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Japan Sightseeing Guide

Hokkaido Sapporo Otaru Hakodate Furano Abashiri Noboribetsu Niseko Lake Toya Daisetsuzan Shiretoko Rishiri Rebun Akan Tohoku Sendai Matsushima Hiraizumi Akita Kakunodate Nyuto Onsen Aomori Hirosaki Lake Towada Shimokita Hanto Dewa Sanzan Aizu Kanto Tokyo Yokohama Kamakura Nikko Kinugawa Hakone Kawagoe Kusatsu Ikaho Minakami Narita Chubu Nagoya Inuyama Mt.Fuji Fujigoko Izu Peninsula Nagano Matsumoto Kamikochi Kiso Valley Hakuba Yudanaka Sado Island Takayama Shirakawa-go Gujo Gero Onsen Kanazawa Kansai Kyoto Osaka Nara Kobe Himeji Kinosaki Mount Koya Kumano Yoshino Amanohashidate Hikone Iga Ueno Ise Shima Chugoku Hiroshima Miyajima Onomichi Okayama Kurashiki Matsue Iwami Ginzan Iwakuni Yamaguchi Hagi Shikoku Takamatsu Kotohira Naoshima Matsuyama Uchiko Kochi Tokushima Naruto Kyushu Fukuoka Dazaifu Nagasaki Kumamoto Mount Aso Minamata Beppu Miyazaki Takachiho Kagoshima Kirishima Yakushima Okinawa Honto Miyako Yaeyama

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Dear visitor, if you know the answer to this question, please post it. Thank you! Overnight Train Seat Reservation 2009/6/4 Hi! My sis, my friend and I will be arriving to Japan on July 31, we will activate our JR Pass on that day. However, we want to take an overnight train from Tokyo to Himeji (Sunrise Seto or Izumo). Can we reserve seats before arriving to Japan and activing our JR Pass? by guest (guest)   ... 2009/6/4 The Sunrise trains have no seats. They have only berths (not fully covered by the Japan Rail Pass) and carpet compartments (fully covered by the Japan Rail Pass). It is not possible to make reservations from outside of Japan. Even if you have a friend or agent in Japan who can make a reservation for you, he/she won't be able to make these reservations for free because the activated Japan Rail Pass is needed for free reservations. So, considering the relatively high risk of the carpet compartments being sold out on the day of travel, I recommend to avoid using the night train on the night of arrival or have a backup plan. by Uji rate this post as useful ... 2009/6/4 I am afraid the chance of sold out is big. For back up, you can take a train from tokyo to Nakaoka(長岡). At Nakaoka, there is a night train leaving for Osaka at 23:54. http://ekikara.jp/newdata/detail/1301153/43059.htm Sunrise has become so popular these days. I would highly suggest a back up plan. By the way, this night train is called Kitakuni. It has only seats as oppose to the carpet nobinobi of the Sunrise. by lester (guest) rate this post as useful night bus 2009/6/4 Just to clarify, the station that lester mentions 長岡 would be written as Nagaoka in romaji. Personally, unless you are really set on taking a night train, or have some fondness for trains, then the Nagaoka route would be quite a detour just to catch a night train (up to Niigata and then back down to Osaka). Rather, why not just take a late hikari train, and stay in Osaka or Himeji. You can easily find cheap hotels in that area. But if the point is to travel at night, and thus save sightseeing time and the cost of a hotel for a night, then I'd recommend the night bus instead. The fares are reasonable (~4000 yen), however you could easily find a hotel for less than the total bus fare. My family has used http://www.123bus.net before with a good experience, but their online system seems to be down. Give them a call, they take reservations over the phone in English. by yllwsmrf rate this post as useful