Reserving train tickets?

Hi,

I arrive at Narita Airport on the 16th or Feb. I am travelling all around tokyo and down towards hiroshima and will be using several shinkansen (I have a JR pass). I was wondering, I want to reserve all my shinkansen tickets when I arrive at Narita Airport to save time. Is it difficult to reserve tickets due to language barriers? I was going to write all the details down on paper and just hand it over. Would this be a smart thing to do? Also, should I reserve my return Narita Express ticket to the airport at the same time as reserving the shinkansen?

Thanks!

The airport staff should be very knowledge able in their language ability as they probably see people of all countries everyday.

But writing it down helps.

It isn't too difficult if you are visiting the major points, those tickets are easy to issue.

As for the return reservation I woulnd't suggest it, schedules change etc, and the NEX is hardly ever (outside major travel holiday period) sold out to begin with.

Thanks for that!

So, if I were to write it down on paper, should I just write down the 'to' and 'from' destinations, time, date, number of passangers? There is a website called Hyperdia.com where you can enter your travel details and you can find out the train number and its reservation number (for Narita and Shinkansen's that is). Should I include these?

Thanks again!

To each his/her own but I hate to be tied up by trains scheduled days in advance as I like to change plans depending on last minute circumstances like drastic weather changes or a town being either more interesting-- or much less-- than I originally thought and yes I have either canceled the rest of a stay already booked in a hotel or, at other times, extended that stay. I have done that in Japan, France, England, the USA. etc. . Unless you travel when all of Japan is also going away it is more than enough to reserve a train the evening before.

To each his/her own but I hate to be tied up by trains scheduled days in advance as I like to change plans depending on last minute circumstances like drastic weather changes or a town being either more interesting

However, making all your reservations at once doesn't lock you into that schedule. With the JR Pass you are free to change your reservations at anytime. Just make sure to do so in a timely manner so that you don't prevent someone else from using the seat.

Thanks so much for that guys! That clears it up. I had no idea that you could cancel/change reservations with the JR pass. I'll probably reserve them and change if absolutely necessary!

Thanks again!