Raichō
Raichō (雷鳥) is a limited express train that runs between Osaka and Kanazawa, Japan, using portions of the Tōkaidō Main Line, Kosei Line, and Hokuriku Main Line. It is operated by the West Japan Railway Company.
The Thunderbird (サンダーバード), is a faster version of the Raicho that goes beyond Kanazawa into Toyama Prefecture. JR plans to replace all Raicho service with Thunderbird service in 2006.
The characters 雷鳥 mean literally "thunder/lightning" and "bird" in Japanese, but the compound word 雷鳥 (raichō) itself is the name of Lagopus mutus, a kind ptarmigan or grouse, not a mythological creature. The raicho bird is said to live in the Mount Tate range and is the prefectural bird of Toyama, Nagano, and Gifu Prefectures. "Raicho" is also coincidentally the name of a Pokemon, known within the "Kanto" region of the Nintendo game "Pokemon", as a powerful lightning-type ferret Pokemon.
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