[Breaking News]Sanyo Shinkansen Line

FUKUOKA, Japan, March 10 Kyodo - A Shinkansen bullet train runs on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka on March 10, 2025, the 50th anniversary since the full opening of the line connecting Hakata and Shin-Osaka stations in Fukuoka and Osaka prefectures, respectively. (Kyodo)

Sanyo Shinkansen Line

Sanyo Shinkansen Line

A Shinkansen bullet train runs on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka on March 10, 2025, the 50th anniversary since the full opening of the line connecting Hakata and Shin-Osaka stations in Fukuoka and Osaka prefectures, respectively.

Sanyo Shinkansen Line

Sanyo Shinkansen Line

A Shinkansen bullet train runs on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka on March 10, 2025, the 50th anniversary since the full opening of the line connecting Hakata and Shin-Osaka stations in Fukuoka and Osaka prefectures, respectively.

Sanyo Shinkansen Line

Sanyo Shinkansen Line

A Shinkansen bullet train runs on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka on March 10, 2025, the 50th anniversary since the full opening of the line connecting Hakata and Shin-Osaka stations in Fukuoka and Osaka prefectures, respectively.

Sanyo Shinkansen Line

Sanyo Shinkansen Line

A Shinkansen bullet train runs on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka on March 10, 2025, the 50th anniversary since the full opening of the line connecting Hakata and Shin-Osaka stations in Fukuoka and Osaka prefectures, respectively.

Sanyo Shinkansen Line

Sanyo Shinkansen Line

A Shinkansen bullet train runs on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka on March 10, 2025, the 50th anniversary since the full opening of the line connecting Hakata and Shin-Osaka stations in Fukuoka and Osaka prefectures, respectively.

New Year holiday exodus in Japan

TOKYO, Japan, Dec. 31 Kyodo - A shinkansen bullet train platform at JR Tokyo Station is crowded on Dec. 28, 2024, with people heading to their hometowns and resort areas for New Year holidays. (Kyodo)

Powerful typhoon in Japan

Powerful typhoon in Japan

A ticket gate for Tokaido and Sanyo shinkansen bullet trains at JR Tokyo Station is closed on Aug. 30, 2024, as the bullet train services are suspended due to the approach of Typhoon Shanshan.

Powerful typhoon in Japan

Powerful typhoon in Japan

A ticket gate for Tokaido and Sanyo shinkansen bullet trains at JR Tokyo Station is closed on Aug. 30, 2024, as the bullet train services are suspended due to the approach of Typhoon Shanshan.

Powerful typhoon in Japan

Powerful typhoon in Japan

People pass by electric signboards at JR Tokyo Station on Aug. 30, 2024, showing Tokaido and Sanyo shinkansen bullet train services suspended due to the approach of Typhoon Shanshan.

Tokyo-Osaka bullet train service resumes after halt

Tokyo-Osaka bullet train service resumes after halt

A train service information board at JR Hamamatsu Station in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan, shows the resumption of services on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines on the morning of July 23, 2024. An accident involving railway maintenance vehicles caused an all-day suspension on part of the Tokaido Shinkansen Line a day earlier, while the Sanyo Shinkansen Line was also disrupted by the accident.

Shinkansen business seats

Shinkansen business seats

Photo taken in an unknown location on Oct. 6, 2023, shows shinkansen bullet train seats that Central Japan Railway Co. will introduce from Oct. 20 in its Nozomi, Hikari and Kodama cars, running on the Tokaido and Sanyo shinkansen lines for those seeking to work comfortably. Making taking notes and using PCs easier, the more spacious S WorkP Seats cost an additional 1,200 yen (about $8).

JR West promotes train rides for senior travelers

JR West promotes train rides for senior travelers

OSAKA, Japan - Actress Ran Ito (R) poses with West Japan Railway Co. President Seiji Manabe in Osaka on Dec. 17, 2014, at a press conference announcing the launch of a campaign to promote train rides for travelers aged 50 and over in 2015 by discounting tickets for Sanyo Shinkansen bullet trains.

Model train diorama installed on Shinkansen train

Model train diorama installed on Shinkansen train

FUKUOKA, Japan - A model train diorama is installed on a Sanyo Shinkansen "Kodama" bullet train at West Japan Railway Co.'s rail yard in Fukuoka Prefecture on July 2, 2014. The renovated train will run between Shin-Osaka and Hakata stations from July 19 through March 2015, making one roundtrip a day.

Retiring shinkansen trains

Retiring shinkansen trains

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows 100 series (L) and 300 series shinkansen bullet trains in Fukuoka Prefecture on Feb. 1, 2012. Both series of trains will be retired March 16, 2012, on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines.

