Tokaido Shinkansen in the context of "Central Japan Railway Company"

Tokyo Station (Japanese: 東京駅, Hepburn: Tōkyō-eki; pronounced [to̞ːkʲo̞ːe̞kʲi]) is a major railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is not far from the Ginza commercial district. Due to the large area covered by the station, it is divided into the Marunouchi (west) and Yaesu (east) sides in its directional signage.

The station opened in 1914 as an integrated terminus for the present-day Tōkaidō Line, Tōhoku Line, and later the Chūō Line, which previously had separate termini in Tokyo. Since then, it has served as the main terminus for inter-city trains departing Tokyo westwards. The station was badly damaged during the Bombing of Tokyo on 25 May 1945 but soon resumed service. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen, the world’s first dedicated high-speed rail system, opened between the station and Osaka in 1964. With the extension of northbound Shinkansen lines from Ueno in 1991, the station also became a gateway to northeast Japan.

The Shinkansen (Japanese: 新幹線; [ɕiŋkaꜜɰ̃seɴ] , lit. 'new trunk line'), colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. It was initially built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond long-distance travel, some sections around the largest metropolitan areas are used as a commuter rail network. It is owned by the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency and operated by five Japan Railways Group companies.

Starting with the Tokaido Shinkansen (515.4 km; 320.3 mi) in 1964, the network has expanded to consist of 2,951.3 km (1,833.9 mi) of lines with maximum speeds of 260–320 km/h (160–200 mph), 283.5 km (176.2 mi) of Mini-shinkansen lines with a maximum speed of 130 km/h (80 mph), and 10.3 km (6.4 mi) of spur lines with Shinkansen services. The network links most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, and connects to Hakodate on the northern island of Hokkaido. An extension to Sapporo is under construction and was initially scheduled to open by fiscal year 2030, but in December 2024, it was delayed until the end of FY2038. The maximum operating speed is 320 km/h (200 mph) (on a 387.5 km (241 mi) section of the Tōhoku Shinkansen). Test runs have reached 443 km/h (275 mph) for conventional rail in 1996, and up to a world record 603 km/h (375 mph) for SCMaglev trains in April 2015.

The Tōkaidō Main Line (Japanese: 東海道本線, romanized: Tōkaidō-honsen) is one of the most important railway corridors in Japan, connecting the major cities of Tokyo and Kobe via Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. The line, with termini at Tokyo and Kobe stations, is 589.5 km (366.3 mi) long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallels the line.

The term "Tōkaidō Main Line" is largely a holdover from pre-Shinkansen days; now various portions of the line have different names which are officially used by JR East, JR Central, and JR West. Today, the only daily passenger train that travels the entire length of the line is the combined Sunrise Izumo/Sunrise Seto service which runs overnight. During the day, longer intercity trips using the line require several transfers along the way.

The 0 series (0系, Zero-kei) trains were the first generation Shinkansen trainsets built to run on Japan's Tōkaidō Shinkansen high-speed line which opened in 1964. The last remaining trainsets were withdrawn in 2008 after 44 years of service.

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.

33°57′57.4″N 130°57′47.2″E / 33.965944°N 130.963111°E / 33.965944; 130.963111The Shin-Kanmon Tunnel (新関門トンネル, shin-kanmon tonneru) is a 18.713-kilometre (11.628 mi) long undersea railway tunnel under the Kanmon Straits connecting Shin-Shimonoseki Station and Kokura Station.

At the time of opening in March of 1975, it was the longest railway tunnel in Japan before being overtaken by in 1988 the opening of the Seikan Tunnel. It is also the longest tunnel section on the entire Sanyo/Tokaido Shinkansen line.

Shinagawa Station (品川駅, Shinagawa-eki) is a major railway station in the Takanawa and Konan districts of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), and the private railway operator Keikyu. The Tokaido Shinkansen and other trains to the Miura Peninsula, Izu Peninsula, and the Tōkai region pass through here. Though a major station in Tokyo, Shinagawa is not served by the Tokyo subway network. However, it is connected to the Toei Asakusa Line via Keikyu through services.

Despite its name, the station is not located in Shinagawa ward. Shinagawa is also commonly used to refer to the business district around the station, which is in Takanawa and Konan neighborhoods of Minato, directly north of Shinagawa ward.