[Yamagata Prefecture] Why was the mini Shinkansen Yamagata Shinkansen "Tsubasa" born?

The Yamagata Shinkansen, also known as Tsubasa , is a train that runs directly between Tokyo Station and Yamagata Station and Shinjo Station in Yamagata Prefecture.
In this article, we will introduce why this train was created.

What is “Tsubasa” on the Yamagata Shinkansen?

"Tsubasa" is a JR East Shinkansen/limited express train that mainly connects Tokyo Station with Yamagata Station or Shinjo Station in Yamagata Prefecture without changing trains.
It takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes to travel between Tokyo Station and Yamagata Station, and about 1 hour and 10 minutes from Fukushima Station to Yamagata Station.
The travel time from Yamagata Station to Shinjo Station is approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour.

connect with
``Yamabiko'' in the section from Tokyo Station to Fukushima Station "Yamabiko" is a train that mainly connects Tokyo Station with Sendai Station or Morioka Station.

"Tsubasa" is also called "Yamagata Shinkansen," but this Yamagata Shinkansen has a big difference from the Tohoku Shinkansen and Hokkaido Shinkansen, which run through the same prefecture in the Tohoku region.
It is called the Mini Shinkansen there is no line anywhere in Japan whose official name is ``Yamagata Shinkansen.'' (
This is not covered in this article, but The same applies to the Akita Shinkansen).

So what route does Tsubasa run on?
The section from Tokyo Station to Fukushima Station the Tohoku Shinkansen .
The Tohoku Shinkansen is a genuine Shinkansen (a line where trains can run at speeds of over 200 km/h on the main sections), and the current Tsubasa runs on the Tohoku Shinkansen section at a maximum speed of 300 km/h
(the rolling stock is the latest model E8). Only for the E3 series.The maximum speed of the E3 series is 275km/h.

The official name of the section from Fukushima Station to Shinjo Station is " Ou Main Line ."
Although it is sometimes referred to as the ``Yamagata Shinkansen,'' this section is a `` conventional line ,'' meaning it is not a Shinkansen in the strict sense of the word.
Since it is a conventional line, it cannot reach the speed of a regular Shinkansen.
The maximum speed of "Tsubasa" is limited to 130km/h, which is about the same as a general express train.
You can also pass through railroad crossings that do not exist on regular Shinkansen trains.
Although Tsubasa can run from Tokyo Station to Fukushima Station in about an hour and a half, it takes an hour to get from Fukushima Station to Yamagata Station in the next prefecture, because the train speed drops significantly when it enters the Ou Main Line. This is the cause.

"Yamagata Shinkansen" is the common name for the section that combines the Tohoku Shinkansen between Tokyo Station and Fukushima Station and the Ou Main Line between Fukushima Station and Shinjo Station (sometimes it refers to only the Ou Main Line section), and the section that runs directly through that section. This is the common name for the train that runs on the train.
Lines like the Yamagata Shinkansen, which operate directly between the Shinkansen and conventional lines, are also called "Mini Shinkansen."

Why was this mini Shinkansen created?

The creator of the Yamagata Shinkansen

There is a person who can be called the father of the Yamagata Shinkansen.
The late Shuichiro Yamanouchi joined Japan National Railways, the predecessor of JR, and served as vice president and chairman after the establishment of JR East.

In 1982, the Tohoku Shinkansen (between Omiya Station and Morioka Station) and the Joetsu Shinkansen (between Omiya Station and Niigata Station) opened.
Mr. Yamanouchi, who worked as an executive for Japan National Railways, realized the effectiveness of the Shinkansen in attracting customers when he saw trains crowded with skiers in the first winter after the Joetsu Shinkansen opened.
So he thought, ``If we run the Shinkansen to Yamagata, a sacred place for skiing, we could attract more customers.''