Retired shinkansen train

Retired shinkansen train

TOKYO, Japan - Members of a family have fun around a 0 series shinkansen bullet train displayed at the SCMAGLEV and Railway Park museum in Nagoya on Dec. 5, 2011. The original 0 series trains were put into operation when the Tokaido Shinkansen Line opened in 1964. They ran on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines and retired in 2008.

Countdown board for Kyushu shinkansen operation in Osaka

Countdown board for Kyushu shinkansen operation in Osaka

OSAKA, Japan - A board counting down the days until the start of the Sanyo-Kyushu Shinkansen Line is unveiled at JR Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka on Oct. 13, 2010, with mascot characters ''Kumamon'' (L) and ''Guriboo'' (R in back) of Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures attending the event.

Sanyo-Kyushu Shinkansen Line promotional campaign

Sanyo-Kyushu Shinkansen Line promotional campaign

OSAKA, Japan - Japanese television personality Suzanne, a native of Kumamoto Prefecture, encourages people to visit the prefecture at the launch of a campaign in Osaka on Oct. 1, 2010, to promote the Sanyo-Kyushu Shinkansen Line ahead of the start of operations in March next year.

New Shinkansen carriages employ new technology

New Shinkansen carriages employ new technology

TOKYO, Japan - One of the new coaches called the ''N700 series'' running on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines arrives at JR Okayama Station.

'Next-generation' Shinkansen model on display

'Next-generation' Shinkansen model on display

HAMAMATSU, Japan - A new Shinkansen model, the ''next-generation'' N-700 Series, on display in a press preview at the JR Tokai Hamamatsu plant in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecutre on April 10. According to JR engineers, a key N-700 technical feature is that the train, through the use of air spring, can bend at curves so that it does not have to decelerate when passing through curving passages. The N-700 Series, which will run in the Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen line, can speed through curves at a maximum speed of 270 kilometers per hour in the Tokaido sector and 300 kph in the Sanyo sector, they say. As a result, the N-700 Series can travel between Tokyo and the Shin-Osaka station in Osaka in 2 hours and 25 minutes, down 5 minutes, and between Tokyo and the Hakata station in Fukuoka in 4 hours and 50 minutes.

Service temporarily suspended on Kyushu, Sanyo Shinkansen lines

Service temporarily suspended on Kyushu, Sanyo Shinkansen lines

KAGOSHIMA, Japan - Workers remove mud from the tracks of the Kyushu Shinkansen Line in Kagoshima on July 7. Bullet train runs on the line were temporarily suspended after the tracks in front of a tunnel were found covered by a massive mudslide caused by heavy rainfalls.

Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train marks 30th anniversary

Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train marks 30th anniversary

OSAKA, Japan - A bullet train on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line leaves Shin-Osaka Station on March 10 after a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the opening of the line. The number of passengers on the line, which connects Osaka and Fukuoka, was 57 million in fiscal 2003.

JR West reports 621 false records on tunnel, bridge checks

JR West reports 621 false records on tunnel, bridge checks

OSAKA, Japan - West Japan Railway Co. executive Kenzo Tokuoka (front) apologizes in Osaka on July 6 after the company found 621 cases of fabrication of records in its documents since March 2000, most of them falsely suggesting that regular inspections of tunnels and bridges along the Sanyo Shinkansen Line and conventional train lines had been conducted.

(1)Tokyo's Shinagawa opens bullet train station

(1)Tokyo's Shinagawa opens bullet train station

TOKYO, Japan - Passengers walk into the main concourse of a new Shinkansen bullet train station which opened at JR Shinagawa Station in Tokyo on Oct. 1 Shinagawa lies between Tokyo and Shin-Yokohama on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line, which runs to Shin-Osaka and then continues to Hakata in Kyushu as the Sanyo Shinkansen Line. The station brings the number of bullet train stops in the capital to three, including Ueno, which serves northeastern Japan.

Image of next generation Shinkansen bullet train unveiled

Image of next generation Shinkansen bullet train unveiled

TOKYO, Japan - Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) and West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) unveiled June 27 an image of a next generation Shinkansen bullet train model, which will run on Tokaido and Sanyo lines. The new model, called N700, will be tested in 2005 for commercial operations expected around autumn in 2007.

Piece of mortar found on Sanyo Shikansen tracks

Piece of mortar found on Sanyo Shikansen tracks

OGORI, Japan - Photo shows an 8-kilogram piece of mortar found Dec. 1 on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line bullet-train tracks inside a tunnel in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Tunnel inspectors found the fragment, which had apparently fallen from a 3-meter-high wall in the tunnel between Shin-Shimonoseki and Asa stations. No accidents were reported immediately.

