Train Route

Hi,

I will be arriving Narita on 26 December at 18:00. I plan to purchase a JR pass to travel from Narita Airport to Lake Toya on 26 December. The detail is as follows :

1)Arrival Narita Airport at 18:00 on 26 December.
2) Board Ltd Exp Narita Express at Narita Airport at 6:46pm to Sendai (Miyagi). Will reach Sendai at 21:42.
3) From Sendai, will board Ltd Exp Hokutoseo at 23:30 to Toya (Muroran). Reach Toya at 08:37 the next day.

Is the above workable? Do you know if there is any vacancy in the sleeper train Hokutoseo? How can I book the seat in advance? And what is the additional charges I need to pay since JR pass does not cover sleeper train? Thanks.

Yes, it is fastest way to reach Toya from Narita by train.
As for Tokyo-Sendai, you can reserve following on line;

http://jreast-shinkansen-reservation.eki-net.com/pc/english/...

But you cannot reserve Hokutosei before arriving Japan and their 2nd class sleeper(JYE8870 additional to JR pass) seems to be sold out bu On-line status.

Some travel agencies may make reserve sleeper with some handling charge.
Please contact them;

https://act.jtbgmt.com/contact/contact01.asp

http://jtp.zashiki.com/simpleVC_20081218110406.html

"1)Arrival Narita Airport at 18:00 on 26 December.
2) Board Ltd Exp Narita Express at Narita Airport at 6:46pm to Sendai (Miyagi). Will reach Sendai at 21:42.
3) From Sendai, will board Ltd Exp Hokutoseo at 23:30 to Toya (Muroran). Reach Toya at 08:37 the next day.

Is the above workable? Do you know if there is any vacancy in the sleeper train Hokutoseo?"

I called JR Hokkaido to find all compartments on the Hokutosei are fully booked on 26th. You might consider alternatives, e.g. flight the following day, taking day time trains the following day.

If your arrival time is 18:00, if there is some delay in the flight (of course we do not want that but), you might not be able to make it to the trains planned (By the way, it will be Narita Express to Tokyo AND a shinkansen train to Sendai. You wil need to make one connection there.). Please take that into consideration.

And another thing.... I don't know where you are flying from, but would you want to be on trains through the night after your flight into Japan? You could possibly fly from Narita to Shin-chitose airport? Just a thought.

Though this isn't an option for you anymore, the additional sleeper charge in second class on Hokutosei for JR Pass holder is 12,150 yen, BTW.
http://gutereise09.blogspot.com/2008/08/way-to-hokkaido-from...