Hashidate (from 16 March 2013 until 30 October 2015[7])
Hanwa Liner rapid service (until March 2011)
Yamatoji Liner rapid service (until March 2011)
Livery variations
JNR Livery (JR Central Shinano set), July 2006
JR-West Kuroshio refurbished set
381 series Super Kuroshio set, 1992
381 series Super Kuroshio KuRo 380 refurbished car
JR-West Yakumo set, July 2007
JR-West set in Super Yakumo livery, September 2007
JR-West set in Yuttari Yakumo livery, July 2023
History
The 381 series EMU was developed from the experimental 591 series 3-car articulated tilting EMU tested from 1970.[8]
Trainsets entered revenue service from 10 July 1973 on the Shinano limited express between Nagoya and Nagano.[8]
JR-West 381 series trains were removed from Kuroshio, Kounotori, Kinosaki, and Hashidate limited express services in October 2015, with the last services operating on 30 October.[7]
As the new 273 series sets began service from 6 April 2024, it was announced by JR West in December 2023 that the remaining 381 series sets were scheduled to be retired from June 2024.[9] The next sets to be retired were those repainted in various historic liveries; the sets sporting the Yuttari Yakumo livery were scheduled for retirement at a later date.[10] The last regularly scheduled Yakumo run by this series took place on 15 June 2024 thus marking the end of regular service of the 381 series as a whole.[4]
^くろしお381系引退へ…パンダシートも見納め [Kuroshio 381 series to be withdrawn – Also end of panda seats]. Yomiuri Online (in Japanese). Japan: The Yomiuri Shimbun. 29 October 2015. Archived from the original on 24 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
^ ab"「国鉄特急型電車」定期運用は終焉へ 381系約50年の生涯を振り返る!" [Regular service of the "Japanese National Railways Limited Express train" comes to an end - looking back at the 50-year life of the 381 series!]. RM News (in Japanese). Japan: Neko Publishing. 15 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
^"新型車両(287 系)追加投入の詳細" [Details of further introduction of new (287 series) trains] (PDF). JR-West news release (in Japanese). West Japan Railway Company. 28 April 2011. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
^ ab"JR西日本 381系福知山車FE編成が営業運転開始" [JR-West: Fukichiyama-based 381 series FE sets enter service]. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine. 41 (340): 75. August 2012.
^ abcd381系が関西地区の定期運用から離脱 [381 series removed from scheduled Kansai area services]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
^ abプロトタイプの世界 – Prototype World. Japan: Kōtsū Shimbunsha. December 2005. pp. 12–19. OCLC170056962.
^"381系「リバイバル塗装車両」6月までに運転を終了" [Remaining 381 series to be retired by June 2024]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). 16 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
^"381 系特急やくも「リバイバル塗装車両」の今後の運行計画について" [Regarding the decommissioning of the 381 series limited express Yakumo sets featuring “revival liveries”] (PDF). westjr.co.jp (in Japanese). 15 December 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
^ ab"「リニア・鉄道館」ファーストガイド" ["SCMaglev and Railway Park" First Guide]. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine. 40 (324): 20–33. April 2011.
^リニア・鉄道館 N700系車両の展示について [N700 series shinkansen exhibit at SCMaglev and Railway Park] (PDF). News release (in Japanese). Japan: Central Japan Railway Company. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.