Hokkaido is the northernmost among four main islands in Japan. More than five million people live in the island, and its capital city Sapporo has a population of nearly two million people. Sapporo has dominated the local economy, and it has been popular among tourists. Hence, transport between Tokyo and Sapporo has been heavily used by millions of people.
Today, very few people use trains. According to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, over 6.2 million people travelled from Tokyo to Hokkaido by air while just 190 thousand people chose trains in 2019 (before the pandemic). However, most people travelled by trains in 1973 because flights were not as common and affordable as they are today. This article consists of three main sections: the train journeys in 1973, those in 2023, and sleeper trains that ran in 1988-2015.
Ueno to Sapporo in 1973
Before getting into the whole journeys between Tokyo and Sapporo, it is worth noting that there were ferry services between Aomori and Hakodate. In 1954, a ferry sank amid a powerful typhoon claiming at least 1,155 lives. That was why Seikan Tunnel was constructed (and opened in 1988).
In 1973, there were seven ferries registered in total, and each ferry was as large as 5,300 tonnes. There were 20 Class B (standard class) beds, 310 Green (first class) seats and 870 standard seats. The ferry timetable from Aomori to Hakodate was as follows.
| Aomori | Hakodate |
|---|---|
| 5:25 | 9:15 |
| 7:30 | 11:20 |
| 10:15 | 14:05 |
| 12:05 | 15:55 |
| 14:35 | 18:25 |
| 17:00 | 20:50 |
| 19:50 | 23:40 |
| 0:35 | 4:25 |
There were more services during holidays, but regular services were as such.
From Tokyo to Sapporo, Japanese National Railways provided six sets of services a day with the abovementioned ferry as listed below.
| Ueno | Aomori | Hakodate | Sapporo | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (dep) | (arr) | (dep) | (arr) | (dep) | (arr) |
| 11:05 | 19:30 | 19:50 | 23:40 | 23:59 | 6:13 |
| Hatsukari 2 | ferry | Suzuran 6 | |||
| 16:00 | 0:15 | 0:35 | 4:25 | 4:45 | 8:55 |
| Hatsukari 4 | ferry | Ozora 1 | |||
| 20:00 | 5:08 | 5:25 | 9:15 | 9:35 | 13:45 |
| Yuzuru 2 | ferry | Ozora 2 | |||
| 22:30 | 7:10 | 7:30 | 11:20 | 11:40 | 15:48 |
| Hakutsuru | ferry | Ozora 3 | |||
| 23:05 | 9:55 | 10:15 | 14:05 | 14:25 | 18:36 |
| Yuzuru 5 | ferry | Hokuto 1 | |||
| 23:21 | 11:39 | 12:05 | 15:55 | 16:15 | 20:38 |
| Towada 4 | ferry | Hokuto 2 | |||
There were many limited express and express services from Ueno to Aomori as shown in the past article. Towada was an express train that ran via Joban Line (the same route as Limited Express Yuzuru). Limited Express Hokuto, Ozora and Express Suzuran ran via Muroran Main and Chitose Lines.
As the timetable shows, the journeys between Tokyo and Sapporo were exhausting. The fastest one took nearly 17 hours even when all services ran on time. It may sound ridiculous today, but railway transport was in fact the most affordable for the majority of people 50 years ago.
Tokyo to Sapporo in 2023
Today, Tohoku Shinkansen high-speed trains run from Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, which is about 18 km (11 miles) north of Hakodate station. Limited Express Hokuto calls at the station with annoyingly long name as well. The timetable from Tokyo to Sapporo is as follows.
| Tokyo | Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto | Sapporo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (dep) | (arr) | (dep) | (arr) |
| 6:32 | 10:53 | 11:05 | 14:38 |
| Hayabusa 1 | Hokuto 9 | ||
| 8:20 | 12:17 | 12:34 | 16:04 |
| Hayabusa 7 | Hokuto 11 | ||
| 9:36 | 13:33 | 13:50 | 17:30 |
| Hayabusa 13 | Hokuto 13 | ||
| 10:44 | 15:01 | 15:20 | 18:47 |
| Hayabusa 19 | Hokuto 15 | ||
| 12:20 | 16:30 | 16:58 | 20:35 |
| Hayabusa 23 | Hokuto 17 | ||
| 13:20 | 17:47 | 18:11 | 21:37 |
| Hayabusa 25 | Hokuto 19 | ||
| 14:20 | 18:29 | 19:06 | 22:41 |
| Hayabusa 27 | Hokuto 21 | ||
Needless to say, the duration was significantly reduced. The fastest journey today takes less than eight hours. Sadly, almost nobody (probably except a few enthusiasts) uses trains as flights are incomparably faster and often cheaper than trains. Those in Europe who are familiar with the word flygskam might think that the timetable above is not bad, but it is not regarded as a feasible option in Japan so far.
Sleeper Trains
Finally, it might be interesting to look into two sleeper trains: Hokutosei and Cassiopeia. They were limited express trains that ran between Ueno and Sapporo, and had been very popular among tourists. Hokutosei was launched when Seikan Tunnel was opened in 1988, with up to three trains a day. JR East launched Cassiopeia which consisted only of Class A beds (first class) in 1999, and it ran every other day. They were discontinued in 2015 and 2016 respectively as the high-speed rail was extended to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto.
In 2014, the timetable of these trains was as follows.
| Cassiopeia | Hokutosei | |
|---|---|---|
| Ueno | 16:20 | 19:03 |
| Omiya | 16:45 | 19:30 |
| Utsunomiya | 17:48 | 20:29 |
| Koriyama | 19:13 | 21:53 |
| Fukushima | 19:52 | 22:29 |
| Sendai | 20:59 | 23:30 |
| Ichinoseki | 22:08 | - |
| Morioka | 23:16 | - |
| Hakodate | 5:08 | 6:49 |
| Mori | 5:53 | 7:38 |
| Yakumo | 6:19 | 8:05 |
| Oshamambe | 6:43 | 8:29 |
| Toya | 7:13 | 8:59 |
| Datemombetsu | 7:25 | 9:16 |
| Higashi-Muroran | 7:46 | 9:36 |
| Noboribetsu | 8:01 | 9:51 |
| Tomakomai | 8:34 | 10:21 |
| Minami-Chitose | 8:55 | 10:41 |
| Sapporo | 9:32 | 11:15 |
These trains were purely for tourists, not for business purposes. Their schedules apparently served the purpose, but they were discontinued. Had there been sleeper trains even today, they would have been used heavily by foreign tourists with Japan Rail Pass.
