こだま

こだま
noun
echo; Kodama (Shinkansen service)
naturetransportation
1. echo; reverberation
A sound bouncing back from mountains, valleys, or large enclosed spaces. In folklore the word also refers to a tree spirit thought to cause echoes in deep forests.
山(やま)でこだまが聞(き)こえた。
An echo could be heard in the mountains.
谷(たに)に向(む)かって叫(さけ)ぶと、こだまが返(かえ)ってきた。
When I shouted toward the valley, an echo came back.
古(ふる)い言(い)い伝(つた)えでは、森(もり)の中(なか)のこだまは木(き)の精霊(せいれい)の声(こえ)だとされている。
In old folklore, the echoes in the forest are said to be the voices of tree spirits.
2. Kodama (Tōkaidō/Sanyō Shinkansen service)
The slowest, all-stations Shinkansen service running on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō lines, faster than ordinary trains but slower than のぞみ and ひかり. Named after the echo, suggesting the sound of speed traveling through mountains.
こだまで大阪(おおさか)まで行(い)く。
I'm taking the Kodama to Osaka.
こだまは各(かく)駅(えき)に停(と)まるので時間(じかん)がかかる。
The Kodama stops at every station, so it takes time.
安(やす)い切符(きっぷ)を使(つか)いたかったので、のぞみではなくこだまに乗(の)った。
I wanted to use a cheap ticket, so I took the Kodama instead of the Nozomi.

The everyday meaning is "echo," but the word is equally well known as the name of one of the three Tōkaidō Shinkansen services.

SENSE 1 — ECHO:

  • Often written 木霊(こだま) or 谺(こだま) in literary texts; usually in hiragana in everyday writing.
  • 山(やま)びこ is a near-synonym used especially for the bouncing-back of one's own voice.

SENSE 2 — SHINKANSEN:
The three Tōkaidō/Sanyō Shinkansen services in order of speed are:

  • のぞみ: fastest; stops only at major stations
  • ひかり: medium; stops at major plus selected stations
  • こだま: slowest; stops at every Shinkansen station

Common collocations

  • こだまが返(かえ)る: an echo comes back
  • こだまする: to echo, to reverberate
  • こだま号(ごう): the Kodama (with the train-name suffix)

Related Words

Compare: 残響(ざんきょう) (reverberation)
general
Added 2026.5.14 13:05 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
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