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Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Know Your Trains: Tohoku Shinkansen

Edit 11 August 2018: Updated with new map.

An E5-series "Hayabusa" train on the Tohoku Shinkansen, coupled with an E6-series "Komachi" train behind.
By Nanashinodensyaku [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons
The Tohoku Shinkansen (東北新幹線, Tōhoku Shinkansen) is a high-speed rail line travelling from Tokyo to Aomori, the northernmost city on Honshu.  It runs through the mountainous and rural northeastern region of Japan, known as Tohoku (東北, Tōhoku, lit. 'northeast').  At a length of  674.9 km (419 miles), it is Japan's longest Shinkansen line.  It is also home to the fastest trains in all of Japan; the new E5 and H5-series trains run at a maximum speed of 320 km/h (200 mph) on certain sections.  It also serves as the trunk for two "Mini-Shinkansen" branch lines: the Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen (which are covered in a separate article).  The Hokkaido Shinkansen, opened in March 2016, is an extension of this line from Aomori to Hakodate, on the island of Hokkaido.

A map of the Tohoku Shinkansen and its stops.
Four types of services run on the Tohoku Shinkansen.  In order of slowest to fastest, they are called "Nasuno", "Yamabiko", "Hayate", and "Hayabusa".  All Tohoku Shinkansen services are labelled in green on signboards.

Name Start Station End Station(s) Time* Max. Frequency**
Nasuno Tokyo Nasu-Shiobara 1 hour 10 minutes 1 per hour
Koriyama 1 hour 40 minutes 5 per day
Yamabiko Tokyo Sendai 2 hours 2-3 per hour
Morioka 3 hours 20 minutes 2-3 per hour
Hayate Tokyo Morioka 3 hours 3 per day
Morioka Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto (Hokkaido) 2 hours 10 minutes 1 per day
Hayabusa Tokyo Shin-Aomori 3 hours 20 minutes 1 per hour
Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto (Hokkaido) 4 hours 30 minutes 1 per hour
* Approximate time between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori stations, unless an earlier terminal is listed.
** Departure frequency is based on December 2016 schedules and are subject to change.

A total of 23 stations lie on the Tohoku Shinkansen.  The main transit hubs are Tokyo, Omiya, Sendai, Morioka, and Shin-Aomori stations.  Below is a list of stations on the line, along with stopping patterns of all four services.

Name (English) Name (Japanese) Prefecture Nasuno Yamabiko Hayate Hayabusa
Tokyo 東京 Tokyo X X X X
Ueno 上野 X X X O
Omiya 大宮 Saitama X X X X
Oyama 小山 Tochigi X O I I
Utsunomiya 宇都宮 X X I I
Nasu-Shiobara 那須塩原 X O I I
Shin-Shirakawa 新白河 Fukushima X O I I
Koriyama 郡山 X X I I
Fukushima 福島 I X I I
Shiroishi-Zao 白石蔵王 Miyagi I O I I
Sendai 仙台 I X X X
Furukawa 古川 I X X I
Kurikoma-Kogen くりこま高原 I X X I
Ichinoseki 一ノ関 Iwate I X X I
Mizusawa-Esashi 水沢江刺 I X X I
Kitakami 北上 I X X I
Shin-Hanamaki 新花巻 I X X I
Morioka 盛岡 I X X X
Iwate-Numakunai いわて沼宮内 I I I O
Ninohe 二戸 I I I O
Hachinohe 八戸 Aomori I I I O
Shichinohe-Towada 七戸十和田 I I I O
Shin-Aomori 新青森 I I I 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
  • Tokyo/Ueno: The largest city in Japan and the world.
  • Omiya: The capital city of Saitama Prefecture, and home to a popular railway museum.
  • Utsunomiya: Access point for Nikko.
  • Nasu-Shiobara: Serves two hot-spring resort towns, Nasu Onsen and Shiobara Onsen.
  • Fukushima: The capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, and where the Yamagata Shinkansen branches off.
  • Sendai: The largest city in the Tohoku region, and access point for Matsushima bay.
  • Ichinoseki: Access point for the historical town of Hiraizumi.
  • Kitakami: One of Tohoku's most popular cherry-blossom sites.
  • Morioka: The capital city of Iwate Prefecture, and where the Akita Shinkansen branches off.
  • Shin-Aomori: The northernmost city on Honshu, a gateway to Hokkaido, and home of the Nebuta summer festival.
Interior of a GranClass car on an E5-series train.
By くるみ１２１１ (Kurumi 1211) [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons
In addition to non-reserved, reserved, and Green Car seating, some trains also carry a GranClass car, which is a level of luxury even beyond that of the Green Car.  These bucket seats are arranged in a 2+1 layout for extra space, and have a seat pitch of 130 cm (51 in).  Actual layouts may vary; the below chart refers to services using the newest train models (E5 and H5-series).

