Overview

• The incident occurred on April 30, 2025, at 5:25 pm between Gifu-Hashima and Maibara stations, disrupting power and halting service on the Tokaido Shinkansen for about 90 minutes.
• JR Central confirmed that onboard power remained functional, ensuring lights and air conditioning for stranded passengers during the delay.
• The Tokaido Shinkansen, which connects Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, resumed normal operations by 7 pm the same evening, with no injuries reported.
• This is the third recorded instance of snake-related disruptions on Japan’s Shinkansen network, following incidents in 2009 and April 2024.
• The outage coincided with the start of Golden Week, a peak travel period, highlighting the vulnerability of critical infrastructure on Japan’s busiest rail line, which serves over 430,000 passengers daily.