bronzeonion Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Hi everyone, Me and a friend are planning to go to Japan for two weeks in November and we have plans to go on the Akebono sleeper service. Reading about the Akebono on http://jprail.com/travel-informations/akebomo.html I'm interested in reserving a seat in the 'Goron-to-Seat' part of the train. Does anyone here have any experience of booking this or have any idea how early it becomes fully booked? Thanks in advance. :) Link to comment
bikkuri bahn Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 Given that November is off season, you should have no problem with reservations, especially if your travel date is mid-week. Just reserve as soon as you arrive at Narita AP station (or whatever is the nearest JR Station with a reservation office). Link to comment
bronzeonion Posted September 8, 2013 Author Share Posted September 8, 2013 That's great, thank you! Link to comment
westfalen Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 I can't sp[eak from experience of the Goron-to-Seats, but when my two friends and I visited Japan last year we planned to travel from Ueno to Aomori on the Akebono on Dec 2nd but at the JR reservations office at Narita Airport when we arrived five nights before we wanted to travel we were told the train was booked out and ended up going to Hakodate on the Hokutosei on which there appeared to be plenty of space. Link to comment
bikkuri bahn Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 This site gives the current available seat info for Akebono Ueno-Akita for the current week: http://www.akita-train.jp/ticket/exp.html At the bottom: berths still available for Ueno departures except the 13th and 15th, which happen to be Friday and Sunday... Apparently you can also get similar info from this website(for any JR train with reserved seating): http://www.jr.cyberstation.ne.jp/vacancy/Vacancy.html *all Japanese language only *seats on JR trains can reserved up to a month beforehand Link to comment
bronzeonion Posted September 9, 2013 Author Share Posted September 9, 2013 I can't sp[eak from experience of the Goron-to-Seats, but when my two friends and I visited Japan last year we planned to travel from Ueno to Aomori on the Akebono on Dec 2nd but at the JR reservations office at Narita Airport when we arrived five nights before we wanted to travel we were told the train was booked out and ended up going to Hakodate on the Hokutosei on which there appeared to be plenty of space. Hmm not sure if the date you travelled on counts as part of the Christmas season Link to comment
bronzeonion Posted September 9, 2013 Author Share Posted September 9, 2013 This site gives the current available seat info for Akebono Ueno-Akita for the current week:http://www.akita-train.jp/ticket/exp.html At the bottom: berths still available for Ueno departures except the 13th and 15th, which happen to be Friday and Sunday... Apparently you can also get similar info from this website(for any JR train with reserved seating): http://www.jr.cyberstation.ne.jp/vacancy/Vacancy.html *all Japanese language only *seats on JR trains can reserved up to a month beforehand Thanks for that, that will be very useful Is there a way to see available space further in advance than the current week? For example a month because that's when tickets are first released for sale. Link to comment
bikkuri bahn Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 (edited) Thanks for that, that will be very useful Is there a way to see available space further in advance than the current week? For example a month because that's when tickets are first released for sale. I believe the cyber station site gives seating info for up to 30 days before the travel date. Dec. 2 last year was a Sunday. Likely there were quite a few people needing to get back to Akita by Monday morning. If you're concerned, better to arrange your itinerary to travel on the sleeper Monday~Thursday, or on Saturday night. The Akebono is not a tourist cruise train like the Cassie or Hokutosei, it likely still serves the traditional sleeper train passengers- students, people who need to get from the capital to the smaller cities on the Japan Sea side, etc. Edited September 9, 2013 by bikkuri bahn Link to comment
bronzeonion Posted September 9, 2013 Author Share Posted September 9, 2013 I believe the cyber station site gives seating info for up to 30 days before the travel date. Dec. 2 last year was a Sunday. Likely there were quite a few people needing to get back to Akita by Monday morning. If you're concerned, better to arrange your itinerary to travel on the sleeper Monday~Thursday, or on Saturday night. The Akebono is not a tourist cruise train like the Cassie or Hokutosei, it likely still serves the traditional sleeper train passengers- students, people who need to get from the capital to the smaller cities on the Japan Sea side, etc. Yeah, that's one of the reasons I am going on the Akebono as I believe it is actually the last remaining proper sleeper train to depart from the Tokyo area on a regular basis. Other reasons include obviously the cheaper Goron to Seat option and rather than a modern EF510, the locomotive is a lovely EF64 then an EF81! Link to comment
westfalen Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Yeah, that's one of the reasons I am going on the Akebono as I believe it is actually the last remaining proper sleeper train to depart from the Tokyo area on a regular basis. Other reasons include obviously the cheaper Goron to Seat option and rather than a modern EF510, the locomotive is a lovely EF64 then an EF81! The same reasons we were trying for it last year but rail pass users only being allowed to make reservations after you've arrived in Japan and gotten your pass has foiled my plans on a few occasions when I've wanted to ride specific trains. It's not so bad if you're staying for two weeks or more and the train you want to reserve space on is towards the end of your trip. Link to comment
bronzeonion Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="westfalen" data-cid="87010" data-time="1378766969"><p> The same reasons we were trying for it last year but rail pass users only being allowed to make reservations after you've arrived in Japan and gotten your pass has foiled my plans on a few occasions when I've wanted to ride specific trains. It's not so bad if you're staying for two weeks or more and the train you want to reserve space on is towards the end of your trip.</p></blockquote> Well we are staying for 2 weeks so will try to make a reservation on arrival at Narita, it is also off season so we should be ok as already pointed out by bikkuri. It also provides 2 nights of free accomodation! Link to comment
bronzeonion Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 Sorry for bumping an oldish thread but does anybody know what time the Akebono arrives at Ueno station from the depot out of service before it enters service? Link to comment
miyakoji Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 In this blog from 2010, the author talks about a 9:15 PM departure, and the movement into the station is at 8:50 PM: http://raist.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2010-04-04 . Is the departure still at 9:15? Link to comment
bronzeonion Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 In this blog from 2010, the author talks about a 9:15 PM departure, and the movement into the station is at 8:50 PM: http://raist.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2010-04-04 . Is the departure still at 9:15? Yes departure is 21:15 still Thank you for the information Link to comment
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