The 100 Series Shinkansen were the second generation Shinkansen design, produced between 1984 and 1991 for the Tokaido Shinkansen and Sanyo Shinkansen lines; the earliest units have now been withdrawn from service, and the series has been retired from the Tokaido Shinkansen line in September 2003.

They differ visibly from the earlier 0 Series in that the nose profile is more pointed. Another, not so visible difference is that not all cars are powered; the driving cars on each end are unpowered, as are the two bi-level center cars in a sixteen car train. Some later production sets have powered driving cars and four unpowered bilevel trailers in the middle instead.

Now being taken off first line service, 100 series sets are being reformed into smaller 4 and 6 car sets for the slower Kodama services in the Sanyo Sinkansen line, to replace the last 0 series trains.