is the fastest train service running 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 in Japan. The service stops at only the largest stations, and along the stretch between and , ''Nozomi'' services using N700 series equipment reach speeds of . The trip between

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 ...

, a distance of , takes 2 hours 21 minutes on the fastest ''Nozomi'' service, with the fastest service between and taking 4 hours 46 minutes.Hyperdia: Shin-Osaka–Tokyo timetable for 2009-06-11
/ref> The trains stop at fewer stations than the ''

Hikari may refer to: Places *Hikari Station, a station on Sanyō Main Line in Hikari, Yamaguchi * Hikari, Chiba, a former town in Sousa District, Chiba, Japan *Hikari, Yamaguchi, a city in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan People *Hikari (name), people and ...

'' and '' Kodama'' trains. On the Tōkaidō Shinkansen between and , ''Nozomi'' trains stop only at , , and . On the Sanyō Shinkansen between and , all ''Nozomi'' trains stop at , , and , with certain trains also stopping at additional stations. The ''Nozomi'' service is not valid for foreigners traveling with a Japan Rail Pass.

Stopping patterns (as of May 2019)

Legend Note:
¹ Some trains begin/terminate at Nishi-Akashi, Himeji, Okayama or Hiroshima.
² Some trains begin/terminate at Nagoya. ''Only basic Nozomi stopping patterns are shown. Additional Nozomi trains with differing stopping patterns are added during holiday and high-peak travel periods, and are not included in this table.''

Rolling stock

Current rolling stock

* N700 series (July 2007 – ) * N700S series (July 2020 – ) File:Shinkansen N700 z15.jpg, N700 series, June 2008 File:Series-N700S-J2.jpg, N700S series, September 2021

Former rolling stock

* 300 series (March 1992 – March 2012) * 500 series (March 1997 – June 2008) * 700 series (March 1999 – March 2020) File:Shinkansen 300kei J61.JPG, 300 series, February 2011 File:Shinkansen 500 series W2 formation.jpg, 500 series, February 2010 File:JR Central Shinkansen 700.jpg, 700 series, January 2008

Formations

Trains are formed as shown below, with car 1 at the Hakata end, and car 16 at the Tokyo end.JR Timetable, August 2011, p.997

N700 series / N700S series

(All cars are completely non-smoking, except for enclosed smoking compartments located in cars 3, 7, 10, and 15) File:Shinkansen N700 series Green seat.JPG, N700 series Green car interior File:Shinkansen N700 series Standard-sized car seat.JPG, N700 series standard-class car interior File:No Smoking.svg, An internationally recognizable " No Smoking sign"

700 series

History

Wartime steam services

The ''Nozomi'' name was first used for long-distance express services operated between Busan in Japanese-occupied Korea and Mukden (now Shenyang) in the former Manchukuo (now China) from 1934. From 1938, the services were extended to run between Busan and Hsinking (now Changchun) in Manchukuo. The 1,530 km journey from Busan to Hsinking took over 29 hours, with an average speed of . The services were run down between 1943 and 1944.

Shinkansen services

''Nozomi'' shinkansen services commenced on March 14, 1992, using new 300 series trainsets with a top speed of 270 km/h. From March 1997, 500 series trainsets were introduced on Tokyo - Hakata ''Nozomi'' services, running at a maximum speed of 300 km/h and covering the section between Shin-Osaka and Hakata in 2 hours 17 minutes. 700 series trains were introduced on ''Nozomi'' services in 1999, and N700 series trains were introduced from July 1, 2007, initially with four daily round-trip runs. All regularly scheduled through ''Nozomi'' services to the San'yō Shinkansen (Tokyo–Hakata) were operated by N700 series sets from 13 March 2010. From the start of the revised timetable on 17 March 2012, all regularly scheduled ''Nozomi'' services, including runs limited to the Tokaido Shinkansen, were operated by N700 series sets.

References

* * JR Timetable, March 2008 issue {{JR West trains Railway services introduced in 1992 Named Shinkansen trains