Reservations on Konotori 1 and Kamakaze 6

Ohayōgozaimasu

Are reservations required on the Limited Express Konotori 1 or 3 from Osaka to Kinosaki Onsen? We will have a Kansai Wide Area Pass and understand that it will cover the base fare, but not any reservation/seat fee. We wish to travel on Sunday 27 October 2019 and are unsure whether:

a) There are any? ...many? non-reserved seats on this service?
b) Being a Sunday might this be a popular local destination, and any unreserved seats be in high demand?
c) If so, how far in advance should we book our reservations to ensure we get a seat?

We plan to return Sunday evening on the Limited Express Kamakaze 6 to Himeji and the same questions apply. We don't want to get stranded overnight in Himeji as we fly back to Australia the next day.

Appreciate your advice.

Arigatōgozaimashita

The train configuration for Konotori is either a 4-car set or a 4+3-car set. There are two non-reserved cars for the 4-car configuration.
https://jprail.com/trains/sort-by-type/limited-express/limited-express...

For the return, the Hamakaze trains have one non-reserved car in a three car configuration
https://www.osakastation.com/the-limited-express-hamakaze-for-kinosaki...

You can check the booking for the reserved cars using the "cyberstaion" website, but it is in Japanese.

My experience regarding the nonreserved seats on the Konotori train:

2017, middle of april (monday or tuesday). No problems getting seats for 4 persons from the Shin Osaka station. If i remember correctly, then the load factor from Shin Osaka to Fukuchiyama was around 50%, maybe even less. We took back the train from Kinosaki Onsen around 18:00, and then maybe around 10 persons boarded the nonreserved train wagon.

2019, second part of the may. Used the Konotori during two different days (one was saturday or sunday, another was middle of the week). From JR Osaka - no problem getting seats for 4 persons. Again load factor wasn't that high on both days that we used that train service.

BR,
Lauri

Thank you both. Imagine April (cherry blossom) would have been busier than it will be in October. Sounds like we are good to go.