Sapporo to Tokyo

Hello there,

Travel from Sapporo to Tokyo is indeed long, it takes a good 10 hours during the day. Here is an example route in Hyperdia. The Hayabusa Shinkansen between Shin-Aomori and Tokyo is covered by the JR Pass which is one of the fastest shinkansen in Japan.

It's a long trip but well worth making, I have done so a couple of times myself. The view from Sapporo - Hakodate is especially nice and I would recommend trying to get a seat on the left side of the train.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Hi Daniel-san

Thanks for your help (although I can't seem to view the Hyperdia link that you sent clearly). And by Hayabasu Shinkansen, does that show up as a different name on Hyperdia? as I can't seem to find that or the Tohoku Shinkansen listed.

Furthermore, I'm assuming this means that the limited express trains between Sapporo-Hakodate (Ltd. Express Super Hokuto) and Hakodate-Shin Aomori (Ltd. Express Super Hakucho) are covered by the JR Pass as well?

Thanks Again.

Hi again!

I fixed the link and should work now.

Those limited express trains are indeed covered, as well as any other JR train in Hokkaido.

Hi Daniel

Thanks for the fix!

I have one more question regarding the trip from Sapporo to Tokyo. If I do not plan to travel in the day, I've found that there's the Hamanasu night train that runs between Sapporo and Shin-Aomori station.

I was wondering whether the JR Pass can cover this trip if I do not choose to stay in a shared or private compartment?

Ie. Will it cover the nobinobi carpet cars / normal seats?

Hi again!

Ah the Hamanasu, it's a train which will give Japanese a nostalgic feeling. As in the 1960-1970's it was very common to travel by night train in Japan. Now only a few are left and one of those is the Hamanasu. A normal seat in the Hamanasu is covered by the JR Pass. These are however normal / reclining seats, so you can't lie down. Try to reserve tickets as soon as you can as the Hamanasu can be sold out days, sometimes weeks in advance.

I was unable to sleep on the Hamanasu but even so it's a great experience looking out of the window during the night and seeing lights in the distance pass by,