Will the Ou-Uetsu Shinkansen actually come to fruition?

The most well-known Shinkansen line that runs through the Tohoku region is the Tohoku Shinkansen, which connects Tokyo Station and Shin-Aomori Station

The Yamagata Shinkansen, which connects Tokyo Station with Yamagata Station and Shinjo Station, and the Akita Shinkansen, which connects Tokyo Station with Akita Station, are also directly connected to the Tohoku Shinkansen and conventional lines (known as mini-shinkansen systems), and are playing a major role in improving access within the Tohoku region

Tohoku Rokken Trivia Media NEFT

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

https://jp.neft.asia/archives/32125

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? The E3 series 2000 series "Tsubasa" (front) and the E5 series "Yamabiko" (back) "Tsubasa" run in conjunction, mainly connecting Tokyo Station and Yamagata Station or Shinjo Station in Yamagata Prefecture without changing trains. This is JR East's Shinkansen/limited express train. 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 45 minutes to 1 o'clock...

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The Hokkaido Shinkansen, which runs directly with the Tohoku Shinkansen, currently runs from Shin-Aomori Station to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station in Hokkaido, but is scheduled to be extended to Sapporo Station in the future. This extension will bring about major changes in access between the Tohoku region and Hokkaido

By the way, have you heard of the Ou Shinkansen or the Uetsu Shinkansen do not appear on any current Japanese railway maps or maps . For now, there are only plans to build them.

You may wonder whether such a Shinkansen is realistic. However, at least as of 1973, the government believed that this was a line that Japan needed for the future , and it was not an absurd plan with no basis.

What is the Ou Shinkansen?

The Ou Shinkansen is the name given to the planned Shinkansen route that will connect Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, via Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture, to Akita City, Akita Prefecture

Currently, the Ou Main Line runs between Fukushima City and Akita City, passing through Fukushima Station, Yamagata Station, Shinjo Station, Akita Station, and finally to Aomori Station.
If the Ou Shinkansen is realized, it is expected to run roughly parallel to the Ou Main Line, starting from Fukushima Station and terminating at Akita Station.

In addition, Ou Shinkansen trains will no longer turn around at Fukushima Station in the south, but will instead connect to the Tohoku Shinkansen and head for Tokyo Station (just as the Yamagata Shinkansen's Tsubasa currently does)

The Yamagata Shinkansen's "Tsubasa" runs between Fukushima Station and Shinjo Station on the Ou Main Line, and the Akita Shinkansen's "Komachi" runs between Omagari Station and Akita Station. However, the Ou Shinkansen a fundamentally different project from the Yamagata-Akita Shinkansen . Unlike the Yamagata-Akita Shinkansen, which has sections that run on conventional lines with a maximum speed of 130 km/h, the Ou Shinkansen was expected to be a line where trains could run at speeds of over 200 km/h

If the Ou Shinkansen is realized, it is estimated that the travel time between Tokyo and Yonezawa will be about 1 hour 30 minutes, between Tokyo and Yamagata about 1 hour 40 minutes , and between Tokyo and Shinjo about 2 hours 30 minutes. The current "Tsubasa" takes about 2 hours 10 minutes, 2 hours 45 minutes, and 3.5 hours respectively, so there is no doubt that the time reduction effect will be significant.

Additionally, that the journey between Tokyo Station and Akita Station will take around two and a half hours by running trains on the Ou Shinkansen with fewer stops . Currently, it takes around four hours on the Akita Shinkansen Komachi, so it seems that Akita and Tokyo will become much closer.

It will also be important in terms of transforming transportation within the Tohoku region that the travel time between Yamagata Station and Akita Station via the Ou Main Line, which currently takes about three and a half hours, will be reduced to around 40 minutes

If the Ou Shinkansen is realized, Akita and Yamagata prefectures will also have a Shinkansen (not a mini-Shinkansen) running through them, and together with Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures, which are already served by the Tohoku Shinkansen, all six prefectures in the Tohoku region will be incorporated into the Shinkansen network .

What is the Uetsu Shinkansen?

