat" sections that can be reserved with the JR Pass.

Thanks in advance!

They can be packed quite tightly mate - try to book in advance wherever possible in order to secure a slice of comfort.

Having said that, there is room for flexibility so I wouldn't worry too much. For my two day trips to Asahikawa from Sapporo, I made sure to book the outbound trips in advance (since I knew exactly what time I wanted to leave) but kept things open-ended by NOT booking the return legs, since I didn't know exactly what time I'd finish. After I was done in Asahikawa, I would then simply reserve a seat in the next available train with room to spare. Asahikawa Station's not a bad place to wait a little while - it's been recently refurbished and there are places to eat (not a very large selection but enough if you're not picky).

I've just rechecked my collection of tickets from that trip - I never throw these out (^_^) - and it seems that I did reserve one outbound trip to Asahikawa on the day itself. But if memory serves, I was quite flexible at the time and probably just asked the clerk to put me in any seat on the next available train. Also, the ticket indicates that I was given an aisle seat, which is further proof that the train was crowded (if I'd had any room to choose I would have selected a window seat as per my usual practice).

Cheers.

Thinking of Otaru, I'd usually try to secure a reserved seat, but on one of my trips back to Sapporo I remember cramming myself into a non-reserved car (likely because all the reserved seats were booked out). This is an option you might consider should you find yourself out of seats, especially since Otaru is less than an hour from Sapporo so standing the whole way might just be survivable.

Having said that, I do remember having a miserable time on that one non-reserved trip, because standing for over half an hour after having just done a lot of sightseeing on foot is never an attractive proposition.

Cheers.

Got it, thanks Diego! I'll be sure to reserve tickets where I can before I'm in Sapporo (and of course, once my JR Pass is activated, as my usual practice)