Getting from Odawara to Sapporo

Hi Lili,

Going from Odawara to Sapporo is a pretty straight forward process but will require a good amount of time and includes a couple of transfers.

There are a couple of options available, including traveling partly by night train. The route itself is Odawara --> Tokyo --> Aomori --> Hakodate --> Sapporo and will take about 11-12 hours all together.

First take the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo, here you have two options:
One is to transfer to the Tohoku Shinkansen and take a bullet train to Aomori, from here you can either use normal trains to travel on to Sapporo with a last tranfer at Hakodate or you can try to get on the Hamanasu night train, which travels to Sapporo overnight.

Option two is to travel to Tokyo and take a night train from here to Aomori and travel on the night morning from Aomori to Sapporo. The night train betweek Tokyo (Ueno) and Aomori is called the Akebono).

Both options are completely covered by the JRPass, however do note that night trains get booked quickly and you will have to make reservations several days in advance.

I hope this helps!
-Daniel

Dear Daniel,
Thank for your useful information.
We're two couples and we're going to lend in Japan on Spt. 25 2013.
Our plan is to get from Odawara to. Sapporo on Oct. 16.
My question is: when and where I have to make the reservation for the Hamanasi.
I understand that this train are very popular and it is not easy to find places.
What is the cost for slippers?
Thanks from advance for you answer.
Lili.

Hi Lili,

You can make reservations for the train at any manned JR counter in Japan. You can do so the moment that you activate your JR Pass (even if the first day of use is in the future). This does mean that you have to be in Japan.

About slippers, none are provided on the train but you can pick up a pair at almost every 100Yen shop for well 100Yen, which is a bargain.

Enjoy Japan!
-Daniel