The Uetsu Shinkansen is the name given to a planned Shinkansen route that will connect Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, via Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture and Akita City, Akita Prefecture, to Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture

Since the line is still in the planning stages, it has not been officially decided where the stations will be located, but it is thought that the station in Toyama City will be Toyama Station, and the station in Aomori City will be Shin-Aomori Station. It is also assumed that the line from Toyama Station to Joetsu Myoko Station in Nagano Prefecture will run on the tracks of the already-opened Hokuriku Shinkansen, and from Nagaoka Station in Niigata Prefecture to Niigata Station will run on the tracks of the also-open Joetsu Shinkansen. Therefore, if the Uetsu Shinkansen is to be realized, new Shinkansen tracks will need to be laid in the sections from Joetsu Myoko Station to Nagaoka Station and from Niigata Station to Shin-Aomori Station

The new line section from Niigata Station to Shin-Aomori Station will run parallel to the existing Shirayuki Line and Uetsu Main Line from Niigata Station to Akita Station, and is expected to run parallel to the Ou Main Line from Akita Station to Shin-Aomori Station

If the Joetsu Shinkansen is started at Niigata Station, it will become possible to travel between stations on the Sea of ​​Japan side of the Tohoku region and stations in the metropolitan area, such as Tokyo Station, in a shorter time than before. The travel time between Tokyo and Sakata is expected to be about 2 hours and 40 minutes. Currently, it takes about 4 to 4.5 hours to travel between the Joetsu Shinkansen "Toki" and the Hakushin Line/Uetsu Main Line limited express "Inaho," so this will be a significant time saving effect.

The estimated travel time between Akita Station and Shin-Aomori Station is about 50 minutes. The current Super Tsugaru express train takes about two and a half hours, but this will be less than half the time.

It is also possible that trains could connect to the Hokuriku Shinkansen and operate direct services to Kanazawa Station in Ishikawa Prefecture, Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture, or Shin-Osaka Station (assuming the extension is opened), or that trains could connect to the Hokkaido Shinkansen from Shin-Aomori Station and operate direct services to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station or Sapporo Station (same as above)

What is the basic plan route in the first place?

Shinkansen lines that are currently only in the planning stages, such as the Ou Shinkansen and Uetsu Shinkansen, are called " basic planned lines ." Basic planned lines are lines whose plans were established based on the Nationwide Shinkansen Railway Development Act (abbreviated as Zenkanho), which came into effect in June 1970, more than 55 years ago.

The background to the establishment of the Trunk Line Act was that the Tokaido Shinkansen (Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka Station), which opened in October 1964, was a huge success that exceeded all expectations. The Trunk Line Act was created with the aim of spreading the benefits of the Shinkansen throughout the country. At the time the Trunk Line Act was enacted, the Tokaido Shinkansen had already opened as mentioned above, and the Sanyo Shinkansen (Shin-Osaka Station to Hakata Station) was under construction

Based on the Trunk Line Law, the Ministry of Transport (※) issued Public Notice No. 17 on January 18th, 1971, and Public Notice No. 242 on July 3rd, 1972, notifying the Tohoku Shinkansen, Joetsu Shinkansen, and Narita Shinkansen as "basic plans to determine the routes of Shinkansen railways to be constructed," as shown in Table 1 below. New lines were to be added to Japan's Shinkansen network.
*Ministry of Transport: One of the predecessors of the current Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

Table 1. Routes announced by the Ministry of Transport since 1971

The lines in Table 1 have already opened, except for the Narita Shinkansen, whose construction was started but then frozen.
However, for the Tohoku Shinkansen, was postponed
compared to the section south of Morioka Station The section north of Morioka Station, along with the lines that appear in Table 2 below, is called the "Shinkansen under construction."

Subsequently, the Ministry of Transport issued Notification No. 243 of July 3, 1972, Notification No. 466 of December 12, 1972, and Notification No. 465 of November 15, 1973, announcing the basic plans for four routes as shown in Table 2 below

Table 2: Routes announced by the Ministry of Transport since 1972

The four lines in Table 2 (excluding the Hokkaido Shinkansen between Sapporo and Asahikawa) and the Tohoku Shinkansen between Morioka Station and Shin-Aomori Station were planned for development in 1973. These lines are collectively called New

Most of the Shinkansen lines under construction have been completed, but the Hokkaido Shinkansen section between Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station and Sapporo Station is currently under construction, and construction has yet to begin on the Hokuriku Shinkansen section between Tsuruga Station (Fukui Prefecture) and Shin-Osaka Station, and the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen section between Shin-Tosu Station and Takeo Onsen Station (both in Saga Prefecture). Furthermore, the Hokkaido Shinkansen section between Sapporo and Asahikawa has not yet been planned, so it is not a Shinkansen section under construction

