is one of the three train services running on the Tōkaidō and San'yō Shinkansen lines. Stopping at every station, the ''Kodama'' is the slowest Shinkansen service for trips between major cities such as

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. The Kodama trains are used primarily for travel to and from smaller cities such as Atami. Travelers between major cities generally take the '' Nozomi'' or '' Hikari'' services, which make fewer stops.

Shinkansen ''Kodama''

''Kodama'' trains generally run over shorter distances than ''Nozomi'' and ''Hikari'' trains. Typical ''Kodama'' runs include Tokyo - Nagoya / Shin-Osaka, Tokyo - Mishima / Shizuoka / Hamamatsu, Mishima / Shizuoka / Nagoya - Shin-Osaka, and Shin-Osaka / Okayama / Hiroshima - Hakata as well as some shorter late-night runs. The trainsets used for ''Kodama'' service are the same 700 series, and N700 series trains used for the ''Hikari'' and ''Nozomi'' services. Older 100 series and 300 series trains were also used for ''Kodama'' services on the Sanyō Shinkansen until they were withdrawn in 2012. In December 2008, reconfigured 500 series trains entered ''Kodama'' service to replace the withdrawn Sanyō Shinkansen 0 series trains. Many Sanyō Shinkansen ''Kodama'' services continue to and from Hakata-Minami on the Hakata-Minami Line. Most ''Kodama'' trains have both reserved and non-reserved cars; however, some morning ''Kodama'' trains to Tokyo and evening trains departing Tokyo have non-reserved cars only to accommodate commuters living in

Kanagawa is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanagaw ...

and Shizuoka. The newest shinkansen trainset, the

N700 The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability developed jointly by JR Central and JR West for use on the Tokaido and San'yō Shinkansen lines since 2007, and also operated by JR Kyushu on the Kyushu Shinkansen line. N7 ...

, is currently used on some early morning and late night ''Kodama'' runs between

Kokura is an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyushu, Japan, guarding the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshu and Kyushu with its suburb Moji. Kokura is also the name of the penultimate station on the southbound San'yō Shinkansen li ...

and

Hakata is a ward of the city of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Many of Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City's principal government, commercial, retail and entertainment establishments are located in the district. Hakata-ku is also the locatio ...

stations in

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

. All standard-class cars are non-reserved, and, as with all other N700 services, there is no smoking on these trains except in designated on-board smoking rooms. At most intermediate stations, ''Kodama'' trains wait for faster trains, such as the ''Nozomi'', ''Hikari'', ''Sakura'', and ''Mizuho'', to pass through before resuming their journeys.

Rolling stock

* 500 series 8-car V sets * 700-7000 series 8-car E sets * N700A series 16-car X/K sets, modified from Z/N sets * N700 series 8-car S/R File:Shinkansen 500 (8086233447).jpg, JR West 500 series ''Kodama'', August 2010 File:JRW N700 series N3.jpg, JR West N700 series, April 2009

Former rolling stock

* 0 series * 100 series * 300 series * 700-0 series * 700-3000 series File:R61 Kodama 635 Higashi-Hiroshima 20030719.JPG, 0 series ''Kodama'' in July 2003 File:JRW Shinkansen Series 100 K55.jpg, JR West 100 Series on a Sanyō Shinkansen ''Kodama'' service in October 2008 File:JRW Shinkansen Series 300 F6.jpg, JR West 300 series on 8 October 2008 File:JRC 700 series C37.jpg, JR Central 700 series, April 2009

Pre-shinkansen

* 151 series

Formations

N700 series (16 cars)

(All cars are no smoking except for smoking compartments located in cars 3, 7, 10, and 15.)

700 series (16 cars)

500 series (eight cars)

(All cars are no smoking except for smoking compartments in cars 3 and 7.)

N700 series (eight cars)

(All cars are no smoking except for smoking compartments in cars 3 and 7.)

700 series (eight cars)

(All cars are non-smoking.) *G: Green car (first class) (reserved seating) *R: Standard class reserved seating *C: Standard class reserved seating + compartments *NR: Standard class non-reserved seating *NS: Non-smoking seats *S: Smoking seats

History

Limited express ''Kodama''

''Kodama'' debuted as a

limited express A limited express is a type of express train service. It refers to an express service that stops at a limited number of stops in comparison to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a commo ...

service on the Tokaido Main Line on 1 November 1958. Services used

151 series The (and the earlier 151 and 161 series variants) was a Japanese limited express electric multiple unit (EMU) type operated by Japanese National Railways (JNR). Variants * 151 series * 161 series * 181 series The 151 series trains were introd ...

trainsets. This was the first

EMU The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The ...

train service of the

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

classified as a limited express, the highest (fastest) of train types on the national railway system. The train travelled between

Tokyo Station Tokyo Station ( ja, 東京駅, ) is a railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is not far from the Ginza ...

and

Osaka Station is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 ...

in six hours and 50 minutes and first enabled passengers to go and return between the two cities in one day. This is why the train was named ''Kodama'', or echo. A

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller struc ...

world speed record of 163 km/h was established by a 151 series ''Kodama'' trainset on 31 July 1959. The conventional ''Kodama'' train ran until 30 September 1964, the day before ''Kodama'' debuted on the Shinkansen.