山陽線
San'yôsen literally means "Mountain Sunshine Line," but the name refers to the
Sanyo region of
Japan—the southern side of the western
panhandle of
Honshu. The line travels through
Hyogo,
Okayama,
Hiroshima,
Yamaguchi, and
Fukuoka prefectures, from the western frontier of the
Kansai metropolitan area to the northern tip of
Kyushu.
The line was built in stages between 1888 and 1901 by the private Sanyo Railway firm, and was brought into the Japan National Railways system in 1906. Until World War II, it was extensively used to bring passengers and freight from Osaka and Kobe to the shipping terminal at Shimonoseki. In 1942, when the Kanmon Tunnel across the Shimonoseki Strait was completed, the Sanyo Line became the only land link between Honshu and Kyushu.
Since the 1970's, the Sanyo Line has been paralleled by a Shinkansen line, intuitively called the Sanyo Shinkansen. Nowadays, most long-distance travelers use the Shinkansen instead of the old line (after all, it is the world's fastest scheduled train service), but there are still some reasons you might want to use the Sanyo Line for intercity travel: it's much cheaper than the Shinkansen (especially if you have a Seishun 18 ticket or something similar), and it's much more scenic.
In 1987, when JNR was broken up and privatized, the Sanyo Line ended up under the control of the West Japan Railway (except for the segment in Kyushu, which is part of the Kyushu Railway).
The busiest portion of the line, between Okayama and Hiroshima, is very well-serviced, and you can catch a rapid service train every fifteen minutes even on a slow day. Towards the western end, services slow down to every 30 minutes or so, and on the eastern end, trains only pass by once an hour.
As far as travel times go, it's not difficult at all to travel the length of the Sanyo line in a day. The entire journey from Himeji to Kokura takes about ten hours. It's possible to get from Osaka to Fukuoka in a day, but if you start in Tokyo at the crack of dawn, you'll only get as far as Hiroshima before the trains stop running at midnight.
At its eastern terminus, the Sanyo Line becomes the Kobe Line. At its western terminus, it becomes the Nippo Line.
Station Distance Transfers
Himeji Shinkansen, Kobe Line, Kishin Line, Bantan Line
Agaho 4.6
Aboshi 10.3
Tatsuno 16.2
Aioi 20.7 Shinkansen, Ako Line
Une 28.3
Kamigori 34.8 Chizu Kyuko Railway
Mitsuishi 47.6
Yoshinaga 54.7
Wake 60.0
Kumayama 64.6
Mantomi 68.7
Seto 73.2
Joto 77.9
Higashi-Okayama 81.3 Ako Line
Takashima 84.1
Okayama 88.6 Okayama Railway, Shinkansen, Tsuyama Line,
Kibi Line, Uno Line, Seto-Ohashi Line
Niwase 95.1
Nakasho 99.8
Kurashiki 104.5 Mizushima Rinkai Railway, Hakubi Line
Nishi-Achi 108.5
Shin-Kurashiki 113.8 Shinkansen
Konko 120.1
Kamogata 124.6
Satosho 127.6
Kasaoka 132.3
Daimon 139.4
Higashi-Fukuyama 142.7
Fukuyama 146.9 Shinkansen, Fukuen Line
Bingo-Akasaka 152.7
Matsunaga 156.6
Higashi-Onomichi 160.5
Onomichi 167.0
Itozaki 176.1
Mihara 178.5 Shinkansen, Kure Line
Hongo 188.0
Kochi 200.3
Nyuno 204.7
Shiraichi 209.1
Nishi-Takaya 213.5
Saijo 218.1
Hachihommatsu 224.1
Seno 234.7 Skyrail
Nakano-Higashi 237.6
Aki-Nakano 239.6
Kaitaichi 242.5 Kure Line
Mukainada 245.8
Hiroshima 249.9 Hiroden, Shinkansen, Geibi Line
Yokogawa 252.9 Hiroden, Kabe Line
Nishi-Hiroshima 255.4 Hiroden
Shin-Inokuchi 259.5 Hiroden
Itsukaichi 262.0 Hiroden
Hatsukaichi 265.2
Miyauchi-Kushido 267.0
Ajina 270.0
Miyajimaguchi 271.7 Miyajima Ferry
Maezora 273.5
Onoura 276.6
Kuba 281.6
Otake 286.0
Iwakuni 291.3 Nishikigawa Railway, Gantoku Line
Minami-Iwakuni 295.9
Fuju 298.6
Tsuzu 303.8
Yu 306.8
Kojiro 312.0
Obatake 317.1
Yanai-Minato 321.6
Yanai 324.4
Tabuse 330.6
Iwata 336.1
Shimata 341.1
Hikari 345.9
Kudamatsu 352.1
Kushigahama 356.7 Gantoku Line
Tokuyama 360.1 Shinkansen
Shin-Nanyo 364.2
Fukugawa 367.1
Heta 370.9
Tonomi 379.7
Hofu 386.6
Daido 394.4
Yotsutsuji 399.2
Shin-Yamaguchi 404.4 Shinkansen, Yamaguchi Line, Ube Line
Kagawa 408.4
Hon-Yura 412.9
Koto 423.2
Ube 429.7 Ube Line
Onoda 433.2 Onoda Line
Asa 439.5 Shinkansen, Mine Line
Habu 447.8
Ozuki 454.0
Chofu 460.2
Shin-Shimonoseki 466.1 Shinkansen
Hatabu 469.8 Sanin Line
Shimonoseki 473.3
Moji 479.6 Kagoshima Line
Kokura 485.1 Kitakyushu Monorail, Shinkansen, Nippo Line