JJapan Trips

What are alternative options to get to Hakodate (Hokkaido) from Tokyo?

We originally intended to simply ride the Hayabusa Shinkansen all the way to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto.

However this plan seems impossible, because we are going around 11th-13th of August and nearly all shinkansen are fully booked for those dates.

Due to certain circumstances, we can’t reserve seats until the 2nd of August, so we might possibly not get a reservation for the Hayabusa.

So we’d appreciate it if someone could give us some advice on this matter.

(Obviously we should have chosen a different date to depart, but that’s not up for discussion anymore)

6 comments

  2. HKD is the airport code for Hakodate. It does look like flights are relatively expensive for that date – Aug 11 is a national holiday (Yama-no-hi, Mountain Day). Air Do has flights at ~$400, JAL has one at $521, for roundtrip (HND<->HKD).

  3. Sunflower operates ferry service from Oarai to Tomakomai, assuming u can fly in to Ibaraki

    Then u can transfer to JR, or get a rental car to get to Hakodate. The ferry journey is comfortable just that the travelling time will be much longer than Shinkansen or the plane. If u r not in a hurry, it’s something worth considering

  4. Flying, doing Seishun 18 Kippu run (via Shinjo, Odate and Hirosaki) and Aomori-Hakodate ferry or Oarai to Tomakomai ferry.

  5. Is the entire length of the Hayabusa fully booked or just between Tokyo and Sendai? During New Years, Tokyo to Sendai/Sendai to Tokyo was the busy part of the route, and I couldn’t get a reservation from Sendai southward on anything. (Hayabusa or Yamabiko.) In my case, I went up to Morioka (I was at Shin-Hanamaki) and changed to the Yamabiko (it starts there) and grabbed two non-reserved seats. I then had seats all the way to Tokyo.

    If Sendai is the sticking point, another option would be to arrive early and do non-reserved seats on a Yamabiko from Tokyo to Sendai and then switch to a Hayabusa in Sendai for Shin-Hakodate.

    If the problem is through Morioka, you can take a Yamabiko all the way to Morioka. (again, non-reserved so go to the platform a good 20 minutes before your train leaves and do this from Tokyo Station not Ueno.)

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