JR Tokai to replace brake parts on Shinkansen cars

JR Tokai to replace brake parts on Shinkansen cars

TOKYO, Japan - Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) said Aug. 20 it will replace brake disc bolts on some 1,600 Shinkansen bullet train cars following recent reports of broken bolts on trains on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines. The currently-used bolt is shown on top and the new one below. Some parts of the new bolt have been made thicker and the material strengthened.

Giant solar power generator completed in central Japan

Giant solar power generator completed in central Japan

TOWN OF ANPACHI, Japan - A ship-shaped solar power generator, completed in the village of Anpachi, Gifu Prefecture, by Sanyo Electric Co., is put to media preview Dec. 20. The structure that cost 3.3 billion yen to build, is 315 meters long, 37.1 meter high and 13.7 meter wide. Equipped with 5,000 solar cell panels, it can generate 530,000 kilowatts of electricity annually, reducing 95 tons of carbon dioxide, Sanyo said. Pictured to the fore is a JR Tokai Shinkansen bullet train.

Power outage halts morning Sanyo Shinkansen trains

Power outage halts morning Sanyo Shinkansen trains

KOBE, Japan - Passengers are stranded on a Shinkansen bullet train at JR Shin-Kobe Station March 7 as east-bound bullet train services between Shin-Kobe and Shin-Osaka stations on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line were temporarily disrupted due to a power supply failure.

Women receive certificates to drive Shinkansen

Women receive certificates to drive Shinkansen

OSAKA, Japan - Rumi Yamashita (L) and Miyuki Fukuzawa hold their certifications for driving Sanyo Shinkansen bullet trains, which they received Aug. 17 from West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) at the company's Osaka branch. Yamashita, 27, and Fukuzawa, 29, who are the country's first female Shinkansen drivers, will make their debut driving Kodama trains leaving Shin-Osaka on Aug. 18.

Cracks discovered under Shinkansen cars

Cracks discovered under Shinkansen cars

FUKUOKA, Japan - A part attached to the truck of a Shinkansen train bears a crack on a welded spot. West Japan Railway Co. said May 14 it discovered the cracks on the trucks of its 500 Series Nozomi bullet trains which run on the Tokaido Sanyo Line. The problem was detected at 37 locations.

Sanyo Shinkansen tunnels declared safe

Sanyo Shinkansen tunnels declared safe

TOKYO Japan - Transport Minister Toshihiro Nikai on Dec. 16 in effect declares the tunnels on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line safe, on the basis of a report submitted earlier in the day by West Japan Railway Co. (JR West). The government ''has endorsed JR West's judgment on safety'' of the tunnels, he told a news conference.

JR West head gives instructions to tunnel inspectors

JR West head gives instructions to tunnel inspectors

OKAYAMA, Japan - Shojiro Nanya, president of West Japan Railway Co. (JR West), gives instructions to workers on the night of Nov. 12 before they start full-fledged inspections of tunnels on the Sanyo Shinkansen line linking Osaka with Fukuoka. JR West is inspecting all 142 tunnels along the line in an effort to prevent the recurrence of recent accidents in which concrete slabs fell from the wall of the Fukuoka and Kitakyushu tunnels, railway officials said.

Cracks found in window of Shinkansen bullet train

Cracks found in window of Shinkansen bullet train

TOKYO, Japan - Photo, taken at JR Tokyo Station, shows cracks found Nov. 8 on the glass window of a Shinkansen bullet-train car. The cracks were found on a Tokyo-bound train from Hakata, Kyushu, while it was passing between Fukuyama and Shin-Kurashiki stations on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line. It was the 2nd such incident in as many days and the 5th since Oct. 21 on the same line.

JR West's president speaks after inspecting tunnel

JR West's president speaks after inspecting tunnel

KITAKYUSHU, Japan - Shojiro Nanya, president of West Japan Railway Co. (JR West), speaks to reporters Oct. 16 at Kokura Station in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, after inspecting a tunnel on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line where a block of concrete weighing 226 kilograms fell from the wall Oct. 9.

JR West head vows to review tunnel inspection manuals

JR West head vows to review tunnel inspection manuals

OSAKA, Japan - The president of West Japan Railway Co. (JR West), Shojiro Nanya, speaks at a news conference at JR West's Osaka head office Oct. 10. He pledged to review JR West's tunnel inspection manuals in the wake of Saturday's fall of a large concrete block in the Kitakyushu Tunnel in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, on the Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train line linking Osaka with Fukuoka.

Big cement block falls in bullet-train tunnel

Big cement block falls in bullet-train tunnel

FUKUOKA, Japan - A big block of cement falls from the tunnel wall on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line in Fukuoka Prefecture, western Japan, causing a halt between Hakata and Hiroshima in the morning of Oct. 9. The block measuring about 3 meters in length, 50 centimeters in width and 20 cm in thickness was found in Kita-Kyushu Tunnel.

