Himeji Station (姫路駅, Himeji-eki) is a passenger railway station located in the city of Himeji, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Himeji is a major stop on the San’yō Main Line and the Sanyō Shinkansen, and the western end of the JR Kobe Line. The station building is located close to the Sanyo Electric Railway Himeji Station and Himeji Castle.
The 500 series (500系, 500-kei) is a Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) in Japan on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen line from 1997 until 2010, and the San’yō Shinkansen line since 2008. They were designed to be capable of 320 km/h (199 mph) but operated at 300 km/h (186 mph), until they were retired from the primary Nozomi service in 2010. The trainsets were then refurbished and downgraded to the all-stations Kodama service between Shin-Ōsaka and Hakata.
In March 2018, JR West announced the launch of a special “Hello Kitty” themed 500 series train on Sanyo Shinkansen Kodama services. The train entered service on 30 June 2018.