Reservation required from Tokyo to Kanazawa?

Hi people, I will be traveling from Tokyo to Kanazawa with 2 kids under 6 years old in Feb 2020 and am just wondering if the train services from Tokyo to Kanazawa (Hakutaka) and Kanazawa to Kyoto (Thunderbird) will be crowded or if there will be plenty of empty seats in the non-reserved area? Just thinking if I sould get a child Hokuriku Arch pass for my 5 yr old..

During mornings and evenings, the trains tend to be quite crowded. During the day a little less, but they can also be crowded. I always recommend to make seat reservations for peace of mind and comfort. As for Kagayaki trains, the fastest train category between Tokyo and Kanazawa, it does not carry non-reserved seats and a seat reservation is mandatory. The same is not true for the Hakutaka trains.

Thank you Uji, by your experience, will the train be crowded if it departs at about 930am on weekdays?

Or if the train departs at 12pm on weekdays.

You can check train loadings using the JR cyberstation website (in Japanese, but pretty simple to use).
http://www.jr.cyberstation.ne.jp/vacancy/Vacancy.html
For February I woul dnot expect the trains to be especially crowded, but the capacity on the Tokyo-Kanazawa link is reduced as 1/3rd of the fleet were submerged/flooded in October. As reservations only add a tiny amount to the cost, no reason not to reserve.

Hi!

OP, someone explained this to me in 2016 when my child was 5, but if you have a child in a non-reserved seat and you did not pay for their ticket (i.e. they are free) if someone else boards and needs that seat, they will need to relinquish it. So the non-reserved seat next to you is only "free" for your kids if no one else needs it.

I admit, when I went to Japan with my then 5 year old, I did pay for tickets for her on longer trips because I had zilch desire to have a 5 year old on my lap for 2+ hours. For local transport I let her sit on my lap though.

Good luck!

when my child was 5, but if you have a child in a non-reserved seat and you did not pay for their ticket (i.e. they are free) if someone else boards and needs that seat, they will need to relinquish it
Usually an infant under six is free when they do not occupy a seat. If you use a reserved car and a seat, then the child fare applies.

Thank you all for the information!