Travelers rush to bullet train as service resumes

Travelers rush to bullet train as service resumes

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Travelers get on a bullet train at Hiroshima Station on Oct. 9 as service resumed following a safety check in tunnels on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line linking Osaka with Fukuoka. A large block of concrete weighing 226 kilograms fell from the wall of a tunnel earlier in the day, halting bullet train services between Hiroshima and Hakata stations.

Bullet train stoppage caused by fallen concrete

Bullet train stoppage caused by fallen concrete

Photo shows a Hikari No. 351 bullet train whose roof was damaged by falling concrete June 27. The train on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line was passing through Fukuoka Tunnel in Hisayama, Fukuoka Prefecture, when the concrete damaged its pantographs, causing a temporary halt to services.

New ''Nozomi'' bullet train model unveiled

New ''Nozomi'' bullet train model unveiled

A new ''Nozomi'' Shinkansen bullet train model is unveiled at JR Tokyo station Feb. 10. The new model, jointly developed by Central Japan Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co., will make its debut March 13 on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen Lines. The prototype of the Nozomi, which means hope in Japanese, was completed in October 1997. The new model has a maximum speed of 285 kilometers per hour, up 15 kph from the current Nozomi trains.

Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train marks 30th anniversary

Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train marks 30th anniversary

OSAKA, Japan - A bullet train on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line leaves Shin-Osaka Station on March 10 after a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the opening of the line. The number of passengers on the line, which connects Osaka and Fukuoka, was 57 million in fiscal 2003. (Kyodo)

New series of bullet trains launched

New series of bullet trains launched

A new series of faster, quieter bullet trains begins service March 13 on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines linking Kyushu with Tokyo. The first runs of the new 700 series ''Nozomi'' bullet trains were launched with two trains departing on the early morning of March 13 from JR Tokyo Station and JR Hakata Station in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. ==Kyodo

Giant solar power generator completed in central Japan

Giant solar power generator completed in central Japan

TOWN OF ANPACHI, Japan - A ship-shaped solar power generator, completed in the village of Anpachi, Gifu Prefecture, by Sanyo Electric Co., is put to media preview Dec. 20. The structure that cost 3.3 billion yen to build, is 315 meters long, 37.1 meter high and 13.7 meter wide. Equipped with 5,000 solar cell panels, it can generate 530,000 kilowatts of electricity annually, reducing 95 tons of carbon dioxide, Sanyo said. Pictured to the fore is a JR Tokai Shinkansen bullet train.

Piece of mortar found on Sanyo Shikansen tracks

Piece of mortar found on Sanyo Shikansen tracks

OGORI, Japan - Photo shows an 8-kilogram piece of mortar found Dec. 1 on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line bullet-train tracks inside a tunnel in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Tunnel inspectors found the fragment, which had apparently fallen from a 3-meter-high wall in the tunnel between Shin-Shimonoseki and Asa stations. No accidents were reported immediately. (Kyodo)

Old "Hikari" Shinkansen bullet train in 1975

Old "Hikari" Shinkansen bullet train in 1975

The first "Hikari" Shinkansen bullet train of the Sanyo Shinkansen Line departs JR Hakata station in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, during a ceremony to mark the opening of the extended line in this file photo taken on March 10, 1975. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Sanyo Shinkansen Line marks 40th anniversary

Sanyo Shinkansen Line marks 40th anniversary

A Shinkansen bullet train departs JR Hakata station in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on March 10, 2015, during a ceremony to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the opening of the extended Sanyo Shinkansen Line. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Sanyo Shinkansen Line marks 40th anniversary

Sanyo Shinkansen Line marks 40th anniversary

A Shinkansen bullet train departs JR Hakata station in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on March 10, 2015, during a ceremony to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the opening of the extended Sanyo Shinkansen Line. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train line marks 40th anniv.

Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train line marks 40th anniv.

A 500 series Shinkansen bullet train (R) makes a stop at JR Shin-Kobe Station in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, while a N700 series train passes by on March 8, 2015. The 40th anniversary of the opening of the whole Sanyo Shinkansen Line from Shin-Osaka to Hakata was marked on March 10. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Sanyo Shinkansen Line marks 40th anniversary

Sanyo Shinkansen Line marks 40th anniversary

A Shinkansen bullet train departs JR Hakata station in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on March 10, 2015, during a ceremony to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the opening of the extended Sanyo Shinkansen Line. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Old "Hikari" Shinkansen bullet train in 1975

Old "Hikari" Shinkansen bullet train in 1975

The first "Hikari" Shinkansen bullet train of the Sanyo Shinkansen Line departs JR Hakata station in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, during a ceremony to mark the opening of the extended line in this file photo taken on March 10, 1975. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo