The Yū Yū Tōkai was conceived in the 1980s as a Joyful Train for the Shizuoka region, with JR Central's management assigning their Nagoya Works with the task of modifying existing surplus cars into this set. Nagoya Works took three existing 165 series cars, KuHa 165-204, MoHa 164-701 and KuMoHa 165-139, and modified them into a new set, the cars renumbered KuHa 165-701, MoHa 164-701 and KuMoHa 165-701 respectively.
The new set was completed on 25 July 1988, and was given the name Yū Yū Tōkai through a public poll; the name was chosen due to wordplay, with "yū" being a homonym for the Japanese words for "game", "friend", "leisure", "abundance" and a homonym for the English word "you". The set entered service on 3 August 1989 on the Yū Yū Tōkai Shinrin'yoku Ressha service. The set continued to be used until 1999, when it was retired on 11 November 1999 with a special final run service titled Shizuoka Aoi Hiroshi-gō and retired. The set was then towed to Hamamatsu Works for scrapping.
Design[]
The Yū Yū Tōkai set features a vastly different bodystyle from the 165 series cars the set was rebuilt from, featuring a large windshield and a modern appearance. The car is painted light green with goldenrod accents and white highlights, with orange and green graphics referencing Shizuoka's specialties of tea and mikan oranges.
Construction is of steel. Performance statistics are largely identical to that of the 165 series cars these were converted from; this article will still detail some additional statistics about the cars.
All cars featured a "high decker" structure, with 48 seats per car; all seats are bucket seats with the ability to recline and rotate. Each car featured a refrigerator, a 40-inch screen and accompanying video projector or a large 34-inch television screen broadcasting the view of the tracks ahead from the driver's cab, as well as broadcasting stage shows from the intermediate car.
The two cab cars featured a lounge space at the front of the general guest cabin to allow passengers to see the tracks ahead, with the front windshield enlarged accordingly. The intermediate car, MoHa 164-701, featured a stage with an accompanying LaserDisc karaoke system and video camera feeding video to the TV screens in the other cars. Bass speakers were fitted under the carpeted floor of the car, making this train the first railroad vehicle in the world with a "body sonic" system.