Ministry of Transport Notification No. 466 of November 15, 1973 designated the 11 routes in Table 3 as Master Plan Routes. The current "Master Plan Routes" is a collective term for the 11 routes in Table 3 and the Hokkaido Shinkansen between Sapporo and Asahikawa. Included in these Master Plan Routes are the Ou Shinkansen and the Uetsu Shinkansen

Table 3: Master Plan Routes Announced by the Ministry of Transport in 1973

Of the master plan routes, the only one for which a development plan was decided was the Chuo Shinkansen, in 2011. Construction is underway as a Shinkansen that will use a superconducting linear motor car and run at a maximum speed of 500 km/h.
However, for the other routes, there are still no concrete development plans, even though it has been more than 50 years since the master plan was announced, and there is no prospect of their realization .

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has created a diagram that visually summarizes the contents of Tables 1 to 3, so we will quote it here. The white lines in the diagram are the basic plan routes (only the Chuo Shinkansen is shown in brown). It is difficult to imagine a society in which all of the white line routes are realized, but at least the plans announced by the Ministry of Transport in the 1970s envisioned such a world

It is unclear whether the Ou-Uetsu Shinkansen will be realized

Will the Ou Shinkansen and Uetsu Shinkansen actually come to fruition?

As already explained, there are currently no plans to build the Ou-Uetsu Shinkansen. In order to move forward with the project, it be necessary to decide on a plan, in other words, to upgrade the line to a new Shinkansen line .

However, even with the current Shinkansen lines, although the development plan was established in 1973, there are still sections that have not yet opened or construction has not yet begun, even though it has been more than 50 years. In this situation, it is unlikely that the master plan route will be upgraded to a Shinkansen line (the construction of the Chuo Shinkansen is an exception among exceptions). Even if a development plan for the Ou-Uetsu Shinkansen is ever established, it likely be after construction has begun on the unopened sections of the Shinkansen line, or after it has opened .

, it is estimated that it will take nearly 30 years from the start of construction until the opening of the unconventional sections of the Hokuriku Shinkansen a long time before the turn of master plan routes such as the Ou-Uetsu Shinkansen comes around .

Even if the basic plan route somehow gets its turn, it is unclear whether the Ou-Uetsu Shinkansen development plan will materialize. Building a Shinkansen line is extremely expensive, as are operating and maintaining it after it opens. If the population along the line is small and it is thought that the transportation revenue from passengers will not be enough to sustain the line even after it opens, it is unlikely to be built .

Even if the Ou-Uetsu Shinkansen line were to be realized, there would still be a problem: the issue of parallel conventional lines .

When the Shinkansen Line opened, most of the JR lines that ran parallel to the Shinkansen were either transferred to another company or closed. As passengers shift to the Shinkansen following the opening of the Shinkansen, the management of the parallel conventional lines deteriorates. JR is allowed to give up such conventional lines. This may seem too convenient for JR, but the rule allowing management separation was established as a reflection of the failure of the Japanese National Railways, the predecessor of JR

If the management of a parallel conventional line is transferred to another company, it will be operated by a third-sector company established with investments from local governments and private companies along the line, and local governments and other parties will incur costs .

If the Ou Shinkansen is constructed, the section of the Ou Main Line between Fukushima Station and Akita Station will become a parallel conventional line, and if the Uetsu Shinkansen is constructed, the sections of the Shirayuki Line, Uetsu Main Line, and Ou Main Line between Akita Station and Shin-Aomori Station will likely be considered parallel conventional lines

the current transportation situation on these lines and the number of local trains (when the Shinkansen opens, passengers of express trains will transfer to the Shinkansen, and express trains will disappear), it is likely that most of the parallel conventional lines will be separated from JR. In my prediction, there is a 30% chance that the section from Niigata Station to Murakami Station (Niigata Prefecture) will remain as a JR line, and a 70% chance that the entire section from Niigata Station to Shin-Aomori Station will be separated from JR. This means that the issue of parallel conventional lines cannot be avoided.

Is there a chance that this will be partially realized?

Although no decision has been made yet not to build the Ou-Uetsu Shinkansen, there are certainly no encouraging signs that it will come to fruition. Also, without going into details, the so-called "Basic Policy" announced by the then Ishiba Cabinet in June 2025 included language that hinted at not insisting on building the basic plan route as a Shinkansen (a railway capable of traveling at over 200 km/h)

Reference: (The explanation states that "(the Ishiba Cabinet) has made a policy shift away from a one-sided focus on the Shinkansen.")

