This site is a web media that delivers all kinds of trivia, from sightseeing and gourmet spots in the six Tohoku prefectures to local, customs, and history.
This time, we will introduce limited express and rapid trains that ran on the Joban Line, but which were operated with diesel railcars even though the entire line was electrified from start to finish However, there are many cases where diesel railcars were used for special trains (*), and it would be difficult to research them all, so we will only introduce regular trains.
*A good example is the special train that was operated to transport visitors to the 1985 Tsukuba Science Expo
on what "diesel railcars" and "electrification" are, please see our previous article, Tohoku Main Line Edition
The Joban Line runs from Nippori Station in Tokyo to Iwanuma Station in Miyagi Prefecture, passing through Mito Station in Ibaraki Prefecture, and Iwaki (until 1994, it was Hira), Haranomachi, and Soma stations in Fukushima Prefecture. However, there are generally no trains that start or end at Nippori Station or Iwanuma Station. Trains on the Joban Line run to Ueno Station and Shinagawa Station on the Tokyo side (service to Shinagawa Station began in March 2015), and on the Miyagi side, they connect to the Tohoku Main Line and run directly to Sendai Station. In the past, some trains ran beyond Sendai Station to head towards Morioka and Aomori.
In this article, we will generally treat the sections between Ueno Station and Nippori Station, and between Iwanuma Station and Sendai Station as part of the Joban Line
The Joban Line was electrified south of Toride Station (Ibaraki Prefecture) by June 1949. The line was electrified up to Katsuta Station in June 1961, and up to Takahagi Station in October 1962. The line was electrified up to Taira Station in May 1963, reaching the Tohoku region. After that, the line was electrified up to Kusano Station in September 1963, and electrification was completed up to the terminal station, Iwanuma Station, in August 1967.
As of August 1967, the Tohoku Main Line was electrified up to Morioka Station, so trains could run to Morioka Station via either the Tohoku Main Line or the Joban Line. Electrification of the Tohoku Main Line up to its terminus, Aomori Station, was completed in August 1968.
Yumoto Station on the Joban Line in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture
Express "Tokiwa" (diesel railcars operated as express trains between Ueno Station and Mito Station, Taira Station, and Haranomachi Station)
The Tokiwa was established in 1955 as a rapid train between Ueno Station and Mito Station. In 1958 a semi-express train and its operating area was extended to Taira Station (now Iwaki Station).
Electrification of the Joban Line was extended to Taira Station in 1963, and most Tokiwa services were converted to electric trains.
However, since the Tokiwa train's two round trips per day were still diesel railcars, was created that ran only under the overhead wires from Ueno Station to Mito Station, or from Ueno Station to Taira Station The time it took to cover the 211.6 km from Ueno Station to Taira Station was about 3 hours and 10 minutes by electric train, and about 3 hours and 20 minutes by diesel railcar. This was not much different from the Tokiwa electric train, so it could be said to be fast for a diesel railcar.
The reason why only some Tokiwa trains were operated with diesel railcars was because they were coupled with diesel railcar trains , which, with very few exceptions, are not operated with diesel railcars coupled with electric trains.
In the case of the "Tokiwa," it was operated in conjunction with the "Oku-Kuji" and "Kujigawa," which run on the non-electrified Suigun Line from Mito Station, between Ueno Station and Mito Station. The "Tokiwa," which runs in conjunction with a diesel railcar, needed to be operated by a diesel railcar, even though it was a train that ran on the electrified Joban Line. The "Kujigawa" was renamed and merged with the "Oku-Kuji" in October 1968.
In March 1966, the Tokiwa an express train . Looking at the timetable for October 1967, we can see that one round trip of the Tokiwa, which was operated by diesel railcar, ran to Soma Station on the outbound route (however, the section between Haranomachi Station and Soma Station was treated as a local train), and from Haranomachi Station on the inbound route. Therefore, the longest section of the Tokiwa that ran under overhead wires as an express train by diesel railcar was between Ueno Station and Haranomachi Station However, according to the timetable for October 1968, the Tokiwa that ran to Haranomachi Station was replaced by an electric train.
