The interior of a 700 Series Shinkansen (Nozomi), September 2004
Nozomi(のぞみ,Nozomi?) is the fastest train service running on the Tōkaidō/SanyōShinkansen. Along the stretch between Shin-Kobe and Hakata, Nozomi services using 500 series and N700 series equipment reach speeds of 300 km/h (186 mph). The trip between Tokyo and Osaka, a distance of 515 kilometers, takes only 2.5 hours on the Nozomi.
The 300 Series Shinkansen, 500 Series Shinkansen, 700 Series Shinkansen, and N700 Series Shinkansen are presently used for Nozomi services. The latest, the N700, was introduced on Nozomi services on July 1, 2007, with four daily round-trip runs.1 It is projected that all through Nozomi services (i.e. Tokyo-Hakata) will be operated by N700 trains by 2009, and all regularly-scheduled Nozomi services will be operated by N700 trains by 2011.
The word nozomi in Japanese means "hope" or "wish". It was selected since something faster than the existing services Hikari, "light, ray", and Kodama, "echo", was needed.
Key
● All trains stop
▲ Some trains stop
▬ No trains stop/Service does not run here
(###) Train numbers included in/excluded from table 1 Some trains begin/terminate in Nishi-Akashi, Himeji, Okayama or Hiroshima. 2 Some trains begin/terminate in Nagoya.
Note: Basic Nozomi stopping patterns are shown. Additional Nozomi trains with differing stopping patterns are added during holiday and high-peak travel periods, and are not included in this table.