The Shirayuki express train that connected Kanazawa and Aomori in 12 hours

Until about 40 years ago (as of 2025), there was an express train that ran from Kanazawa Station in Ishikawa Prefecture to Aomori Station in Aomori Prefecture, taking over 12 hours. This
train was called the "Shirayuki" express. It
had characteristics that are unthinkable for current JR trains, such as the length of its route and travel time, and the fact that it was never converted to electric trains even though the necessary equipment was in place.

The express train "Shirayuki" ran over 770km

The express train "Shirayuki" began operation in 1963, during the era of Japanese National Railways (JNR), before JR was established.
Initially, there was one southbound train per day from Kanazawa Station to Akita Station, and one northbound train per day from Aomori Station to Kanazawa Station.

According to the timetable from October 1964, the year after service began, the southbound train departed Kanazawa Station at 6:45 a.m.
The main stops along the way were Takaoka, Toyama, Itoigawa, Naoetsu, Kashiwazaki, Nagaoka, Niitsu, Niigata, Shibata, Sakamachi, Tsuruoka, Sakata, and Ugo-Honjo.
The train continued its long journey along the Japan Sea coastal lines (hereafter collectively referred to as the "Japan Sea Main Line"), including the Hokuriku Main Line (at the time; it is no longer the JR Hokuriku Main Line), the Shin'etsu Main Line, the Uetsu Main Line, the Hakushin Line, and the Ou Main Line, arriving at Akita Station at 17:05 p.m.

The northbound train departed Aomori Station at 6:25 AM.
The northbound "Shirayuki"Akebonowas coupled with another express train called
The main stops on the way to Akita Station were Hirosaki, Odate, Takanosu, and Higashi-Noshiro.
After separating from "Akebono" at Akita Station, the main stops were the same as those of the southbound "Shirayuki". The train
arrived at its final destination, Kanazawa Station, at 8:36 PM.
distance traveledexceeded 770 km,a long journey of 14 hours and 11 minutes.

In 1965, the southbound service was extended to Aomori, and both northbound and southbound trains ran between Kanazawa Station and Aomori Station.
At that time, the Seikan Ferry departed from and arrived at Aomori Station, and it was possible to take a ferry from Aomori Station to Hakodate Station in Hokkaido.
However, the transfer time between the "Shirayuki" train and the Seikan Ferry was set at a long 2 hours in both directions.
In later years, the connection between the "Shirayuki" train and the Seikan Ferry was completely eliminated, suggesting that this train was not designed to meet the demand from people traveling from Aomori Station to Hokkaido or from Hokkaido.

Furthermore, the limited express "Hakucho," connecting Osaka Station and Aomori Station, had already begun operation on the Japan Sea Main Line since 1961.
It is believed that the "Hakucho" was primarily responsible for direct passenger transport between the Hokuriku and Tohoku regions.

Tohoku Rokken Trivia Media NEFT

From Osaka to Aomori in 16 hours! Japan's longest daytime express train, "Shiratori"

https://jp.neft.asia/archives/31986

There used to be a limited express train called the "Shiratori" operated by the Japanese National Railways (JNR) and JR, which ran over 1,000 km along the Sea of ​​Japan coast from Osaka Station to Aomori Station. When it was introduced in 1961, the journey time from Osaka Station to Aomori Station was as long as 15 hours and 45 minutes. However, despite its long service time, the Shiratori was not a sleeper limited express. It was a daytime limited express train with seated passengers. This time, we will introduce the Shiratori, which ran the longest distance of any daytime limited express train on a conventional line (apart from the Shinkansen). The origins of the "Shiratori" The term "limited express" is well-established among those who use trains on a daily basis, but...

read more

For these reasons, few passengers used the "Shirayuki" train for the entire route from Kanazawa Station to Aomori Station.
Many passengers only used it for parts of the journey, such as from Kanazawa Station to Niigata Station, or from Niigata Station to Akita Station or Aomori Station, and it seems that many passengers got on and off at major stations.

Although it could be replaced by a train, it continues to operate as a diesel railcar

The "Shirayuki" train has used KiHa 58 series diesel railcars since its launch in 1963.
At that time, many of the Japanese National Railways' lines, even major trunk lines, were still non-electrified and lacked the infrastructure for electric trains, so diesel railcars, which ran on diesel fuel, were widely used.
The KiHa 58 series was one of the most numerous diesel railcars produced by the Japanese National Railways.

Electrification progressed along the Japan Sea Main Line to allow electric trains to run, and the entire line was electrified in 1972.
Therefore, in October 1972, the "Hakucho" limited express train immediately switched from KiHa 82 series diesel railcars to 485 series electric trains. The
485 series is also a group of trains that were produced in large numbers among the Japanese National Railways' limited express electric trains.

On the other hand, the "Shirayuki" remained a diesel multiple unit (DMU).
There are two possible reasons why it remained a DMU despite the possibility of operating it as an electric multiple unit.
One is that even if they wanted to change the "Shirayuki" to an electric multiple unit, there probably weren't enough express-type electric multiple units available.
In particular, the section in which the "Shirayuki" operated had three electrification systems: AC 60Hz, DC, and AC 50Hz, in that order from west to east. Therefore, changing to an electric multiple unit would have required expensive electric multiple units that could handle all three electrification systems
(naturally, the 485 series electric multiple units used for the limited express "Hakucho" were compatible with all three).

