Know your Trains: Hokuriku Shinkansen

Update 12 August 2018: Updated with new maps.

A W7-series Hakutaka train at Nagano Station.
Taken on Wednesday, 16 May 2018.

The Hokuriku Shinkansen (北陸新幹線) is a high-speed train line running from Tokyo to Kanazawa, in the Hokuriku region of north-central Japan.  It was originally known as the Nagano Shinkansen, as it opened between Takasaki and Nagano in 1997, in preparation for the Winter Olympics in Nagano the following year.  In March 2015, the line was extended to Kanazawa and renamed to reflect the Hokuriku (北陸) region it now served.  Its top speed is 260 kilometers per hour, or 160 miles per hour.

There are four services on the Hokuriku Shinkansen.  Two of them, the express "Kayagaki" and semi-express "Hakutaka", run the full length of the line.  Of the other two full-stop services, the "Asama" runs between Tokyo and Nagano, and the "Tsurugi" only goes between Toyama and Kanazawa.

Name	Colour*	Start Station	End Station(s)	Time**	Max. Frequency***
Asama	Violet	Tokyo	Nagano	1 hour 50 minutes	1 per hour
Tsurugi	Blue	Toyama	Kanazawa	23 minutes	1 per hour
Hakutaka	Red	Tokyo	Kanazawa	3 hours	1-2 per hour
Kayagaki	Yellow	Tokyo	Kanazawa	2 hours 30 minutes	1 per hour

* The colour associated with each particular service on signboards, etc.  Some stations use violet for all Hokuriku Shinkansen services.
** Approximate time between designated start and end stations.
*** Departure frequency is based on March 2017 schedules and are subject to change.

A map of the Hokuriku Shinkansen and its stops, including sections currently under construction.

In its current state, the Hokuriku Shinkansen cuts northwest through the Japan Alps, and then runs west along the coast of the Sea of Japan.  Despite the Nagano-Kanazawa section only having been opened in 2015, further extensions are planned for the line as well.  Phase 3 will extend the line through Fukui to Tsuruga, and is scheduled to open in 2022/23.  Beyond that, the line will eventually be brought down to Kyoto and Shin-Osaka, but construction is not supposed to start until 2030, and may take 15 years to finish.

Name (English)	Name (Japanese)	Prefecture	Asama	Tsurugi	Hakutaka	Kayagaki
Tokyo	東京	Tokyo	X	I	X	X
Ueno	上野		X	I	X	X
Omiya	大宮	Saitama	X	I	X	X
Kumagaya	熊谷		X	I	I	I
Honjo-Waseda	本庄早稲田		X	I	I	I
Takasaki	高崎	Gunma	X	I	X	I
Annaka-Haruna	安中榛名		X	I	I	I
Karuizawa	軽井沢	Nagano	X	I	O	I
Sakudaira	佐久平		X	I	O	I
Ueda	上田		X	I	O	I
Nagano	長野		X	I	X	X
Iiyama	飯山		I	I	O	I
Joetsu-Myoko	上越妙高	Niigata	I	I	X	I
Itogawa	糸魚川		I	I	X	I
Kurobe-Unazuki-Onsen	黒部宇奈月温泉	Toyama	I	I	X	I
Toyama	富山		I	X	X	X
Shin-Takaoka	新高岡		I	X	X	I
Kanazawa	金沢	Ishikawa	I	X	X	X
Komatsu	小松	Ishikawa	Under construction Scheduled to open 2022/23
Kaga-Onsen	加賀温泉
Awara-Onsen	芦原温泉	Fukui
Fukui	福井
Nan'etsu*	南越
Tsuruga	敦賀

Legend
X: All trains stop at this station.
O: Some trains stop at this station.
I: No trains stop at this station.
*Tentative name for stations to be newly created

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.
• Takasaki: Where the Joetsu Shinkansen branches off.
• Karuizawa: A mountain resort town with upscale shopping and beautiful natural sites.
• Nagano: Site of the 1998 Winter Olympics.
• Joetsu-Myoko: Where JR East's coverage area ends and JR West's begins.
• Kurobe-Unazuki Onsen: Transfer point for the scenic Kurobe Gorge Railway.
• Toyama: A transit hub for visiting Takayama and the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route.
• Kanazawa: A historically-preserved city, famous for the Kenroku-en garden.

All four Hokuriku Shinkansen services use the new E7-series (also designated as W7) trains with 12 cars.  The front car of these trains (facing Kanazawa) is a GranClass car.  All seats on these trains, even in the ordinary sections, have their own electrical outlets, a first for the Shinkansen.  However, on Tsurugi services, cars #8, 9, 10, and 12 are not used for passenger seating.  Furthermore, some Asama services use older E2-series trains with 8 cars, instead of the more modern E7s.

Service	Total Cars	Non-Reserved Cars	Reserved Cars	Green Cars	GranClass Cars
Asama	12	5 (Cars #1-5)	5 (Cars #6-10)	1 (Car #11)	1 (Car #12)
	8	4 (Cars #1-4)	3 (Cars #5-6, 8)	1 (Car #7)	0
Tsurugi	12*	4 (Cars #1-4)	3 (Cars #5-7)	1 (Car #11)	0
Hakutaka	12	4 (Cars #1-4)	6 (Cars #5-10)	1 (Car #11)	1 (Car #12)
Kayagaki	12	0	10 (Cars #1-10)	1 (Car #11)	1 (Car #12)

*Cars #8, 9, 10, and 12 on Tsurugi trains do not carry passengers.

