Nagoya Station in the context of "Central Japan Railway Company"

The Central Japan Railway Company is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and occasionally as JR Tokai (Japanese: JR東海). The term Tōkai refers to the Tōkai region (the southern portion of Central Japan), in which the company chiefly operates.

JR Central's operational hub is Nagoya Station, and the company's administrative headquarters are located in the JR Central Towers above the building. The busiest and longest railway line operated by JR Central is the Tōkaidō Main Line between Atami and Maibara; this largely parallels the company's high-speed rail service, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, which runs between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka. JR Central is additionally responsible for the Chūō Shinkansen – an under-construction maglev service between Tokyo and Osaka, which is due to start operation between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2034.

Nozomi (のぞみ; "Wish" or "Hope") is the fastest train service running on the Tokaido and San'yō Shinkansen lines in Japan. The service stops at only the largest stations, and services using N700 series equipment reach speeds of 300 km/h (186 mph) along the stretch between Shin-Ōsaka and Hakata. The trip between Tokyo and Osaka, a distance of 515 kilometres (320 mi), takes 2 hours 21 minutes on the fastest Nozomi service, with the fastest service between Tokyo Station and Hakata taking 4 hours 45 minutes.

The trains stop at fewer stations than the Hikari and Kodama trains. On the Tōkaidō Shinkansen between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka, Nozomi trains stop only at Shinagawa, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya and Kyōto. On the Sanyō Shinkansen between Shin-Ōsaka and Hakata, all Nozomi trains stop at Shin-Kobe, Hiroshima, Okayama and Kokura, with certain trains also stopping at additional stations.

The Chūō Shinkansen (中央新幹線, Central Shinkansen, lit. 'Central new trunk line') is a Japanese maglev line under construction between Tokyo and Nagoya, with plans for extension to Osaka. Its initial section is between Shinagawa Station in Tokyo and Nagoya Station in Nagoya, with stations in Sagamihara, Kōfu, Iida and Nakatsugawa. Following the completion of the Tokyo–Nagoya line, the line will extend to stations in Mie, Nara and Osaka. The line is expected to connect Tokyo and Nagoya in 40 minutes, and eventually Tokyo and Osaka in 67 minutes, running at a maximum speed of 505 km/h (314 mph). About 90% of the 286-kilometer (178 mi) line to Nagoya will be tunnels.

The Chuo Shinkansen is the culmination of Japanese maglev development since the 1970s, a government-funded project initiated by Japan Airlines and the former Japanese National Railways (JNR). Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) now operates the facilities and research. The line is intended to extend and incorporate the existing Yamanashi test track (see below). The trainsets are popularly known in Japan as linear motor car (リニアモーターカー, rinia mōtā kā), though there are many technical variations.