[7] The term Tōkai refers to the southern portion of Central Japan, the geographical region in which the company chiefly operates.

JR Central's operational hub is Nagoya Station and the company's administrative headquarters are located in the JR Central Towers above the station.

The company also operates the Tōkaidō Shinkansen between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka.

[9] JR Central is Japan's most profitable and highest throughput high-speed-rail operator, carrying 138 million high-speed-rail passengers in 2009, considerably more than the world's largest airline.

[10] JR Central is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Nagoya Stock Exchange with American depositary receipts traded over-the-counter through OTCMG Pink, is a constituent of the TOPIX Core30 index, and is also one of the three only Japan Railways Group constituents of the Nikkei 225 index, the others being JR East and JR West.