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Shinkansen service1 min read

Nasuno

なすの

The Nasuno is a local, all-stations service on the Tōhoku Shinkansen, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It serves every station between Tokyo and Kōriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, a city about 225 km north of Tokyo.

The eight stops, counting the termini, are Tokyo, Ueno, Ōmiya, Oyama, Utsunomiya, Nasushiobara, Shin-Shirakawa and Kōriyama. Like the Tōkaidō/Sanyō Kodama and Kyushu Tsubame, every regular Nasuno calls at all stops; the stations further north are served by the Yamabiko.

An E5 series set U7 on a Tokyo-bound Nasuno 258 service entering Omiya Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen.
An E5 series set U7 on a Tokyo-bound Nasuno 258 service entering Omiya Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen. · MaedaAkihiko · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

History

It was created in December 1995, when the Tokyo–Nasushiobara workings of the all-stations Aoba and Max Aoba were split into the short-distance Shinkansen Nasuno and Max Nasuno. Its core riders are Tokyo–Oyama/Utsunomiya commuters, students and business travellers; later revisions extended some daytime trains to Kōriyama. Nasuno was the first Shinkansen name to use an on'yomi reading, and the only one until the Hakutaka began in 2015.

There are 13 round trips on Saturdays and holidays and more on weekdays, plus one daily Oyama-to-Tokyo working; trains are numbered 251 to 282. The current stock is the E2 (since March 1997) and E5 series (since 17 March 2012); former stock includes the 200 series (1995–2011), E1 Max Nasuno (until 1999), E4 Max Nasuno (1997–2012), the 400 series and E3 series R sets. E3, E6 and E8 sets also couple to E5, and E5 trains offer Gran Class at a fare cheaper than the Hayabusa, Hayate and Yamabiko (some trains excepted) but without a dedicated attendant. Special workings include a run to Fukushima in April 2011, during recovery from the earthquake, and services south of Ōmiya only in January 2026, after disruption on conventional lines, using E7 sets.

Timeline
  • 1959The name Nasuno is first introduced on 22 September 1959 for semi-express services between Ueno in Tokyo and Kuroiso on the Tōhoku Main Line, run irregularly at peak times with 157 series 'Nikkō-type' sets.
  • 1985The conventional Nasuno is upgraded to a limited express on 14 March 1985, using 185 series rolling stock, and renamed 'New Limited Express (shin-tokkyū) Nasuno' (新特急なすの), an L-tokkyū (エル特急) service.
  • 1995The Nasuno name is adopted for new all-stations Tōhoku Shinkansen services in December 1995, splitting the Tokyo–Nasushiobara Aoba and Max Aoba workings into the short-distance Shinkansen Nasuno and Max Nasuno; the conventional services to and from Shinjuku are renamed Ohayō Tochigi and Hometown Tochigi.
  • 1997E2 series and E3 series 0-class sets enter service on 22 March 1997; the all-stations Aoba and Max Aoba are abolished on 1 October 1997, with local service later covered by Nasuno as far as Kōriyama and further stations by the Yamabiko.
  • 1998Two Tokyo–Nasushiobara Nasuno round trips are extended north to Kōriyama on 8 December 1998.
  • 2012E5 series Nasuno service begins on 17 March 2012, introducing Gran Class (seating only) and ending regular 16-car E4 Max Nasuno workings; with effect from 29 September 2012 the E4 series leaves regular service, the Max Nasuno name is abolished and all trains run under the name Nasuno.
  • 2013E6 series Nasuno service begins on 16 March 2013, coupled to E5 series sets.
  • 2015Onboard sales (車内販売) on the Nasuno are abolished entirely on 14 March 2015.

Sources

Last updated 16 October 2026.

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