with the timetable for three trains daily in each direction unveiled in July 1987. A public ballot was held to decide on the name for the new train service, and approximately 24,000 votes were received. The name Hokutosei was officially chosen on 6 November 1987, although it had ranked in 108th place in the public ballot with just 15 votes. The first place suggestion, Kaikyo, was later used as the name for the limited-stop "rapid" services connecting Aomori with Hakodate via the Seikan Tunnel. The Hokutosei, named after the Big Dipper constellation, was introduced on 13 March 1988 to coincide with the opening of the Seikan Tunnel, an undersea tunnel which connects the island of Hokkaido to Honshu. Until 1990 the service ran with two trains daily in each direction, and an additional third round-trip route being run irregularly. In 1990 all trains began to run regularly, however, with the introduction of the Cassiopeia in 1999, services were cut back to two daily round-trip services. From 15 March 2008, the service was cut back from two trains daily in each direction to one train in each direction. From the start of the revised timetable on 17 March 2012, smoking was banned in the restaurant cars of Hokutosei services. Up until March 2015, trains were typically formed as follows. Cars 1 to 6 were owned by JR Hokkaido, and cars 7 to 11 (plus the generator van) were owned by JR East. From the 14 March 2015 timetable revision, regular Hokutosei services were discontinued, with trains subsequently running only as seasonal services during the peak holiday periods. It was completely discontinued in August 2015, with the last down train from Ueno departing on 21 August, and the last up train from Sapporo departing on 22 August. The final two trains were both hauled by locomotive number EF510-515 between Aomori and Ueno. Preservation A 24 series dining car (number SuShi 24-504) formerly used on Hokutosei'' services was purchased for use as a restaurant in Kawaguchi, Saitama in April 2016. A hostel using parts of the original train was opened in Tokyo in late 2016. See also Blue Train (Japan) List of named passenger trains of Japan Yume Kūkan, a set of luxury coaches that were connected at the end of the Hokutosei service on a limited number of services. References External links Named passenger trains of Japan Night trains of Japan East