The Tokaido Shinkansen, connecting Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka, was inaugurated in the year 1964 as the first shinkansen line and the world's first high speed train. In 1964 the trains already run with speeds of about 200 km/h. Nowadays they reach speeds of over 300 km/h.
The extension of the Tokaido Shinkansen, the Sanyo Shinkansen to Hakata Station in Fukuoka was completed by 1975.
The trains operating on the Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen are of the following three categories:
- Nozomi: Nozomi trains stop only at the most important stations, and reach Osaka from Tokyo in about two and a half hours. The nozomi is one of the very few trains on the JR network that cannot be used with the Japan Rail Pass.
- Hikari: Hikari trains stop a little bit more frequently than nozomi trains, and need roughly three hours to reach Osaka from Tokyo. On the Sanyo Shinkansen, the Hikari trains are known as "Hikari Railstar".
- Kodama: The slowest category. Kodama trains stop at all stations.
