The is a limited-stop

shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

service operated between and in Japan since 12 March 2011, following the completion of the

Kyushu Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed railway network. It is an extension of the San'yō Shinkansen from Honshu connecting the city of Fukuoka (Hakata Station) in the north of Japan's Kyushu Island to the city of Kagoshima ( Kagoshima-Chuo St ...

. The name was formerly used for 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 common ...

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. ...

service operated by

JNR 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 pre ...

from 1961, which ran from Tokyo to Kumamoto, and was discontinued in December 1994. The name "" literally means "abundant rice" in Japanese and "harvest" in the figurative sense. It was also an ancient name of Japan.

Train formation

''Mizuho'' services are operated by 8-car JR West N700-7000 series and JR Kyushu N700-8000 series trainsets, with car 1 at the Kagoshima-Chuo end. All seats are non-smoking.JR Timetable, March 2012 issue, P.998 File:Series-N700-7000 Inside Green-seat.jpg, N700-7000 series Green car interior File:Series-N700-7000 Inside Reserved-seat.jpg, N700-7000 series standard-class reserved car interior File:Series-N700-7000 Inside Ordinary-seat.jpg, N700-7000 series standard-class non-reserved car interior

History

Limited express sleeping car service

The ''Mizuho'' was first introduced on 1 October 1961 as a seasonal

sleeper train service, which ran from to 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 ...

, supplementing the three existing limited express services, '' Asakaze'', ''

Sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

'', and ''

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. ''Hayabusa'', formerly known as MUSES-C ...

'', operating between Tokyo and Kyushu. From 1 October the following year, the service was upgraded from a "seasonal" service to become a daily service. The typical formation at this time was as shown below, with car 1 at the Kumamoto end. Cars 8 to 13 ran only between and Tokyo. From 1 June 1963, 20 series coaches were added to the formation, and the train divided and joined at to serve via the

Nippo Main Line Nippo may refer to: Companies and organizations * Nippo, colloquial name for * Nippo Batteries, an Indian battery manufacturer * Nippo Corporation, a Japanese construction company and sponsor of cycling teams ** EF Education–Nippo, a cycling tea ...

in addition to Kumamoto. The schedule was as shown below. The typical formation at this time was as shown below, with car 1 at the Kumamoto end. Cars 1 to 7 ran between Tokyo and Kumamoto, while cars 8 to 13 ran between Tokyo and Oita. From October 1964, the ''Mizuho'' service once again became a direct service between Tokyo and Kumamoto following the introduction of the ''

Fuji Fuji may refer to: Places China * Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan Japan * Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan * Fuji River * Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture * Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefectur ...

'' service running between Tokyo and Oita. The typical formation at this time was as shown below, with car 1 at the Kumamoto end. Cars 8 to 14 ran between Tokyo and Hakata only. From March 1972, new 14 series sleeping cars were introduced on ''Mizuho'' services, replacing the 20 series cars. From June 1991, dining car facilities were discontinued, and the ''Mizuho'' service itself was discontinued from 3 December 1994.

Shinkansen

On 20 October 2010, it was formally announced by JR West and JR Kyushu that the ''Mizuho'' name would be used once again from 12 March 2011 for the new limited-stop

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

services operating between and Kagoshima-Chūō using new JR West and JR Kyushu N700-7000 and N700-8000 series 8-car trainsets with a fastest journey time of 3 hours 45 minutes, some 25 minutes faster than the ''

'' services. Most trains stop only at Shin-Kobe,

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

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 lin ...

, Hakata, and

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

, operating at a maximum speed of on the

Sanyo Shinkansen , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded by ...

and on the

. The services are aimed primarily at the business market, with two return services in the morning and two in the evening. An additional daily return working was added from 17 March 2012, increasing the number of services from four to five. By 15 March 2014, there were six daily return workings per direction, with two trains stopping at

Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is ...

to boost connectivity in the Kansai region. As of 14 March 2020, there are eight daily return workings per direction, with some trains making additional stops at

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

Kurume is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 303,579 and a population density of 1,320 persons per km². The total area is 229.96 km². On February 5, 2005, the town of Kitano (from ...

, Shin-Yamaguchi, Fukuyama or

. As with the existing '' Nozomi'' service operating on the Tokaido &

San'yō Shinkansen The is a line of the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed rail network, connecting Shin-Osaka in Osaka with Hakata Station in Fukuoka, the two largest cities in western Japan. Operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West), it is a westward cont ...

lines, the ''Mizuho'' service is not valid for foreigners traveling with a

Japan Rail Pass The , also called the JR Pass, is a rail pass for overseas visitors sold by the Japan Railways Group, and is valid for travel on all major forms of transportation provided by the JR Group in Japan, with a few exceptions. The Rail Pass is designed ...

References

External links