Hayabusa is Japan’s fastest Shinkansen service on the Tohoku route.
JR East introduced the Hayabusa service in 2011 using E5 series trainsets. The service runs between Tokyo and destinations including Shin-Aomori and, in some services, Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto via the Hokkaido Shinkansen. Its name means “peregrine falcon” in Japanese.
Hayabusa services are associated with the E5 series and high-speed operation on the Tohoku Shinkansen. They are commonly coupled to Komachi services between Tokyo and Morioka; Komachi trains then continue toward Akita on the Akita Shinkansen.
The service name is not the same as the train model. Hayabusa is a service, while E5 is the principal train series used for it. That distinction helps avoid confusing a named timetable service with a specific rolling-stock design.