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Travel during busy season

Travelingfamily
Travelingfamily
almost 8 years ago
1 answer

Aloha Daniel-san

We are traveling to Japan this Winter holiday season, Dec. 21 to Jan 3. We have booked a stay in Tokyo, then Osaka, then Hiroshima, and then back to Tokyo for New Years. We plan to use the trains between cities, and within the cities themselves. We realize this is a busy time, and want to know if we can reserve seats ahead of time. How do we do this and which JR pass should we purchase. We will also have a college student traveling with us, she is on a US visa in Tokyo, how do we book her ticket as well ?

Thank you

Travelingfamily

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Daniel-san
19375 posts
almost 8 years ago
Expert

Aloha Travelingfamily,

The best JR Pass would depend on how many days you spend in each city, though both a 7 and 14 day JR Pass would be cost efficient for you.

Seat reservations can be made in person at any JR ticket window. The new year period (Dec 28th - Jan2nd) is especially busy. Here I recommend reserving seats 2-4 days in Advance, doing so will make sure you can get on the train that you'd want to get on.

Since you arrive on the 21st, I'd make the reservations in the first couple of days that you are in Japan. This way you will be secured for seats and can travel without worry. For the passenger without a JR Pass, just make the reservations together and buy the one ticket out of pocket. The JR Staff can seat you together right away.

Kind regards,
Daniel

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