Another reason is that Shirayuki is already operated in conjunction with other diesel express trains, and the diesel railcars used for Shirayuki are also used for other purposes, so it would not have been possible to convert Shirayuki alone into an electric train

Whatever the reason, the "Shirayuki" continued to operate as a diesel multiple unit until its discontinuation in 1982. Its
operating distance of over 770 kmdiesel multiple unit express trains that ran only on electrified linesis probably the longest in Japanese history if limited to
." The "Shirayuki" became famous not only as a train that ran for a long distance and for a long time, but also as a diesel multiple unit train that ran only under overhead wires.

that ran only on electrified linesexpressthat there are even longer
One example is the "Naha" express train, which ran from Osaka Station to Nishi-Kagoshima Station (now Kagoshima-Chuo Station) via the Kagoshima Main Line.
Even after electrification was completed in 1970, it continued to be operated with KiHa 82 series diesel railcars until it was replaced by 485 series electric trains in 1973, and its operating section exceeded 900 km.

The train that ran alongside Shirayuki

As mentioned earlier, there were Shirayuki trains that were coupled to each other at certain sections along the way

To reiterate, as of October 1964 (and likely from the start of operations in 1963), the express train "Akebono" was coupled to the "Shirayuki" bound for Kanazawa, from its starting station Aomori to Akita.
After being detached from the "Shirayuki" at Akita, it continued on to Sendai via the Ou Main Line, Yokokuro Line (renamed the Kitakami Line in 1966), and Tohoku Main Line. After the
southbound "Shirayuki" was extended to Aomori, the "Akebono" was also coupled to southbound trains.
Furthermore, the timetable from October 1968, when the timetable revision known as "Yon-San-To" took place, shows that the "Akebono" was renamed "Kitakami" (although the operating section remained unchanged).

According to the March 1972 timetable, a new express train called "Hakuba" was scheduled to run between Kanazawa Station and Itoigawa Station in Niigata Prefecture, coupled with the "Shirayuki"
(I wonder if this was confusing, as there were already express trains "Hakuba" and limited express trains "Hakucho" running on some sections of the Japan Sea Main Line).
From Itoigawa Station, it entered the Oito Line and ran to Matsumoto Station in Nagano Prefecture.
As the train name suggests, it stopped at Hakuba Station in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, a place famous for its ski resorts and summer retreats.

The Kitakami Line is not electrified, and parts of the Oito Line are also not electrified (this is still the case today), so the "Kitakami" and "Hakuba" trains could not be operated by electric trains.
For this reason, it is believed that diesel railcars continued to be used for the "Shirayuki" train, which ran coupled with these trains.

The last timetable I own that features the "Shirayuki" train is the June 1982 issue.
The southbound train departed Kanazawa at 9:49 AM and arrived in Aomori at 10:18 PM.
The northbound train departed Aomori at 6:50 AM and arrived in Kanazawa at 7:17 PM.
The journey time was shorter than when the train first began operation, but it was still a long trip of over 12 hours if you rode the entire route.

The express "Shirayuki" was discontinued after being upgraded to the limited express "Shiratori."

In the November 1982 timetable revision, in light of the full-scale opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the opening of the Joetsu Shinkansen, the limited express and express trains running on the Japan Sea Main Line were reorganized. The
"Shirayuki" was extended to run between Fukui Station and Aomori Station andupgraded to the limited express"Hakucho," bringing an end to the history of the express train named "Shirayuki." The
"Hakuba," which it was coupled with, was also discontinued at the same time.
The "Kitakami" was downgraded to a rapid train and its operating section was changed, so it no longer runs on the Japan Sea Main Line.

It should be noted that the "Hakucho" No. 1 and No. 4 trains, which ran between Fukui Station and Aomori Station at this time, did not allow connections to the Seikan Ferry at Aomori Station, just as they had during the express train era.
Perhaps due to low ridership, just over two years later, in the March 1985 timetable revision, the service was shortened to run between Fukui Station and Niigata Station and renamed "Hokuetsu."

Shirayuki revived twice

The express train "Shirayuki" from the Japanese National Railways era was discontinued in 1982, but the name "Shirayuki" has reappeared twice since the establishment of JR.
The first time was in 1997, when the rapid train "Shirakami," which connected Akita Station and Aomori Station via the Ou Main Line, was renamed the rapid train "Shirayuki."
However, in 2002, the rapid train "Shirayuki" was changed to an unnamed rapid train, and the name "Shirayuki" disappeared once again.

Then, in March 2015, the limited express "Shirayuki" began operating, connecting Arai Station or Joetsu-Myoko Station in Niigata Prefecture to Niigata Station via Naoetsu Station, marking its second revival.
This limited express train is still in operation today, connecting Niigata Station with Joetsu-Myoko Station, where Hokuriku Shinkansen trains stop, and playing a part in transportation between Niigata City and the Hokuriku region.

These "Shirayuki" trains operate on significantly shorter routes than the "Shirayuki" trains of the Japanese National Railways era, and despite having the same name, they seem to have no direct connection.
However, the Rapid "Shirayuki" runs the entire route from Akita Station to Aomori Station, and the Limited Express "Shirayuki" runs a large portion of its route between Naoetsu Station and Niigata Station, overlapping with the Express "Shirayuki" route.

Furthermore, the successor to the JNR-era "Shirayuki" was the limited express "Hakucho," which later became the limited express "Hokuetsu." The "Shirayuki" was established as a replacement for the "Hokuetsu," which was discontinued in 2015 with the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen between Nagano Station and Kanazawa Station. Therefore, it is possible to consider the current "Shirayuki" as the successor to the JNR-era "Shirayuki."
Consequently, it is conceivable that the name was chosen to evoke the former express train "Shirayuki.
" And personally, I think the nickname "Shirayuki" is a fitting name for a train that runs along the Sea of ​​Japan coast.

Yuto Ono

A former railway engineer and current freelance writer who has loved trains since childhood, his dream is to make train travel his career