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Shinkansen service·1 min read

Mizuho

みずほ

Mizuho is the fastest limited-stop Shinkansen service running through the San'yō and Kyūshū Shinkansen, operated between Shin-Ōsaka and Kagoshima-Chūō since 12 March 2011, the day the Kyūshū Shinkansen was completed end to end. The service had been formally announced by JR West and JR Kyushu on 20 October 2010, reviving a name that JNR had earlier used for a Tokyo–Kumamoto limited-express sleeping-car train that ran from 1961 until it was discontinued in December 1994.

A JR West N700-7000 series set, the type used on Mizuho services, on the Sanyo Shinkansen.
A JR West N700-7000 series set, the type used on Mizuho services, on the Sanyo Shinkansen. — Mitsuki-2368 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

History

From the outset Mizuho was aimed primarily at the business market, launching with two return services in the morning and two in the evening; it stops at only a handful of stations, with most trains calling solely at Shin-Kobe, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kokura, Hakata and Kumamoto.

Operationally, Mizuho is worked by eight-car trainsets — JR West N700-7000 series and JR Kyushu N700-8000 series — running at a maximum of 300 km/h on the San'yō Shinkansen and 260 km/h on the Kyūshū Shinkansen. At its launch the fastest Shin-Ōsaka to Kagoshima-Chūō run took 3 hours 45 minutes, some 25 minutes quicker than the Sakura services. The timetable then grew steadily: an additional daily return working was added from 17 March 2012 (four to five); by 15 March 2014 there were six per direction, with two trains stopping at Himeji to improve Kansai connectivity; and as of 14 March 2020 there were eight per direction, some making extra stops at Sendai, Kurume, Shin-Yamaguchi, Fukuyama or Himeji.

Timeline
  • 1961The name Mizuho is first introduced (1 October 1961) as a JNR limited-express sleeping-car service running from Tokyo to Kumamoto in Kyushu.
  • 1994The original JNR Mizuho sleeping-car limited express is discontinued (from 3 December 1994).
  • 2010On 20 October 2010 JR West and JR Kyushu formally announce that the Mizuho name will be revived for a new limited-stop Shinkansen service from 12 March 2011.
  • 2011Mizuho begins operating on 12 March 2011, the day the Kyushu Shinkansen opens end to end, running Shin-Osaka to Kagoshima-Chuo with four return workings and a fastest time of 3 hours 45 minutes.
  • 2012From 17 March 2012 an additional daily return working is added (four to five), and removal of the speed restriction near Shin-Yatsushiro cuts the fastest Shin-Osaka to Kagoshima-Chuo time to 3 hours 42 minutes.
  • 2014By 15 March 2014 there are six daily return workings per direction, with two trains newly stopping at Himeji.
  • 2020As of 14 March 2020 there are eight daily return workings per direction, with Fukuyama and Shin-Yamaguchi promoted to scheduled Mizuho stops.

Sources
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