Barriers and loopholes to Yamagata Shinkansen construction

However, in order to build the Shinkansen to Yamagata, there was a huge hurdle that had to be overcome.
" Maintenance Shinkansen Plan ".
This is a plan created in the 1970s, and to put it simply, it stipulates the "maintained Shinkansen" that will be constructed on a priority basis in Japan in the future.For example, the
section of the Tohoku Shinkansen from Morioka City to Aomori City. , Hokkaido Shinkansen, etc. were included in the maintenance Shinkansen, but the Shinkansen to Yamagata was not included.
It is completely unrealistic to build a Shinkansen to Yamagata ahead of a section that has already been approved as a maintenance Shinkansen.
To begin with, at the time when JNR was in financial trouble, even the start of construction of Shinkansen maintenance was frozen.
If we wait until the Shinkansen is completed, we will never know
when the Shinkansen to Yamagata will be built In fact, even now, more than 40 years after Mr. Yamanouchi envisioned the Shinkansen line to Yamagata, it is still unclear when all sections of the Shinkansen line will open.

Reference: Railway: About Shinkansen Railways – Ministry of Land
, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Maintenance Shinkansen: Hokkaido Shinkansen: Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station to Sapporo, Hokuriku Shinkansen: Tsuruga Station to Osaka, Kyushu Shinkansen <West Kyushu Route>: Fukuoka to Takeo Onsen Station) (Not open as of June 2024)

However, Mr. Yamanouchi found a loophole here.
is that
``Shinkansen trains can run on these lines, but lines that can only run at speeds of less than 200 km/h are not ``Shinkansen'' The Shinkansen and the general conventional lines of Japan National Railways and JR have different gauges (the distance between two rails), but if the gauge of the conventional line was widened to match the Shinkansen, it would be possible for the Shinkansen trains to reach speeds of less than 200km/h. This is the birth of a route that can only be run on.
It is possible to run trains that connect directly from the existing Shinkansen to this conventional line with widened gauge without interfering with the Shinkansen maintenance plan.

This is how the idea for the mini Shinkansen was born in Mr. Yamanouchi's head.
It is not possible to run at the same high speed as the Shinkansen on conventional lines, so creating a mini Shinkansen will not significantly increase speed.
However, the Shinkansen , which connects directly to conventional lines without changing trains, and the ease with which it appeals to railway users.

In addition, the only necessary construction work is widening the gauge of conventional lines and making some improvements to make them easier to run at high speeds.
Another advantage is that construction costs are significantly lower than building a full-fledged Shinkansen from scratch that can run at over 200km/h.

Mr. Yamanouchi's concept also seems to have been based on the TGV, a high-speed train that runs in France.
Unlike Japan, high-speed railways in Europe have the same gauge as conventional lines and dedicated lines that can run at high speeds.
For this reason, direct operation between conventional lines and dedicated high-speed train lines is frequently carried out.

Mr. Yamanouchi proposed the mini-Shinkansen concept within JNR, but at first no one took issue with it.
When he spoke to a Japanese National Railways executive who was a senior at the same elementary school, he replied, ``That's interesting, let's study together.''
However, although consideration has been made within JNR, it is unclear how this can be put into practice.
It was Yamagata Prefecture that sent a rescue boat to these people.

Benibana National Athletic Meet in 1992

In 1981, it was decided that an important event would be held in Yamagata Prefecture.
Benibana National Athletic Meet, the 47th National Athletic Meet, was held in 1992.
In conjunction with the holding of this National Athletic Meet, Yamagata Prefecture needed to improve its transportation system to access the prefecture.
The demand for improved transportation systems in Yamagata Prefecture and Mr. Yamanouchi's idea of ​​running a Shinkansen to Yamagata were a perfect match.
With the interest of prominent local politicians, the Yamagata Shinkansen plan, in which Shinkansen trains would run from Fukushima Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen to the Ou Main Line, a conventional line, was brought to fruition.

July 1992: Yamagata Shinkansen opens

On July 1, 1992, five years after the establishment of JR, the Yamagata Shinkansen finally opened, and the Tsubasa train began running between Tokyo Station and Yamagata Station.
At the time of its opening, the train was a 6-car ``400 series'' train developed for the Yamagata Shinkansen.
Existing Shinkansen vehicles are too large to run on the conventional Ou Main Line, so a special vehicle with a smaller body was needed.
When the author (then an elementary school student) first opened his business, his father, who was from Fukushima Prefecture, gave him a ride.

As Mr. Yamanouchi envisioned, the impact of the Shinkansen running directly from Tokyo to Yamagata, even though it was a mini Shinkansen, was huge, and the Tsubasa quickly became a popular train.
Just three years after the line opened, one more train was added, making it a seven-car train.