Service Total Cars Non-Reserved Cars Reserved Cars Green Cars GranClass Cars
Nasuno 16 10
(Cars #1-8, 12-16)		 0 2
(Cars #9, 11)		 1 (Car #10)
Yamabiko 10 3-6
(Cars #1-3/6)		 2-5
(Cars #4/7-8)		 1
(Car #9)		 1 (Car #10)
17 9-12
(Cars #1-3/6, 12-17)		 2-5
(Cars #4/7-8)		 2
(Cars #9, 11)		 1 (Car #10)
Hayate 100 9 (Cars #1-8, 9) 1 (Car #9) 0
Hayabusa 10 0 8 (Cars #1-8) 1 (Car #9) 1 (Car #10)

Tips
  • All seats on Hayate and Hayabusa services are reserved.  Seat reservations are free when using a Japan Rail Pass or JR East area pass.  In the event that all seats on a train are booked, it may be possible to buy a standing-room ticket.
  • Unlike on the Tokaido, Sanyo, and Kyushu lines, the Japan Rail Pass is valid for ALL services on the Tohoku Shinkansen.  In addition, the JR East Tohoku Area Pass (English) and the JR East South Hokkaido Area Pass (English) also cover the full line from Tokyo to Shin-Aomori.
  • The JR East Tokyo Wide Pass (English) also covers the segment from Tokyo to Nasu-Shiobara.  However, Hayabusa services are not fully covered by the Tokyo Wide Pass.  If you wish to use one of these trains, the pass will only cover the base fare; you must pay for the limited express and other fees out-of-pocket.  Not that it would do you much good anyway; within the pass's coverage area, the Hayabusa only makes the first three stops, the farthest being Omiya Station in Saitama.
  • The Japan Rail Pass does not cover the cost for upgrading to GranClass, nor do the JR East area passes.  If you wish to do so, they will only cover the base fare; you must pay for the limited express and GranClass upgrade fees out-of-pocket, even if using a Green Car JR Pass.
  • If departing from, or arriving at, Tokyo, you may want to consider using Ueno Station instead of the eponymous Tokyo Station.  Ueno serves some of the same JR lines as Tokyo  (JR Yamanote (JY), Keihin-Tohoku (JK), Takasaki/Utsunomiya (JU), Joban (JO)), but also serves the Tokyo Metro Ginza (G) and Hibiya (H) lines, and is somewhat smaller and more manageable.  The adjacent Keisei-Ueno Station also provides faster access to Narita Airport, via the Skyliner limited express.
  • Do not confuse Sendai Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen with the Sendai Station on the Kyushu Shinkansen.  The former (in Tohoku) is written as "仙台" in Japanese, the latter (in Kyushu) as "川内".
  • The Japan Rail Pass, does not cover any of the conventional lines that were transferred to other companies after the extension of the Tohoku Shinkansen (see below).  However, there are exceptions in which the pass may be used on these lines, but only to access other JR lines.  Pass holders may only get on or off at the specified stations.  They are as follows:
    • The Aoimori Line between Aomori, Noheji, and Hachinohe for transferring to the JR Ominato Line.
  • Holders of the JR East Tohoku Area Pass and JR East South Hokkaido Area Pass, however, may use the Iwate Galaxy and Aoimori lines freely.
Trivia
  • The name "Nasuno" (なすの) refers to the Nasu Highlands area in Tochigi Prefecture.  It was previously used for a limited express service, running between Ueno (later Shinjuku) and Kuroiso, also in the Nasu area.  It operated from 1959 to 2010.  When the name was used for the Shinkansen, starting in 1995, the old services were named "Oyaho Tochigi" and "Hometown Tochigi".
  • The name "Yamabiko" (やまびこ) refers to a type of mountain spirit in Japanese folklore.  It was previously used for a limited express service, running between Fukushima (later Ueno) and Morioka.  It operated from 1959 to 1982, the day before the Tohoku Shinkansen launched.
  • The name "Hayate" (はやて) means "strong wind" in English.  The service began on 1 December 2002, when the line was extended to Hachinohe.
  • The name "Hayabusa" (はやぶさ) means "falcon" in English. It was previously used for a limited-express sleeper service, running between Tokyo and Kagoshima.  It operated from 1958 to 2009.  The Shinkansen service began on 5 March 2011, a few months after the line was extended to Shin-Aomori.
  • There used to be another service on the Tohoku Shinkansen.  The "Aoba" (あおば) was a full-stop service from Tokyo to Sendai.  It began with the opening of the line in 1982, but was discontinued in 1997 and consolidated with the Nasuno service.  There was also a double-decker version of this service, called the "MAX Aoba".
  • The Hayabusa services that continue from Shin-Aomori on to the Hokkaido Shinkansen are H5-series trains.  They are distinguished from the E5-series, which stop no further than Shin-Aomori, by a purple stripe running along the hull, as opposed to a pink stripe for the E5, and boast a few minor mechanical upgrades to withstand the harsher Hokkaido winters.  Other than that, they are largely the same.
  • The first train models to run on the Tohoku Shinkansen in 1982 were the 200-series trains.  Despite the name, they predate the similar 100-series, which debuted on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen in 1985.  The reason for this quirk of numbering is that the JR Group, and JNR before it, have traditionally used odd numbers for train models used on lines headed west from Tokyo, and even numbers from east/north of Tokyo.
  • When the Tohoku Shinkansen was extended to Hachinohe, and later Shin-Aomori, sections of JR's conventional Tohoku Main Line that ran parallel to the Shinkansen were sold to different "third-sector" semi-public companies (co-owned by private companies and local prefecture governments).  The new railway lines that were formed in this manner are:
    • The Iwate Galaxy Railway Line, formed from the Tohoku Main Line from Morioka to Metoki, in Iwate Prefecture.
    • The Aoimori Railway Line (note the spelling), formed from the Tohoku Main Line from Metoki to Aomori, in Aomori Prefecture.
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