The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of 674 km (419 miles), making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tohoku region of Japan's main island, Honshu, and is being extended as the Hokkaido Shinkansen to Shin-Hakodate (due to open in March 2016) and Sapporo by 2030. It has two Mini-shinkansen branch lines, the Yamagata Shinkansen and Akita Shinkansen. The line is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East).