However, for convenience, Hikari trains came to stop at stations that are not used by many passengers as well, and after the Nozomi trains were introduced, have come to be defined as the trains that are neither Nozomi nor Kodama.
しかし利便性から徐々に乗降客数の少ない駅の停車が増やされ、「のぞみ」が加わった以降では「のぞみ」でも「こだま」（各駅停車）でもない列車という定義になる。