Booking hotels at train stations

Hi,

I'm trying to plan a trip to Japan and I'm going to try and get off the beaten path (it would be my third trip) and get to some of the locations I haven't seen yet.

Having traveled with both the Japan Rail Pass and the Seishun Juuhachi Kippu, I've fallen in love with the freedom and flexibility of not having to book ahead of time and just getting on the train and go.

This time I'd like to take it a step further and not even book hotels ahead of time if it's possible, completely ridding myself of any time constraints other than my flight home. So what I would like to know is, is it feasable to book hotel reservations upon arrival at the train station of the city where I'd like to spend the night. I've understood that most major train stations have a kind of reservation desk for such purposes.

I'd like to take the trip from Kyuushuu to Hokkaidou, staying predominantly in smaller cities. I've only just begun planning, but cities I'd like to go to include Kagoshima, Beppu and Tottori.

I don't think language will be much of a factor when booking as I speak decent Japanese (JLPT Level 2) and have booked reservations in Japanese before.

Thanks in advance!

I've done what you're considering quite often. It has two caveats, however. First, you have to be willing to pay a bit more for lodging to get a room that's open, and second, you might have to ride city buses a ways to get to the open hotel/ryokan.

Also, never walk into the front desk without a reservation. You can call from the lobby of the hotel across to the front desk first, but just walking in seems to have negative connotations. A quick call gives your request legitimacy.

The cities you've listed have large info desks so there should be no problem with language and directions. If you go smaller, some Japanese would be very helpful.

I would personally suggest that you keep a list of all the TICs offices and drop by there and book.
Plus it saves you time from "hopping" from one hotel to another if there isn't any vacancy.

Or you could also keep a list of phone numbers of hotels you would like to stay in and call the day before you decide to check-in?