Hello!

I am traveling to Japan in October and am in need of some help making sense of the Shinkansen schedules.

I would like to travel from Kyoto to Tokyo on a Saturday morning, and return from Tokyo to Kyoto on Saturday night.

The issues I am having: Google Maps will only show me the Nozomi line, which as I understand is not covered by the rail pass. I was most likely going to purchase the rail pass, UNLESS I will not be able to utilize it for my day trip to Tokyo.

For the life of me, I cannot get Google to show me the Hikari line. Can someone answer if the Hikari does indeed service from Kyoto Station to Ueno Station or if there is a trick to traveling from Kyoto to Tokyo with the rail pass, and without using the Kodama line?

And, also, I would like to know the earliest train departure so that I can plan my day in Tokyo, but it's hard to plan anything without knowing my approximate arrival time. How early do the trains run? Likewise... how late can I return to Kyoto? What time do the trains run until at night?



A few additional questions:

Will I be able to use the rail pass to travel from Osaka to Kyoto?

If so - will I be able to reserve seats if I purchase a rail pass in advance, as I will need large luggage space?



Thank you for any help or advice!

the Hikari does indeed service from Kyoto Station to Tokyo Station and you would transfer to Hokuriku shinkansen or some local train to get to Ueno

earliest train departure: Hikari No.634 (Series N700) (For Tokyo)
Kyoto 6:26 - 9:09 Tokyo

you will be able to use the rail pass to travel from Osaka to Kyoto. There are frequent JR rapid trains from Osaka station to Kyoto.

Yes, you can get reserved seats in advance (at no charge with a JR Pass). You would be required to reserve space for large luggage - I think you have to pay for this.

What is your itinerary in Japan? Am guessing you're not just taking a day trip with large luggage. Large luggage should be shipped using the delivery service (takkyubin is the common name).

Timetable link below. Note that the shinkansen uses Shin-Osaka station, not Osaka station. Osaka station is in the city. You would take a JR line out to Shin-Osaka.

Osaka-Tokyo.pdf (snowmonkeyresorts.com)

Tokyo-Kyoto
Hikari 663
20:12 - 22:57

How to Get From Tokyo to Kyoto Japan Rail Pass | Japan Travel by NAVITIME - Japan Travel Guides, Transit Search and Itinerary Planner

Now that Hyperdia is no more, everybody has their own favorite train timetable search engine.

WestJR site timetable search covers the area where you are traveling:
https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/timetable/#timetable

After entering your Departure station and Destination station, click on the "Search" button.

On the next page, enter your date/time, as well as check the box in front of "Exclude Nozomi/Mizuho".

Then the results will exclude the Nozomi Shinkansen trains.

That's a good one, thanks Reading54.
Notes:
- it is not just for JR West (it found Hakata - Isahaya, JR Kyushu, as well as the JR Central route that OP wants)
- date selection goes out 6 weeks, but that is ok (timetable is good for a while and doesn't change much when it does)
- default time is current time in Japan. Using 03:00 found no trains but 04:00 did, though 05:00 is early enough to find first train.
- like that when I tried Fukuoka-Tokyo it chose Hakata as the default while also showing other options with Fukuoka in the name

oh, a user guide:
Using “Timetable & Route Finder” | JR-WEST (jr-odekake.net)

Thank you everyone for the help and advice!! This has been so helpful