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Sunday, December 4, 2016

Know Your Trains: Sanyo Shinkansen

Edit 28 May 2018: Updated with new map.

An N700-Series (left) and a 500-Series (right) Shinkansen at Nishi-Akashi Station.
Takeshi Kuboki from Amagasaki, Japan / CC BY
The Sanyo Shinkansen (山陽新幹線, San'yō Shinkansen) is a high-speed rail line travelling from Shin-Osaka Station to Hakata Station in Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu.  It was the second line in the Shinkansen network, opening in 1975.  It connects cities including Osaka, Kobe, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kitakyushu, and Fukuoka, in a minimum of two and a half hours end-to-end.  Its maximum speed limit is 300 kilometres per hour, or about 185 miles per hour.

Times

Five types of services run on the Sanyo Shinkansen.  The full-stop Kodama runs the full length of the line from Shin-Osaka to Hakata, separate from its counterpart on the Tokaido Shinkansen. The full-stop Hikari and limited-stop Nozomi continue on from the Tokaido line.  Finally the limited-stop Sakura and Mizuho continue on the Kyushu Shinkansen.

Name Colour* Start Station End Station(s) Time** Frequency***
Kodama Blue Shin-Osaka Hakata 4½ hours 1 per hour
Hikari Red Tokyo (Tokaido)
Shin-Osaka 		Okayama 75 minutes 1 per hour
Nozomi Yellow Tokyo (Tokaido)
Shin-Osaka 		Hakata 2½ hours 3-4 per hour
Sakura Pink Shin-Osaka Hakata
Kagoshima-Chuo (Kyushu) 		3 hours 1-2 per hour
Mizuho Orange Shin-Osaka Hakata
Kagoshima-Chuo (Kyushu) 		2½ hours 6 per day
* The colour associated with each particular service on signboards, etc.
** Approximate time between Shin-Osaka and Hakata stations, unless otherwise noted.
*** Departure frequency is based on November 2016 schedules and are subject to change.

Stops
A map of the Sanyo Shinkansen and its stops.
Each of the five services on the Sanyo Shinkansen have different stopping patterns.  Below is a list of stations on the line, along with the stopping patterns of all five services.

Name (English) Name (Japanese) Prefecture Kodama Hikari Nozomi Sakura Mizuho
Shin-Osaka 新大阪 Osaka X X X X X
Shin-Kobe 新神戸 Hyogo X X X X X
Nishi-Akashi 西明石 X X I I I
Himeji 姫路 X X O O O
Aioi 相生 X O I I I
Okayama 岡山 Okayama X X X X X
Shin-Kurashiki 新倉敷 X O I I I
Fukuyama 福山 Hiroshima X O O X I
Shin-Onomichi 新尾道 X O I I I
Mihara 三原 X O I I I
Higashi-Hiroshima 東広島 X O I I I
Hiroshima 広島 X O X X X
Shin-Iwakuni 新岩国 Yamaguchi X I I I I
Tokuyama 徳山 X I O O I
Shin-Yamaguchi 新山口 X I O O I
Asa 厚狭 X I I I I
Shin-Shimonoseki 新下関 X I I I I
Kokura 小倉 Fukuoka X I X X X
Hakata 博多 X I X X X
Legend
X: All trains stop at this station.
O: Some trains stop at this station.
I: No trains stop at this station.

