The first series of the Shinkansen, which initially had no separate designation due to the lack of a successor, was built from 1964. With a top speed of 220 km/h, it was the fastest train in the world. This was achieved by driving each axle in each car with a 185 kW motor, thus always achieving the same power-to-weight ratio regardless of the number of cars. Every second car had a pantograph, so any combination with an even number of cars was possible. The design of the trains, with their streamlined fronts and white livery with blue stripes on the window band and in the lower area, became known worldwide.

The number of cars per train was initially twelve and changed over time as needed. The original trains consisted of two bistro cars, two first class cars and eight second class cars. Some batches received only one first-class carriage and an additional second-class carriage. Due to the increasing passenger numbers, the trains were extended to 16 cars from 1969 with four additional second-class cars. In some cases, a buffet car was replaced by a dining car and between 1988 and 2001 there were even cinema cars. After the introduction of newer trains, the Shinkansen of the 0 series were also used as reinforcements during the holiday season and sometimes ran with four or six cars. A total of 3,216 cars were built up to 1986. Since the service life of the vehicles was only 15 to 20 years due to the high strain, the highest number of carriages in use at the same time was 2,338 in 1976, spread among 146 trains. In 2008 the last train was decommissioned.