Back in Tokyo - holiday trains

We arrived back in Tokyo last night.  JR did magnificently with holiday crowds.  They seem to know the patterns of people movement well. The Hanawa sen had an extra carriage on the way up, but not on the way back (3 carriages vs 2 carriages).  Despite the snow, and crowds there were minimal delays (3 mins late leaving Morioka which wouldn't be enough to even be reported most places).
The NY is staggered this year.  Hiro returns to work today, many other people (who have companies with a little imagination) have today (Friday) off as well & will return over the weekend.   The train on the way up and  back were fully booked (people were standing on an all booked seats train).  But it didn't feel crowded anywhere.

Shenkansen on holiday timetables at Omiya station.  The Tokyo bound trains are on  the right, the north bound
(Sendai, Morioka, Aomori, Nagano, Niigata) on the left.

We had the good fortune of catching the Hayabusa

The Hanawa sen had beautiful scenery, as usual, though the condensation
inside and the snow fall outside made it difficult to see it.
http://ponkanchan.blogspot.jp/2011/01/snow-country.html

The Hanawa sen at Kazuno on the way up.