Notable stops
  • Shin-Osaka: The economic and culinary centre of the Kansai region.
  • Shin-Kobe: A port city with one of Japan's three major Chinatowns.
  • Himeji: Home of Japan's most famous original castle.
  • Okayama: Gateway to the island of Shikoku, and home to a famous landscape garden.
  • Hiroshima: The first city in the world struck with an atomic bomb, now a monument to world peace.
  • Shin-Iwakuni: A town with a famous multi-arched bridge.
  • Kokura: The main station in Kitakyushu.
  • Hakata: The main station in Fukuoka, the largest city on Kyushu.
Seating
    Sakura and Mizuho trains make up for fewer Green Car seats with regular reserved seats (pictured)
    that are arranged 4 to a row and are almost as comfortable as Green seats.
    衛兵隊衛士 / CC BY-SA
    Apart from stopping patterns, the five services also differ in their seating layout.  On the Sanyo Shinkansen, Kodama, Sakura, and Mizuho trains run with 8 cars instead of 16.  Reserved seats on these trains are laid out in a 2+2 pattern, similar to Green Cars, and are almost as comfortable, although their seat pitch is the same as non-reserved seating, at (an admittedly still spacious) 104 cm (41 in).  Only half of one car is designated as Green on Sakura and Mizuho trains, and Kodama have no Green Cars altogether.

    Service Total Cars Non-Reserved Cars Reserved Cars Green Cars
    Kodama 8 5
    (Cars #1-3, 7-8)     		3
    (Cars #4-6)     		0
    Hikari 16 5
    (Cars #1-5)     		8
    (Cars #6-7, 11-16)     		3
    (Cars #8-10)
    Nozomi 16 3
    (Cars #1-3)     		10
    (Cars #4-7, 11-16)     		3
    (Cars #8-10)
    Sakura 8 3
    (Cars #1-3)     		4½
    (Cars #4-8)     		½
    (Car #6)
    Mizuho 8 3
    (Cars #1-3)     		4½
    (Cars #4-8)     		½
    (Car #6)

    Tips
    • Nozomi and Mizuho services are NOT covered by the Japan Rail Pass. Even if you have a JR Pass active, if you take one of these trains, you must pay the full fare out of pocket. On the Sanyo line, services are marked by different colours on signboards. If you're using a JR Pass, beware of yellow or orange text/backgrounds -- these denote Nozomi and Mizuho trains!
    • In addition to the Japan Rail Pass, the JR Kansai Wide Area Pass, JR Sanyo Sanin Area Pass, JR Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass, and JR Hiroshima Yamaguchi Area Pass cover part or all of the San'yo Shinkansen.  Notably, they also cover Nozomi and Mizuho services, where the nationwide JR Pass does not.  However, as a rule, they do not cover seat reservation or Green Car fees.  More information: (English).
    • Do not confuse Shin-Osaka Station with Osaka (a.k.a. Umeda) Station.  The latter is closer to the city centre, but is not served by the Shinkansen.  The two are still close together and are linked by the JR Kyoto (A) line (4 minutes, ¥160) and the OsakaMetro Midosuji (M) line (6 minutes, ¥230).
    Trivia
    • The name Sanyo (山陽, San'yō) means "southern mountain region" in English.  It refers to the area south of the mountain range in western Honshu, bordering the Seto Inland Sea.  The name is also used for the parallel Sanyo Expressway and Sanyo Main Line.
    • The name Sakura (さくら) means "cherry blossom" in English.  It was previously used for an overnight limited express service Tokyo and Nagasaki, which operated from 1959 to 2005.  It was reintroduced as a Shinkansen service in 2011, when the Kyushu Shinkansen was finished and connected to the Sanyo line.
    • The name Mizuho (みずほ) means "harvest", or literally, "abundant rice" in English.  It was previously used for an overnight limited express service between Tokyo and Kumamoto, which operated from 1961 to 1994.  It was reintroduced as a Shinkansen service in 2011, along with the Sakura.
    • A special Kodama service decorated in the theme of the TV anime Neon Genesis Evangelion had run on the Sanyo Shinkansen from November 2015 through May 2018.  Known as the "Type-500 Eva", it ran once daily from Hakata to Shin-Osaka in the morning, and back in the afternoon.  I had a chance to ride this train myself, and have posted more information in a separate article.
    • After the Evangelion Shinkansen was retired, a new Hello Kitty-themed service was introduced to replace it.  It made its debut on 30 June 2018.
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