What is "kodama"

is one of the three train services running on the Tōkaidō/ Sanyō Shinkansen. Kodama trains stop at all stations, making Kodama the slowest Shinkansen service for trips between major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. The Kodama trains are used primarily for travel to and from smaller cities such as Atami. Travelers between major cities generally take the Nozomi or Hikari services, which make fewer stops. The name of the train comes from the Japanese word kodama, meaning "echo".

Kodama may refer to:

• Kodama (spirit), a spirit in Japanese folklore
• Kodama (surname), a Japanese surname
• Kodama (train), a Japanese bullet train service
• Kodama clan, a clan originating during the Kamakura period of Japan
• Kodama, Saitama, a town located in Kodama District, Saitama, Japan
• Kodama Station, a train station located in Honjō, Saitama, Japan
• Kodama Simham, a 1990 Telugu film starring Chiranjeevi in the lead role
• Kodama, an American professional wrestler affiliated with The Batiri

are spirits in Japanese folklore that inhabit trees, similar to the dryads of Greek mythology. The term is also used to denote a tree in which a kodama supposedly resides. The phenomenon known as yamabiko, when sounds make a delayed echoing effect in mountains and valleys, is sometimes attributed to this kind of spirit, and may also be referred to as "kodama".

Kodama (written: 兒玉, 児玉 or 小玉) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Arata Kodama (born 1982), Japanese football defender
• Fusako Kodama (born 1945), renowned Japanese photographer
• Kodama Gentarō (1852–1906), Japanese general of the Russo-Japanese War
• Haruka Kodama (born 1996), Japanese idol singer, member of HKT48 and AKB48
• Hideo Kodama (1876–1947), pre-World War II Japanese politician and cabinet minister
• Kazuoki Kodama (born 1965), Japanese Nordic combined skier
• Kenji Kodama (born 1949), Japanese anime director, and storyboard artist best known for directing the anime Case Closed and working with the anime Lupin III
• Kiyoshi Kodama (1934–2011), Japanese actor and TV personality
• Mari Kodama, international pianist born in Osaka, Japan and raised in Paris
• María Kodama (born 1937), personal assistant and later wife of Jorge Luis Borges
• Rieko Kodama (born 1963), video game designer involved with some of Sega's high profile projects
• Yoshio Kodama (1911–1984), prominent figure in the rise of organized crime in Japan
• Yuichi Kodama, Japanese video director

Kodama (Japanese for "tree spirit" or "echo") is the upcoming fifth studio album by French shoegazing band Alcest. It will be released on September 30, 2016 via Prophecy Productions.