Shinkansen in the context of "Hokuriku Shinkansen"

Tochigi Prefecture (栃木県, Tochigi-ken) is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,897,649 (1 June 2023) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the west, Saitama Prefecture to the south, and Ibaraki Prefecture to the southeast.

Utsunomiya is the capital and largest city of Tochigi Prefecture, with other major cities including Oyama, Tochigi, and Ashikaga. Tochigi Prefecture is one of only eight landlocked prefectures and its mountainous northern region is a popular tourist region in Japan. The Nasu area is known for its onsens, local sake, and ski resorts, the villa of the Imperial Family, and the Nasushiobara station of the Shinkansen railway line. The city of Nikkō, with its ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Taiheiyō Belt (Japanese: 太平洋ベルト, Hepburn: Taiheiyō Beruto; lit. "Pacific Belt"), also known as the Tōkaidō corridor, is the megalopolis in Japan extending from Ibaraki Prefecture in the northeast to Fukuoka Prefecture in the southwest, running for almost 1,200 km (750 mi). Its estimated population as of 2011 was about 80 million.

The urbanization zone runs mainly along the Pacific coast (hence the name) of Japan from Kantō region to Osaka, and the Inland Sea (on both sides) to Fukuoka, and is concentrated along the Tōkaidō–Sanyō rail corridor. A view of Japan at night clearly shows a rather dense and continuous strip of light (demarcating urban zones) that delineates the region. The high population is particularly due to the large plains – the Kantō Plain, Kinai Plain, and Nōbi Plain – which facilitate building in otherwise mountainous Japan.

High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilizing trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialized rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single definition or standard that applies worldwide, lines built to handle speeds of at least 250 km/h (155 mph) or upgraded lines of at least 200 km/h (125 mph) are generally considered to be high-speed.

The first high-speed rail system, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, began operations in Honshu, Japan, in 1964. Due to the streamlined spitzer-shaped nose cone of the trains, the system also became known by its English nickname bullet train. Japan's example was followed by several European countries, initially in Italy with the Direttissima line, followed shortly thereafter by France, Germany, and Spain. Today, much of Europe has an extensive network with numerous international connections. Construction since the 21st century has led to China taking a leading role in high-speed rail. As of 2023, China's HSR network accounted for over two-thirds of the world's total.

Japan first participated at the Olympic Games in 1912, and has competed at almost every Games since then. The nation was not invited to the 1948 Games after World War II, and was part of the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

Since its first (ultimately canceled) bid in 1940, Japan has hosted the Olympics four times: in 1964, 1972, 1998, and 2021 (originally 2020). Each occasion coincided with critical turning points in Japan’s domestic development or global standing. The 1964 Tokyo Olympics were a pivotal moment in Japan’s postwar recovery, offering a visual spectacle of modernization that included the unveiling of the Shinkansen bullet train and the rapid reconstruction of Tokyo’s infrastructure. The event symbolized Japan’s reintegration into the international community after its defeat in World War II, marking its transition from a militaristic empire to a peaceful economic power aligned with Western liberal democracies.

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen (Japanese: 東海道新幹線; lit. 'East coast route, new main line') is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the San'yō Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opening in 1964, running between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka, it was the world's first high-speed rail line, and it remains one of the world's busiest. Since 1987, it has been operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), prior to that by Japanese National Railways (JNR).

There are three types of services on the line: from fastest to slowest, they are the limited-stop Nozomi, the semi-fast Hikari, and the all-stop Kodama. Many Nozomi and Hikari trains continue onward to the San'yō Shinkansen, going as far as Fukuoka's Hakata Station. The different services operate at mostly the same speed.

The San'yō Shinkansen (山陽新幹線) 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 continuation of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and also serves other major cities in between on Honshu and Kyushu islands such as Kobe, Himeji, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Kitakyushu, through the Shin-Kanmon Tunnel. The Kyushu Shinkansen continues south of Hakata to Kagoshima. The San'yō Shinkansen connects Hakata with Osaka in two and a half hours, with trains operating at a maximum speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) for most of the journey. Some Nozomi trains operate continuously on San'yō and Tōkaidō Shinkansen lines, connecting Tokyo and Hakata in five hours.

Ueno Station (上野駅, Ueno-eki) is a major railway station in Tokyo's Taitō ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno district and Ueno Park—which contains Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo University of the Arts and other famous cultural facilities. A major commuter hub, it is also the traditional terminus for long-distance trains from northern Japan, although with the extension of the Shinkansen lines to Tokyo Station this role has diminished in recent years. A similar extension of conventional lines extended Takasaki Line, Utsunomiya Line and Jōban Line services to Tokyo Station via the Ueno-Tokyo Line in March 2015, using existing little-used tracks and a new viaduct; the Ueno-Tokyo Line connects these lines with the Tōkaidō Main Line, allowing through services to Shinagawa, Yokohama, Odawara and Atami stations.

Ueno Station is close to Keisei Ueno Station, the Tokyo terminus of the Keisei Main Line to Narita Airport Station.

The Japan Railways Group, commonly known as the JR Group (Jeiāru Gurūpu) or simply JR, is a network of railway companies in Japan formed after the division and privatization of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. The group comprises six regional passenger railway companies, one freight railway company, and two non-service entities. The JNR Settlement Corporation assumed much of the debt of the former JNR.

The companies of the JR Group operates a significant portion of Japan’s rail services, including intercity routes, commuter lines, and the Shinkansen high-speed rail network.