Tips

• The Kayagaki service does not include any non-reserved cars, so a ticket reservation is required to ride it.  In the event that all seats are booked, standing-room tickets may be available.
• In addition to the JR Pass, several regional passes cover part or all of the Hokuriku Shinkansen.  Since the Kayagaki service does not offer non-reserved seating, it is not fully covered by passes which do not cover seat reservations, such as the Hokuriku Area Pass.  In this case, the pass will only cover the base fare, and you must pay for the supplemental fees yourself.
• 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 (JJ)), 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.
• Until the Hokuriku Shinkansen is fully extended to Kyoto, the Hokuriku and Kansai regions are connected by the Thunderbird limited-express service.  It makes the journey from Kanazawa, the current terminal of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, to Kyoto, Shin-Osaka, and Osaka stations in 2½ to 3 hours.
• The Japan Rail Pass, and other JR passes, do not cover any of the conventional lines that were transferred to other companies after the opening/extension of the Hokuriku 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 Ainokaze Toyama Line, between Toyama and Takaoka Stations, for transferring to the JR Johana and Himi lines.  Note that the former is also accessible from Shin-Takaoka Station, a stop on the Hokuriku Shinkansen.
• The IR Ishikawa Line, between Kanazawa and Tsubata Stations, for transferring to the JR Nanao Line.

Trivia

• The Asama (あさま) is named after Mount Asama (浅間山, Asama-yama), an active volcano near Karuizawa, a stop on the line.  Its peak is 2,568 metres (8,425 feet) above sea level, and its latest eruption was in February 2009, which sent ash as far away as Tokyo.  The name "Asama" was used for a limited-express service between Tokyo and Nagano, which operated from 1966 to 1997, when the Nagano Shinkansen (as it was then called) opened.
• The Tsurugi (つるぎ) is named after Mount Tsurugi (剱岳, Tsurugi-dake), the tallest peak of the Hida Mountains in Toyama Prefecture.  It stands at 2,999 metres (9,839 feet) above sea level.  The name "Tsurugi", which is a word for "sword", was also used for a sleeping-car train service between Kanazawa and Nagaoka, which operated from 1961 to 1994.
• The name "Hakutaka" (はくたか) means "white hawk", and was used for a limited-express service on the private Hokuhoku line between Naoetsu and Echigo-Yuzawa, which operated from 1997 to 2015, when the Hokuriku Shinkansen was first extended.  It ran at a maximum speed of 160 km/h (100 mph), making it the fastest non-Shinkansen train in Japan (since matched by the Keisei Skyliner).  Before that, it was the name of a limited-express service between Tokyo and Kanazawa, from 1965 to 1982.
• The name "Kayagaki" (かがやき) means "glitter" or "luster", and was used for a limited-express service between Kanazawa and Nagaoka, from 1988 to 1997, retired when the Hokuhoku line opened (see above).  The name was revived for the Hokuriku Shinkansen in 2015, upon the extension to Kanazawa.
• When the Hokuriku Shinkansen was first completed, and later extended, sections of JR's conventional lines (the Shin'etsu and Hokuriku Main Lines) that ran parallel to the Shinkansen were sold to different semi-public companies (co-owned by private companies and local prefecture governments).  The new railway lines that were formed in this manner are:
• The Shinano Railway Line, formed from the Shin'etsu Main Line between Karuizawa and Shinonoi, in Nagano Prefecture.
• The Shinano Railway's Kita-Shinano Line, formed from the Shin'etsu Main Line, between Nagano and Joetsu-Myoko.
• The Echigo Tokimeki Railway's Myoko Haneuma Line, formed from the Shin'etsu Main Line between Joetsu-Myoko and Naoetsu, in Niigata Prefecture.
• The Echigo Tokimeki Railway's Nihonkai Hisui Line, formed from the Hokuriku Main Line, from Naoetsu to Ichiburi.
• The Ainokaze Toyama Line, formed from the Hokuriku Main Line from Ichiburi to Kurikara in Toyama Prefecture.
• The IR Ishikawa Line, formed from the Hokuriku Main Line from Kurikara to Kanazawa, in Ishikawa Prefecture.
• A section of the old Shin'etsu Main Line, to the east of Karuizawa, went through the Usui Pass.  The slope here was so steep, at an angle of 66.7 per-mille or 33 degrees, that trains had to be coupled with banking engines to help them uphill or downhill.  This section was abandoned entirely once the Nagano Shinkansen was opened in 1997
• There were five competing proposals for the phase 4 extension from Tsuruga.  The selected route, approved on 20 December 2016, will head west from Tsuruga along the Sea of Japan coast to the port city of Obama (no relation to the president), turn southwards, and intersect with the Tokaido Shinkansen in Kyoto before ending at Shin-Osaka.  More information: (English).