After visiting Shimonoseki, I headed to Fukuyama City in Hiroshima Prefecture, about 790 kilometers west of Tokyo. My destination was Tomonoura, where visitors can enjoy nostalgic streets and lovely views of the Seto Inland Sea. It was the final of the 2023 cherry blossom season. I took a walk on the street, and admired the cherry trees in full bloom.
It was time to go home. I took the Sanyo Shinkansen from Fukuyama station. I found that the EMU JR West N700-7000 series was standing at the station. The N700-7000 series is one of the N700 series fleet. What is the difference between the N700-7000 and the other N700 series? Firstly, the N700-7000 series is only for the Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansens, not operated on the Tokaido Shinkansen. Secondly, one set of the N700-7000 series is composed of 8 cars; meanwhile, the N700 series operated on the Tokaido Shinkansen consists of 16 cars. Thirdly, The N700-7000 series has celadon-porcelain-colored bodies; meanwhile, the N700 series operated on the Tokaido Shinkansen is white-colored. The cross seats of the standard class reserved seats are also different. The N700-7000 series are spacious with a 2+2 configuration; meanwhile, the same class seats for the Tokaido Shinkansen are a 3+2 configuration. For your information, all the N700-7000 series trains belong to JR West. On the other hand, JR Kyushu also owns the same kind of train under the name of the N700-8000 series. I hope that you understand this complicated classification of the Shinkansen trains.
