Which two terminals are linked by Japan’s Tokaido Shinkansen?

Japan’s Tokaido Shinkansen links Tokyo and Shin-Osaka.

The line opened in 1964 as Japan’s first high-speed railway and runs west from Tokyo through major cities including Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya and Kyoto. Shin-Osaka, rather than Osaka Station, is the Shinkansen terminal in the Osaka metropolitan area.

The Tokaido route is operated by Central Japan Railway Company, commonly called JR Central. It forms the eastern part of the main high-speed corridor between Tokyo and western Japan. Passengers continuing west can transfer at Shin-Osaka to the Sanyo Shinkansen.

A common mix-up is calling the whole Tokyo-to-Hakata journey the Tokaido Shinkansen. The Tokaido section ends at Shin-Osaka; the continuation to Hakata is the Sanyo Shinkansen.