Coming on the heels of the Tohoku Shinkansen's launch, the Omiya-Niigata section of the Joetsu Shinkansen began operations five months later in November 1982.

The line was then extended to Ueno Station in 1985 and finally to Tokyo Station in 1991, sharing the same tracks with Tohoku Shinkansen between Omiya and Tokyo stations. It has been operated by JR East since the 1987 privatization of Japan National Railways.

Initially, the Joetsu Shinkansen also began service with the 200 series bullet trains just like the Tohoku Shinkansen. But in 1994, JR East introduced the double-decker "E1 series" on both lines to meet the increasing number of commuters. The successor "E4 series" made its debut on the Tohoku line in 1997 and the Joetsu line in 2001.

Both the E1 and E4 series became popular trains, nicknamed "Max" for "multi amenity express." The E4 series, in particular, boasted the world's largest maximum capacity for high-speed trains, accommodating 1,634 passengers when two 8-car trains were connected. The Max trains made the final run in 2021 on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line before retiring.

The first time a shinkansen derailed while in service was during the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake in October 2004, when a magnitude 6.8 temblor hit the central Japan region. None of the 151 passengers and crew members aboard the Joetsu Shinkansen train was injured, but the rails were bent and wheel marks were left on the concrete slabs in between the rails, showing the impact of the derailment. The line resumed full service two months later in December 2004.

On other occasions, an out-of-service Kyushu Shinkansen train derailed during the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake, when quakes of M6.5 and M7.3 devastated the southwestern Japan prefecture, while a Tohoku Shinkansen train with passengers aboard derailed in 2022 when an M7.4 quake hit Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures in the northeast. None of the trains overturned and no injuries were reported in any of the derailments.

The Kyushu Shinkansen Line comprises two routes: the Kagoshima route and the Nishi Kyushu route, which was also known as the Nagasaki route.

The Kagoshima route began partial operations in March 2004, initially only running between Shin-Yatsushiro Station in Kumamoto Prefecture and Kagoshima-Chuo Station in Kagoshima Prefecture. At that time, it was not connected to Fukuoka's Hakata Station, the largest terminal in Kyushu, and passengers heading to Hakata had to change trains at Shin-Yatsushiro for the local limited express service instead.

Even so, the shinkansen section significantly reduced travel time to around two hours and 10 minutes between Hakata and Kagoshima-Chuo, compared to the minimum of three hours and 40 minutes when going entirely by local train.

Upon its partial launch, the train service name picked by Kyushu Railway Co. was "Tsubame," Japanese for swallows and a name with a long tradition of being used for limited express trains during the Japan National Railways era, with its first use dating back to 1930. The local limited express service between Shin-Yatsushiro and Hakata stations, meanwhile, was renamed "Relay Tsubame."

The "800 series" train used on the new shinkansen line was designed based on the "700 series," although it abandoned the 700's duckbill nose in favor of a sharper nose.

The 800 series featured an elaborate interior design, such as using camphorwood and cherry wood for its walls. The subsequent new 800 series went even further, incorporating gold leaves and gold lacquerware into its decorations.

The remaining shinkansen section between Shin-Yatsushiro and Hakata stations began operations on March 12, 2011, completing the route to enable direct services from Kagoshima-Chuo Station all the way to Shin-Osaka Station.

In addition to the all-stops Tsubame service, "Mizuho," the fastest category as well as "Sakura," the second fastest category that serves a few more stations than the Mizuho, were added.

The completion of the Kagoshima route allows travel between Hakata and Kagoshima-Chuo stations in just an hour and 20 minutes at the shortest. Unfortunately, as its launch date came just a day after Japan was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake, a scheduled launching ceremony and other commemorative events were all canceled.

Meanwhile, the Nishi Kyushu route of the Kyushu Shinkansen Line covering the Hakata to Nagasaki section launched its first portion -- between Takeo-Onsen and Nagasaki stations -- in September 2022.

Covering a distance of 69.6 kilometers, the Nishi Kyushu route is the shortest of all bullet train lines in Japan. Similar to the case of the Kagoshima route, passengers had to transfer to the local limited express for the portion between Takeo-Onsen and Hakata stations.

Nagasaki is a famous sightseeing destination, given its history as one of the few windows to the world in isolationist Japan during the Edo period.

Nagasaki Prefecture and the city of Nagasaki are moving forward with plans to develop the area near Nagasaki Station, such as building a football stadium there, and are pushing for the launch of full shinkansen service between Nagasaki and Hakata stations.

However, plans are not yet in sight for construction for the remaining portion between Takeo-Onsen and Hakata stations as of the time being.

Construction for the Takasaki-Nagano section of the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line was carried out at rapid pace ahead of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, managing to open in October 1997 -- four months ahead of the games.

Until the remaining portion of the Hokuriku line came into service, this section was known as the Nagano Shinkansen Line and it served numerous Olympics athletes, officials as well as spectators during the games.

The launch of the Hokuriku Shinkansen resulted in the scrapping of the local train service between Yokokawa and Karuizawa stations on the JR Shinetsu Line, which was greatly missed by some locals and railway fans.

This was because the scrapped section, long known as a perilous passage as it went through the steep Usui Passing, had used the Abt system rack railway since 1893, when the Shinetsu Line was first launched, until 1963 and was the only place where such toothed steep grade rail was used during the Japan National Railways era.

Eighteen years after the launch of the Nagano Shinkansen Line, the section between Nagano and Kanazawa stations came into service in March 2015.

Travel from Tokyo to Kanazawa, which used to take almost four hours, was shortened to about two-and-a-half hours. The line features four train service categories depending on the number of stops, such as "Kagayaki," which is the fastest type, and "Hakutaka."

A sumo wrestler hailing from Ishikawa Prefecture took up Kagayaki as his ring name, after the shinkansen train service.

Kanazawa Station underwent extensive renovation to showcase various aspects of the city's rich culture and history as a prosperous castle town of the Kaga clan during the Edo period.

The station's architecture, featuring a glass-and-steel dome and a giant wooden gate resembling a traditional Japanese "tsuzumi" drum, was chosen as one of the world's 14 most beautiful stations by Travel+Leisure magazine in 2011.

The Hokuriku Shinkansen Line extended further west, launching the section between Kanazawa and Fukui Prefecture's Tsuruga in March 2024.

The opening came two months after the New Year's Day earthquake that devastated Noto Peninsula and neighboring areas, and some affected residents performed traditional art in the launching ceremony at Kanazawa Station. Hopes are also high that the line's extension will help boost reconstruction in the region.

Prospects for construction for a section connecting Tsuruga and Shin-Osaka, however, remain unclear. Until then, travelers heading to Hokuriku from Osaka will need to transfer from limited express trains to shinkansen at Tsuruga.