Hayabusa Same-Day Reservation?

Hello everyone, I'm having a bit of a panic here.

I'm arriving in Tokyo on 2/16 (low travel season at least) and planning to depart the same day to Aomori via the Hayabusa shinkansen. I will be a JR Pass holder.

I'm panicking because I only JUST NOW, two days before I leave, learned that Hayabusa requires you to make a reservation!!

So my question is twofold: 1) if I arrive in Terminal 1 at 15:40, is it reasonable to expect to be able to clear customs in time to get on the Narita Express an hour later (which will get me to Tokyo station in time to catch Hayabusa 31 at 18:20)??

and 2) How common is it to be able to secure a same-day reservation on Hayabusa, considering the time of year I am traveling and that I will only be making my reservation with a few hours to spare?

Thank you so much! If I was unclear please let me know and I will try to clarify.

Hayabusa trains tend to be popular, especially between Tokyo and Sendai. Somewhat between Sendai and Morioka. Not so much between Morioka and Shin-Aomori.

The JR Cyber Station website (in Japanese) can show you the reservation status:
http://www1.jr.cyberstation.ne.jp/csws/Vacancy.do

For today, the 18:20 Hayabusa was, indeed, booked out. And even the 19:20 departure was booked out (except Grand Class). Only the last departure at 20:16 still has some seats left.

As of now, all 18:20 and 19:20 Hayabusa for the upcoming days (including 2/18) have still a lot of vacancies, but I would not be surprised if they also fill up by the time the departure time is approaching.

There are a few things you can consider to still make it to Aomori even if the 18:20 train is booked out:

Option 1) get a standing ticket. This is of course not optimal for such a long journey, but when all seats are booked out, it is possible to get standing tickets. Note that even standing tickets may sell out.

Option 2) as mentioned above, the busiest section is the Tokyo-Sendai section. At Sendai, many people get off and there are often vacant seats. Therefore, you could consider to take a different, slower trains from Tokyo to Sendai and then transfer to the Hayabusa from there. Yamabiko trains require a little bit longer for the journey, but they feature non-reserved seating and tend to be less busy.

Thank you for your answer--we would be fine with a standing ticket if it came to that.

And I will look into taking a slower train to Sendai, thanks! That's a good idea.

No need "standing ticket" regular weekday(except Fri) evening no full booked usual.
(only for ordinaly 8 cars of 10 about 800 seats)
This is recent conditon captured and published some minutes ago.
http://s8.postimg.org/g5mtyhun9/sc0519b.png
Check JR-East's official Online Reservation page ASAP if possible?
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/ticket/reservation.html
(Recieving Hayabusa also N'EX both seat tickets at NRT)

Hayabusa(はやぶさ) using "Series E5" cars. (Green body)
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/routemaps/tohokushinkansen.html
But Hayabusa 31 and after same one "Komachi" (E6: Red body) with as front car.
https://youtu.be/phDd-8ZzTPg
E6 will be earlier dep for Akita(not for Shin-Aomori) after uncoupleing at Morioka station.
https://youtu.be/5aJ57i7idxQ
E5+E6 train will be 300km/h max after Utsunomiya(pass/non stop) station.
https://youtu.be/OhyE-PuIOPg
If you have iPhone or use speed check app by GPS data.
https://youtu.be/b2q6qXA19O8

Transfering at Tokyo stn about 10 min from underground platform of Sobu line.
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/stations/e1039.html
No need ticket gate out.
But in that time already "evening rush" until Shinkansen ticket gate be careful.

Thank you!! That is very helpful!

UPDATE:

Just wanted to drop in here and let anyone who's curious about this know how it went--we had no issues at all!! We cleared customs in plenty of time to get to Tokyo station to catch the Hayabusa at 18:20, and we were also able to get reserved tickets easily when we exchanged for our rail passes at Narita.

Thanks again for everyone's help. :)

Chelsea,

That is very helpful !!! ありがとうございました !
I hope a lot more posters would do what you did!

I also appreciate very much your feedback!
And I am glad it went smoothly.