A total of 40 cars were built between 2002[2] and 2005 for use on new Super Hakuchō services introduced from 1 December 2002 between Hachinohe (Shin-Aomori from December 2010) and Hakodate via the undersea Seikan Tunnel coinciding with the opening of the Tōhoku Shinkansen extension to Hachinohe.

[3] The trainsets were formed as four 2-car half sets, HE-101–104, and five 3-car half-sets, HE-201–205, which were coupled to produce 5- or 8-car formations.

Two additional 2-car sets, HE-301 and HE-302, were also delivered for extending trains to up to eight cars during period seasons.

[1] Set HL-1005 was withdrawn in March 2011 following damage sustained in a level crossing collision on 29 January 2010.

From the start of the revised timetable on 4 March 2017, Super Kamui services were renamed simply Kamui, and are complemented by newly introduced Lilac limited express services, which uses six-car 789-0 series EMUs.