Osaka to Sapporo and Sapporo to Tokyo

Hi Travelers who already been to Japan before,

I am Fuhans Puji Saputra and it is my first time traveling to Japan for holiday purposes, I have bought JR Pass which coverage for whole area for 7 days, and I am planning to go to Sapporo from Osaka by Shinkansen, since I have bought a JR Pass and I don't mind for a long journey from Osaka to Sapporo which takes around 12 hours by Shinkansen.

I have looked around from Hyperdia's website for things like where should I go and from which station should I looked into for the first stop from Osaka to Sapporo, and I am confused and I thought that Japan Travelers here have experienced about it and I would like to ask them.

I am arriving at Kansai International Airport (Osaka) at 10 PM on February 9, 2020.

Thus, my questions are:
1. From Osaka to Sapporo, from what time should I go to the station waiting for the first Shinkansen train which departs from Osaka to Sapporo? I have looked at Hypedia for this, and seems there is no Shinkansen train at 5.30 AM on February 10, 2020 which departs from Osaka to Sapporo?

2. From Sapporo to Tokyo, from what time should I go to the station waiting for the last Shinkansen train which departs from Sapporo to Tokyo? I have looked at Hyperdia for this, and I should depart from Sapporo to catch the train to make it all the way back to Tokyo is from 3 PM (where if I late a bit, then I have to wait for the next train from Hokuto to Tokyo at 6PM and waiting at here for like 6 hours) .

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Fuhans Puji Saputra

Hyperdia isn�ft working in my smartphone or I somehow don�ft know how to use it, but be aware that your route would Shin Osaka station (which is different from Osaka station) to Sapporo.

You cannot take Nozomi trains (there is a specific check box in hyperdia to exclude them. ) you also cannot take private railways but that�fs fine for this route as it is all JR.

You will need to change trains at least 2 times:
Shin Osaka -Tokyo (Shinkansen but not the fastest one with JRP)
Tokyo -Shin Hakodate Hokuto (Shinkansen)
Shin Hakodate Hokuto -Sapporo (normal train, although this is the shortest ride of all, it takes 3,5 h.

I would seriously question if using JRP is the right mode of transport for this far journey. You are spending 2 full days on trains and not getting off anywhere mid way. So I would take a flight directly from Osaka to New Chitose airport. Visit Sapporo and whatever else you want to visit in Hokkaido and then either take a train down to Tokyo if you want to stop over somewhere in between (Hakodate, Hiraizumi, Yamagata...) or fly back to Tokyo.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

Hi LikeBike ,

Thank you very much for your explanation, just now I did unchecked the option for "NOZOMI / MIZUHO / HAYABUSA (SHINKANSEN)" and "Private Railway", and the duration to go from Osaka to Sapporo is indeed 2 days by Shinkansen which is covered by JR Pass. I will readjusted my itinerary to go to Sapporo then, since it is not worth to go to Sapporo from Osaka by Shinkansen using JR Pass. Now I know that I can't take the Nozomi and Mizuho for the JR Pass that I have bought recently.

Also, I would like to ask again:

1.From Sapporo to Tokyo by Shinkansen, as I am curious about it, from the screenshot of the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/w8xbybvq2sumvlf/Capture.PNG?dl=0 , it says that the train from Sapporo departs at 16:39, and arrived at Tokyo at 09:35 , however, I have noticed that in the Morioka Station, the time is between 22:48 and 06:31 , do it means that I have to stay overnight at Morioka Station before continuing my journey to go to Tokyo then?

2. Is there any extra fees for JR Pass holders who like to reserve a seat in the Shinkansen trains? Do I need to go to the JR Pass ticket counter every time I need to reserve a seat? As I bring along with me the luggage of 28 inch, and I did research on the internet before that Shinkansen trains have limited space for the hand-carry luggage to be able to fit in and passengers have to reserve a seat in advance if they are bring luggage more than cabin size?

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Fuhans Puji Saputra

#1 it means you are arriving late at night in Morioka but the next train to Tokyo is not going to depart until the next morning. You�fll need a hotel in morioka or get an earlier train from Sapporo that still arrives in Tokyo that night. Probably something like 2 h earlier departure. You�fll need to reasearch that.

Note that there are discounted flight and low cost carriers. Discounted flighs by ANA and JAL are for foreign visitors only.

#2
You need to exchange your JRP voucher into a railpass once you arrive. Then with the railpass in hand you can do seat reservation. The easiest is to do them all in one go. Bring a paper with you with all the trains you want to take.

For luggage try to pack light. Or you could use luggage forwarding service. From May I think large luggage needs you to have a seat reservation in the last row. I don�ft know how this is going to play out, but I guess the last row will become very popular.

Theoretically it is not impossible to go from KIX to Sapporo by train (not Shinkansen: some parts are Shinkansen rides, some are not). It will take about 15 hrs as you see below. Hyperdia is not good tool for JR pass travelers using Tohoku/Hokkaido Shinkansen.

http://ur0.work/Ulun

From Sapporo to Tokyo, it will take about 8 hrs. Hyperdia shows results not using Hayabusa if you uncheck Nozomi, Mizuho and Hayabusa. If you take the route Hyperdia shows, of course you must stay overnight at Morioka.

http://ur0.work/01H9

Therefore, train travel to Sapporo and back is not realistic for most of the travelers. Instead you can take promotional fare for flights from KIX to CTS and CTS to Haneda (about 110 USD each).

https://www.ana.co.jp/en/sg/

Of course, if you are a train freak, you can do the train travel to and from Sapporo.

One more thing: you can stay overnight at a hotel around KIX, and if you are tough you can stay overnight at the airport for free.

Hi LikeBike and frog1954 ,

Thank you for your kind reply.

Well noted on this, i will plan it accordingly.

Just one more question though:

1. Do it charge for extra fees for JR Pass holders who would like to book the reserved seat at Shinkansen trains?

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Fuhans Puji Saputra

1. Do it charge for extra fees for JR Pass holders who would like to book the reserved seat at Shinkansen trains?

No.

http://ur0.work/Ulun

Note "0 yen" in this link.

Hi frog1954 ,

So it means that I can follow this link that you have mentioned: https://world.jorudan.co.jp/mln/en/japan-rail-pass/ for more accurate information on Shinkansen trains rather than Hyperdia?

Do it accurate for the trains schedule? like the following search that I just performed: https://world.jorudan.co.jp/mln/en/japan-rail-pass/?p=0&xpd=1&from=Sap...

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Fuhans Puji Saputra

So it means that I can follow this link that you have mentioned: https://world.jorudan.co.jp/mln/en/japan-rail-pass/ for more accurate information on Shinkansen trains rather than Hyperdia?

Yes. The problem with Hyperdia is that you can't uncheck Nozomi and Mizuho but not Hayabusa which you are allowed to use with Japan Rail Pass.

Do it accurate for the trains schedule? like the following search that I just performed: https://world.jorudan.co.jp/mln/en/japan-rail-pass/?p=0&xpd=1&from=Sap...

Yes. You can double check with Hyperdia, Nozomi/Mizuho/Hayabusa checkbox "ON".

http://www.hyperdia.com/en/cgi/en/search.html?dep_node=SAPPORO(JR)&arv...

As you see, both Jorudan and Hyperdia shows the same results: Sapporo 14:45 18:09 SHIN-HAKODATE-HOKUTO 18:40 23:03 Tokyo.