International Railroad Discussion > Japan Trip Part 4 - Shinkansens at Himeji

We rode a lot of Shinkansens on this trip, but photographing them well turned out to be a little bit of a challenge.  First, the trains coming through are moving really fast!  Plus, the stations are often a mix of shadows and sunlight, making for difficult light conditions.  Then there are the platform screen doors that keep you back from the trackway at most stations, and finally there are usually very vigilant JR staff nearby who keep you even further back of the yellow platform strips that are inside the platform doors!  So I was glad to see on a daytrip to Himeji on New Year's Day that there were no platform screen doors, and there was a pretty clear shot from the ends of the platforms.   So just a few shots of the Shinkansens.

1)  Here's an N700S series train (thanks cchan006) heading for Tokyo, seen here on the through line at Himeji station running at speed through the station. 
2)  Here's a very special Shinkansen!  This is the 500 Series train V2, done up in special "Hello Kitty" livery for the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty.  It's pulling into the station platform siding at Himeji heading east (north) toward Tokyo. 
3)  Another N700A train, this time running at speed westbound (southbound) on the through line at Himeji - possibly bound for Hakata on Kyushu.
 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/25 16:35 by dwatry.

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4)  Short video of a westbound N700A trainset going by on the through line, while the Hello Kitty-liveried 500-series train V2 sits at the station platform at Himeji. 

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Pretty impressive speeds!  Interesting post.  Thanks.

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

dwatry Wrote:
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> 1)  Here's an N700A series train (I think)
> heading for Tokyo, seen here on the through line
> at Himeji station running at speed through the
> station. 

That's the latest N700 variant, the N700S. The shape of the headlight covers are slightly different from N700A, and the shape of the noses are different between the two also.

> 2)  Here's a very special Shinkansen!  This is
> the 500 Series train V2, done up in special "Hello
> Kitty" livery for the 50th anniversary of Hello
> Kitty.  It's pulling into the station platform
> siding at Himeji heading east (north) toward
> Tokyo.

Hello Kitty Shinkansen "replaced" the cyberpunk Shinkansen EVA (Evangelion) in 2018. First TO discussion of that:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4557963,4560308#4560308

Glad JR West (West Japan Railway) hung onto the scheme for the 50th Anniversary 6 years later, as EVA lasted less than 3 years. Railfan gossip says the Hello Kitty Shinkansen will continue running until the retirement of the Class 500 sets, 2026-2027.

Hope you had fun in Himeji, including a visit to the castle with 400+ years of history. Thanks for the fun report!
 

cchan006 - thanks for the 700 series update.  Yes we had a very nice time at Himeji Castle and spent most of the day there.   I'm a sucker for a good castle!

More great photos. Thanks.