JR West Halts Sanyo Shinkansen Amid Heavy Rain, Obon Travel Disrupted

West Japan Railway Co. suspended all Sanyo Shinkansen services between Hiroshima and Hakata on 10 August after torrential rain in Yamaguchi Prefecture pushed rainfall readings above safety limits. The operator said trains would remain idle for the rest of the day and warned that the first services on 11 August could also be affected, stranding thousands of travellers at the start of the Obon holiday. The shutdown rippled across the broader bullet-train network. Central Japan Railway briefly halted operations on the Tokaido Shinkansen between Atami and Shin-Fuji, with Nikkei reporting delays to 179 trains and disruption for roughly 86,000 passengers. Through services linking Tokyo with Kyushu were also curtailed. JR Kyushu later announced it would suspend the entire Kyushu Shinkansen from the first train on 11 August. Operations resumed in stages, and the Hakata–Kagoshima-Chuo stretch was fully reopened by 3 p.m. that day. JR West also restarted the Sanyo line on Monday morning, though residual delays continued. The episode underlines the vulnerability of Japan’s high-speed rail corridors to increasingly intense downpours. Railway companies urged passengers to check updated timetables and consider flexible travel plans as the week-long holiday period continues.