Yamagata Shinkansen

Japan’s first mini-shinkansen: beyond Fukushima the “Tsubasa” runs re-gauged valley rails below Zao’s slopes into cherry and soba country.

At Fukushima the Tsubasa swings off the trunk route and grinds over the Itaya Pass, a crossing so snowbound that rotary ploughs once ruled it. The stops beyond read like a craft fair: Yonezawa with its beef bentos, Tendō where most of Japan’s shōgi pieces are carved, Ōishida as the door to the gaslit lanes of Ginzan Onsen. Since 2024 the elegant E8 sets have been taking over, wearing a stripe of Yamagata safflower yellow.

Stations

1. 0 kmTokyo
2. 4 kmUeno
3. 31 kmOmiya
4. 80 kmOyama
5. 109 kmUtsunomiya
6. 214 kmKoriyama
7. Show 6 more stations

   1. 255 kmFukushima
   2. 296 kmYonezawa
   3. 306 kmTakahata
   4. 312 kmAkayu
   5. 331 kmKaminoyama-Onsen
   6. 343 kmYamagata
8. 356 kmTendo
9. 364 kmSakurambo-Higashine
10. 369 kmMurayama
11. 383 kmOishida
12. 404 km新庄

The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them.

Along the way

• Itaya Pass snow country
• Yonezawa beef town
• Kaminoyama-Onsen castle town
• Tendō shōgi workshops
• Ōishida for Ginzan Onsen
• Shinjō festival float museum

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 1950427 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
• Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 3 m from it
• The operator publishes this line's timetable: JR East — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
• Wikipedia has an article for this line
• See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it

Questions and answers

How long is the Yamagata Shinkansen?

The Yamagata Shinkansen runs 421 km from Tokyo to Shinjo.

How long does the Yamagata Shinkansen take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 3 h 10 min for the 421 km. That is an average of 133 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 300 km/h.

Who runs the Yamagata Shinkansen?

JR East, with E8 “Tsubasa”.

How old is the Yamagata Shinkansen?

The line has been in service since 1992. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How often does the Yamagata Shinkansen run?

≈ hourly (not all continue to Shinjō).

View on the world railway map →

Read more on Wikipedia ↗