Train Reservations

Hi,
My wife and I are planning on visiting Japan this fall and are wanting to travel by train from Tokyo to Kyoto. Is it possible to reserve seats on the bullet trains from the US? If not, how hard is it to get reservation after arriving in Japan? We are planning to go off season.

Thanks,

Kevin

for a travel between Tokyo and Kyoto, it's yet impossible to book seats from overseas. Only the JR East(northern part of Honshu) has an overseas reservation system at the moment... However, when you're in Japan you can just go to any JR counter (midori no madoguchi, they are green usually) and ask for a reservation, even a few minutes before the train departure...
You can also buy non reserved tickets that you can use on any train of a given day in the in th non-reserved (jiyu) cars.

if you are returning to Tokyo from Kyoto within 7 days consider buying a 7 days JR pass. It cost the same as the normal return ticket Tokyo-Kyoto but you can also use it, within these 7 days, to travel outside Kyoto for several 1 day of 1/2 day excursions. google JR pass or/ and look for trains passes under the travel tab at the top or look at the FAQ questions about the JR pass on this forum. I always travel outside the busy tourist season and never had a problem reserving,even at the last minute.