Fukushima Nobuyuki Archive

Questions and answers at the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Committee. Regarding the development of railway policy in the "Basic Policy 2025" and the restoration of the Noto Peninsula, which was inspected - Fukushima Nobuyuki Archive

https://archives.fukushima-nobuyuki.com/entry/2025/06/17/141300

I participated in a question-and-answer session at the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Committee. The topics covered included the development of railway policy under the "Basic Policy for Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2025" and the restoration of the Noto Peninsula, which I inspected. You can watch the Q&A session on YouTube: www.youtube.com In eight previous sessions at the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Committee, I have pointed out that railway policy is limited to the Shinkansen and Linear Chuo Shinkansen lines and the reorganization of local railways, with no mention of conventional railways in national infrastructure investment plans. Then, at the Budget Committee meeting on February 26, I directly appealed to Prime Minister Ishiba for the realization of a medium-speed Shinkansen line as a way to enhance the functionality of conventional railways. In response to this, on the 13th, the Cabinet...

As you know, the Ishiba Cabinet has already resigned, so it's possible that a different policy will be announced in the future. However, I don't think there will ever be a Cabinet that will dare to propose that the entire basic plan route should be a Shinkansen line. I think the hurdles to building the Ou-Uetsu Shinkansen line in accordance with the 1973 Ministry of Transport announcement have become quite high

However, it is possible if it is "partially" .

The current Yamagata Shinkansen "Tsubasa" passes through Itaya Pass, which lies on the border between Fukushima and Yamagata prefectures

Tohoku Rokken Trivia Media NEFT

Railways at Itaya Pass, which took on steep slopes and harsh climates [Fukushima Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture]

https://jp.neft.asia/archives/33737

JR East's Yamagata Shinkansen/Yamagata Line, officially known as the Ou Main Line, runs through Itaya Pass, which straddles the border between Fukushima and Yamagata prefectures. The Ou Main Line plays an important role in connecting the Kanto region, Fukushima, and other parts of the Tohoku region, as evidenced by the current running of the Yamagata Shinkansen Tsubasa, but Itaya Pass was and still is known as a difficult passage. It is being We would like to introduce you to the history of the railway at Itaya Pass. What is Itaya Pass? Itaya Pass is one of the passes near the prefectural border of Yamagata and Fukushima prefectures that crosses the Ou Mountains. It connects Itaya village and Osawa village in Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture. JR East Oumoto...

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Itaya Pass has long been known as a difficult section of the road, and the current Yamagata Shinkansen line also runs over the steepest gradient of all JR East lines troubles caused by the natural environment . Of the Yamagata Shinkansen train cancellations and delays due to rain, snow, collisions with animals, etc., as much as 40% occur between Fukushima Station and Yonezawa Station, which includes Itaya Pass.

Therefore, it is being considered to eliminate the difficult section of Itaya Pass by digging a long tunnel of approximately 23 km. The tunnel has the Yonezawa Tunnel . The tunnel construction is expected to take approximately 19 years and cost 230 billion yen, but it is expected to reduce the time it takes for the Tsubasa to cross the pass by more than 10 minutes and improve the reliability of train operations.

The Tsubasa's maximum speed is limited to 130 km/h on the Ou Main Line between Fukushima Station and Shinjo Station, but the Tohoku Shinkansen uses rolling stock that can run at 300 km/h (in the case of the latest E8 series). Even between Fukushima Station and Shinjo Station, high-speed travel should be possible if high-speed tracks are provided. Therefore, to develop the Yonezawa Tunnel to allow high-speed travel of over 200 km/h . If the Yonezawa Tunnel is constructed and high-speed travel within the tunnel becomes a reality, the Ou Shinkansen can be said to have been partially realized (regardless of whether it can be defined as the Ou Shinkansen from a legal perspective).

The Yamagata Prefecture Alliance for the Realization of the Development of the Ou-Uetsu Shinkansen, which is made up of Yamagata Prefecture, local governments along the line, and the business community, sees the construction of the Yonezawa Tunnel as a precursor to the development of the Ou Shinkansen, and hopes to use this to help realize the Ou Shinkansen as soon as possible

Even if we do not go so far as to construct the entire Ou Shinkansen line, by making partial improvements to the Yamagata Shinkansen line, such as the construction of the Yonezawa Tunnel, it may be possible to reduce travel time and partially reap the benefits of the Ou Shinkansen line's construction

Yuto Ono

A former railway engineer and current freelance writer who has loved trains since childhood. His dream is to make railway travel his job.