Kodama (Shinkansen)
Kodama is one of the three train services running on the
Tokaido/
Sanyo Shinkansen.
Kodama trains stop at all stations, making
Kodama the slowest Shinkansen service for trips between major cities such as
Tokyo and
Osaka. 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.
Kodama trains generally run over shorter distances than
Nozomi and
Hikari trains. Typical
Nozomi runs include Tokyo - Nagoya, Tokyo - Shin-Osaka, Shizuoka - Shin-Osaka, Shin-Osaka - Okayama, Shin-Osaka - Hiroshima, Okayama - Hakata and Hiroshima - Hakata, as well as some shorter late-night runs.
The trainsets used for
Kodama service are the same
300 Series and
700 Series trains used for the
Hikari and
Nozomi services. Older
0 Series and
100 Series trains are also used for
Kodama services on the Sanyo Shinkansen.
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 and
Shizuoka.
The word
kodama, written in Japanese as "だま by
Japan Railways [JR] on station platform information signs, means "echo".
