booking a JR reserved seat the week trains actually sell out
for the Tokyo-side JR East lines. steps in order, in the order I actually do them.
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1
wifi in some stations is bad enough that setting up an account there is miserable
2
Register with your passport number and an email you'll actually check
3
add a credit card, and have a backup ready
not every foreign card goes through on the first try. mine failed on a Amex once and worked fine on a Visa two minutes later
4
search by the exact station name, not the city name
typing a region name sometimes defaults to the shinkansen stop instead of the local JR station you actually want. check it before paying
5
reserve the seat as soon as the search shows availability
good windows (aisle near the luggage rack) go first on weekends heading toward onsen towns, especially in autumn
6
pay immediately once you've picked a seat
hold only lasts a few minutes, I've lost a seat to my own slow scrolling before
7
link the reservation to your IC card at a ticket gate machine before boarding
off-peak this takes 30 seconds. do it the moment you arrive at the station, not right before your train
8
screenshot the QR code anyway
in case the platform has no signal when you need to show it
Or start a list of your own — free, it takes a minute.