In October 1978, the Soma, another express train on the Joban Line, was integrated into the Tokiwa. As a result, a down train running from Mito Station to Sendai Station and an up train running from Sendai Station to Ueno Station were born (both operated by electric trains). The Tokiwa express train was in service for a long time, but was discontinued in March 1985 when the timetable was revised and it was upgraded to the Hitachi limited express. The Oku- Kuji diesel express train, which was coupled with the Tokiwa diesel railcar, was also discontinued at the same time.
The former express "Tokiwa" has been discontinued, but a train called "Tokiwa" has been running as a limited express train on the Joban Line since 2015. As of March 2025, the timetable will operate 18 round trips per day.
However, the current Tokiwa service area runs from Shinagawa Station or Ueno Station to stations in Ibaraki Prefecture such as Tsuchiura, Katsuta, and Takahagi. The name Tokiwa comes from "Joban" (Tokiwa), which takes one character from each of the Iwakithe trains do not go as far as Fukushima Prefecture , which is a bit odd. The former rapid, semi-express, and express Tokiwa trains that stopped at Mito Station are also subject to criticism, as they are called "Tokiwa" but do not go to Fukushima Prefecture.
Express "Soma" (Mito Station → Sendai Station, Sendai Station → Ueno Station)
The " Soma " started operating a little later than the "Tokiwa" in June 1960 as a semi-express train between Mito Station and Sendai Station. The journey takes about 4 hours 10 to 20 minutes. In March 1966, both the "Soma" and the "Tokiwa" were upgraded to express trains The only possible reason for the name is that the train passes through Soma City in the northern part of the Hamadori area of Fukushima Prefecture. Of course, it does stop at Soma Station.
Although electrification of the Joban Line was completed in August 1967, diesel railcars continued to be used, making the entire line a diesel express train running under overhead wires . Then, by October 1967 at the latest (though no definite information was available on the exact date), the route of the upbound train from Sendai to Mito was extended to Ueno Station, making it a train that ran the entire Joban Line. The journey from Sendai Station to Ueno Station took 6 hours and 18 minutes.
why the Soma remained a diesel railcar because it was coupled with diesel railcar trains . The outbound Soma from Mito bound for Sendai was coupled with the diesel railcar express Iwaki 1 between Mito Station and Taira Station.
The Iwaki No. 1 was a train that separated from the Soma at Taira Station and entered the Ban'etsu East Line, and when it arrived at Koriyama Station in Fukushima Prefecture, it was coupled with the express Aizu (renamed the express Inawashiro in October 1968) and headed to Sendai Station
The express "Inawashiro" was a unique train typical of the days of the Japanese National Railways (the predecessor of JR). Please also take a look at the explanatory article on "Inawashiro."
By the way, only the "Soma" going down was coupled with the "Iwaki." The "Soma" going up was not coupled with any other diesel trains, but ran alone, burning diesel fuel, from Sendai Station to Ueno Station under the overhead wires . It's a bit of a waste.
In October 1968, the electric train "Soma" was introduced, but with the timetable revision in March 1972, the service area was extended to run between Ueno Station and Morioka Station, and the service was renamed the express "Morioka," and the electric train "Soma" was discontinued
The remaining diesel railcar, "Soma," was renamed "Tokiwa" and converted to an electric train in October 1978, and was discontinued. As mentioned above, "Tokiwa" was also discontinued in March 1985.
Limited Express "Hitachi" (diesel railcars operated from Ueno Station to Taira Station, and from Taira Station to Tokyo Station)
The Hitachi train was introduced even later than the Soma, in October 1963. It began operating as a semi-express train between Ueno Station and Taira Station, and was operated as an electric train from the start.
The name comes from "Hitachi," the former name of Ibaraki Prefecture . Although the "Hitachi" has stopped at Hitachi Station in Ibaraki Prefecture since its inception, this does not seem to be the origin of the name.
