reserving tickets on JR

hihi
would be using the JRpass in the coming trip oct. would be my first time doing sleeper trains and shinkansen. can anyone advise on how to reserve the seats and would the seats be sold out? for eg trains like the sunrise seto (osaka to tokyo). Arigato !

Simply walk up to a ticket counter "Midori no Madoguchi" which is the office with the big green JR clearly displayed. Hand over your pass and tell them when, where from and where to and they will do the rest. It helps to write down the date and time of your proposed train to hand it to the booking clerk. You can also help yourself by having a map and pointing to the departure and arrival cities. Then you could get lucky and crack it for an English speaker but don't rely on it.
As for booked out...the only time it is a problem is at holiday or special periods. I don't use sleeper trains so cannot offer advice on those.

thanks rod.
if we are going from tokyo to osaka, then from osaka to hakata. can we reserve the tickets for osaka to hakata in tokyo? can we reserve tickets in advance? thanks

if we are going from tokyo to osaka, then from osaka to hakata. can we reserve the tickets for osaka to hakata in tokyo? can we reserve tickets in advance?

Yes, you can. You could nominate the starting date of the JR pass up to one month ahead when you have your pass validated, and book train seats at the same time.

Narita Airport arrival procedure guide ( Terminal 1 ):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71736073@N00/2642599599/

JR Pass validation procedure etc:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71736073@N00/194366118/

Thanks soooo much !
lets say my JR pass starts on oct 25. i reach tokyo on the 24 oct. can i take a night train that is after midnight? like 0034hrs since 0034 is already 25 oct?

lets say my JR pass starts on oct 25. i reach tokyo on the 24 oct. can i take a night train that is after midnight? like 0034hrs since 0034 is already 25 oct?

Yes, the JR pass is valid from the midnight of day 1. However if you intend to take the Nobinobi seat on the Sunrise train, you might prepare an alternative plan in case it's full. I hear it's often sold out.