Kodama is one of the three train services running on the Tōkaidō and San'yō Shinkansen lines. Stopping at every station, the Kodama is 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. The name of the train comes from the Japanese word kodama, which means "echo".
Shinkansen ''Kodama''
Kodama trains generally run over shorter distances than Nozomi and Hikari trains. Typical Kodama runs include Tokyo - Nagoya / Shin-Osaka, Tokyo - Mishima / Shizuoka / Hamamatsu, Mishima / Shizuoka / Nagoya - Shin-Osaka, and Shin-Osaka / Okayama / Hiroshima - Hakata as well as some shorter late-night runs. The trainsets used for Kodama service are the same 700 series, and N700 series trains used for the Hikari and Nozomi services. Older 100 series and 300 series trains were also used for Kodama services on the Sanyō Shinkansen until they were withdrawn in 2012. In December 2008, reconfigured 500 series trains entered Kodama service to replace the withdrawn Sanyō Shinkansen 0 series trains. Many Sanyō Shinkansen Kodama services continue to and from Hakata-Minami on the Hakata-Minami Line. 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 newest shinkansen trainset, the N700, is currently used on some early morning and late nightKodama runs between Kokura and Hakata stations in Kyushu. All standard-class cars are non-reserved, and, as with all other N700 services, there is no smoking on these trains except in designated on-board smoking rooms. At most intermediate stations, Kodama trains wait for faster trains, such as the Nozomi, Hikari, Sakura, and Mizuho, to pass through before resuming their journeys.
The shinkansen Kodama services began on 1 October 1964, operating between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. On 17 March 2012, the remaining 100 series sets were withdrawn from Kodama services and 700 series Kodama services became entirely no-smoking. Onboard trolley refreshment services were discontinued on all JR CentralKodama services from 17 March 2012. Also, some of the 16-car 500 series that used to run as the Nozomi service were cut short to eight cars to run as the Kodama service.