On December 4, 1999, the Yamagata Shinkansen was extended to Shinjo Station, and some Tsubasa trains began operating to Shinjo Station.
As the number of vehicles required increased, a new type of vehicle, the ``E3 series 1000 series,'' was introduced.

, the "E3 series 2000 series" was introduced
to replace the 400 series, which had been active since the company's opening There are some differences from the E3 series 1000 series, such as the shape of the headlights, and some seats in the train were also equipped with power outlets
(however, I left the train with the charger plugged into this outlet). ).
The E3 series 2000 series were introduced one after another, and the 400 series ended commercial operation in April 2010.

Author: © DAJF / Wikimedia Commons, CC Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0,
by https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38954889

From 2014 to 2022, sightseeing trains mainly operated within the Ou Main Line section.
It's called
"Toreiyutsubasa" The "E3 series 0 series" used on the Akita Shinkansen was modified to become the "E3 series 700 series", and its main feature was that it had a footbath

From March 2024, the latest model vehicle, the "E8 series", has been introduced.
The E3 series 1000 series, which was in the minority, ended its commercial operation and was replaced by the E8 series.
In the future, the E3 series 2000 series will also be replaced by the E8 series.

The maximum speed of the E8 series when traveling on the Tohoku Shinkansen section has been increased from 275km to 300km.
In-car services have also been improved, including the installation of electrical outlets at every seat and the addition of more wheelchair space.

Kaminoyama Onsen, the birthplace of the Yamagata Shinkansen

One reason for Mr. Yamanouchi's strong interest in Yamagata is that he was evacuated to Kaminoyama (Kamiyama) hot springs in Yamagata Prefecture during the war.
Even after time passed and the Tohoku Shinkansen opened, Mr. Yamanouchi tried to visit Kaminoyama Onsen again with his friends from when he was evacuated.
However, even though the former evacuees were businessmen active on the front lines, none of them knew of the existence of the limited express train on the Ou Main Line that ran from Fukushima Station to Kaminoyama Onsen. It is.

Mr. Yamanouchi wrote in his book that it was a new discovery for ordinary people living in Tokyo that local railways other than the Shinkansen are as good as non-existent.
This experience must have been the trigger for him to decide to run the Shinkansen to Yamagata.

In any case, as you can see, Kaminoyama Onsen is the birthplace of Tsubasa.
There is also a train on the Yamagata Shinkansen "Tsubasa" that stops at "Kaminoyama Onsen Station"
(before the opening of the Yamagata Shinkansen in 1992, it was called "Uenoyama Station").

Kaminoyama Onsen was first opened in 1458, when a traveling monk discovered the hot spring healing his wounds.
During the Edo period, Kamiyama Castle and the Kamiyama Domain were located here, so it prospered as a hot spring resort and castle town.
It also developed as a post town due to the Ushu Highway passing through it.
It is said to be a
rare town in Japan that has three faces: a hot spring town, a castle town, and a post town It is a place where you can enjoy visiting the hot springs in a yukata in the historic townscape.

There are also 8 walking courses in 5 locations, and it is also known as a health resort where you can stay healthy through walking and hot springs.

Tsubasa, which stops at Kaminoyama Onsen Station, runs about once every hour.
Why not consider Kaminoyama Onsen as your travel destination?

Information

• Name: Kaminoyama (Kamiyama) Hot Spring
• Location: Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Inquiry number: 023-672-0839 (Kamiyama City Tourism and Products Association)
• Web1 Ueyama Rhapsody
• Web2 Kaminoyama Onsen | Tourist spots (Kamiyama City/Murayama region) | Trip to Yamagata – Yamagata Prefecture's official tourism and travel information site

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summary

The Yamagata Shinkansen "Tsubasa" runs directly from the Tokyo metropolitan area to Yamagata, and has not only carried a large number of people, but has
also greatly contributed to promoting the existence of Yamagata When the Yamagata Shinkansen first opened, a senior official of Yamagata Prefecture said to its creator, Mr. Yamanouchi, ``What I'm most thankful for is that ``Yamagata Shinkansen Tsubasa'' is always broadcast at Tokyo Station at regular intervals.'' .
Tsubasa will continue to play a role as a major means of transportation connecting the Kanto region, Fukushima prefecture, and Yamagata prefecture.