In March 1966, it was upgraded to an express train along with the Tokiwa and Soma, but in October 1967 it was merged with the Tokiwa, and the nickname Hitachi was once abolished
Then, about three and a half years later, in October 1969, the Hitachi Limited Express was launched as a train running between Ueno Station and Taira Station. The journey took about three hours. Initially, it was a train that only ran seasonally, but in October 1970, it became a scheduled train that ran daily.
Although the entire Joban Line had already been electrified, the original Hitachi service operated by Kiha 81 series diesel . because the Hitachi service was operated by reusing the Kiha 81 series diesel railcars used for the Inaho limited express train, which connected Ueno Station and Akita Station via the Sea of Japan coast . In October 1969, the Uetsu Main Line (Niitsu Station to Akita Station) had not yet been electrified, so the Inaho had to be operated by diesel railcars.
Inaho limited express train, please see the article below.
The Kiha 81 series used for the "Inaho" departed Akita Station in the morning, arrived at Ueno Station in the evening, and then departed Ueno Station the following afternoon for Akita Station. This was inefficient as it meant the trains would have to rest in the Tokyo depot from the evening until the afternoon of the following day, so the Kiha 81 series that arrived at Ueno Station would run one round trip as the "Hitachi" limited express train, from Ueno Station to Taira Station in the evening, and from Taira Station to Ueno Station the following morning (this type of use of vehicles is called "interval operation").
So, the reason why the Hitachi was operated as a diesel railcar was because it ran between the Inaho trains, but there was another rationale for operating it as a diesel railcar. The entire Joban Line is electrified, but the electrification method changes along the way. Specifically, between Toride Station and Fujishiro Station in Ibaraki Prefecture, the southern section is electrified with a 1,500V DC power source for the trains' running power, while the northern section is electrified with a 50Hz, 20,000V AC power source.
To operate the Hitachi as an electric train, it would be necessary to prepare expensive AC/DC dual-mode electric trains that can handle both DC and AC. On the other hand, if it were operated as a diesel railcar, it would be able to run regardless of the electrification method . For the same reason, there are currently other lines that operate diesel railcars, such as the JR Uetsu Main Line and the Echigo Tokimeki Railway Nihonkai Hisui Line.
In April 1971, the terminus of the Hitachi northbound trains was changed from Ueno Station Tokyo Station , and the operating area was extended.
The operation of the Hitachi with diesel railcars did not last long. With the electrification of the Uetsu Main Line completed, the Inaho was replaced with the 485 series electric railcars, a typical limited express train from the JNR era, in the timetable revision in October 1972.
The Uetsu Main Line will also be electrified midway through the line, so the 485 series is of course an AC/DC dual-mode electric train. At the same time that the Inaho was converted to an electric train, was also switched to running on the 485 series electric train (the practice of sharing the Inaho and Hitachi trains, which had been practiced during the Kiha 81 series era, was discontinued).
The frequency of the Hitachi trains was increased, and some trains were extended to Haranomachi Station and Sendai Station. the birth of the Hitachi, which runs the entire Joban Line and is still in operation today .
The Hitachi Limited Express continued to increase its frequency thereafter, solidifying its position as the Joban Line's flagship train. Though the train cars have been replaced, the Hitachi Limited Express still exists today, with the timetable as of March 2025 showing 12 round trips per day between Shinagawa Station and Iwaki Station, and three round trips per day between Shinagawa Station and Sendai Station. The travel time between Ueno Station and Iwaki Station, which previously took around three hours for the Kiha 81 series, has been reduced to around two hours and ten minutes.
For more information on the Joban Line's limited express trains, including the Hitachi, please see the article below
The E657 series electric trains currently used on the Hitachi and Tokiwa express trains
in conclusion
This is a personal matter, but I once lived along the Joban Line. When I look at the timetable to write an article like this, I often think, "Wow, there were so many interesting trains running in the past, and I wish I could have seen them." I wonder what kind of trains will be running on the Joban Line in the future.
![IMG_2345](https://jp.neft.asia/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/IMG_2345-150x150.jpeg.webp "Walking around the town is fun! A stroll in search of "retro things" [Motomiya City, Fukushima Prefecture]")
