Operations started in 2009 on the Mandalay-Nay Pyi Taw route and ran until 2012, when Myanmar Railways discontinued the use of the KiHa 183 series.

[3] In September 2021, it was announced that 17 cars would be donated by JR Hokkaido to the State Railway of Thailand, with them bearing the shipping costs.

[4] In July 2022, JR Hokkaido announced plans to withdraw the KiHa 183 series from Okhotsk and Taisetsu limited-express services on the Sekihoku Main Line during the fiscal year;[5] these services are expected to be taken over by newer KiHa 283 series trains.

[7] In 2023, seven former JR Hokkaido cars were exported to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they are to be operated on the Matadi–Kinshasa Railway.

[8] Most recently, several units of KiHa 183 DMUs exported to Cambodia and Sierra Leone respectively.

36 cars of what would become the 183-500 and 183–1500 series were manufactured in 1986 at Niigata Engineering Co., Ltd. and Fuji Heavy Industries, with the main purpose of improving the management base of JR Hokkaido.

These cars would also see installation of a fresh air intake to ensure no engine smoke entered the cabin.

[5] Due to age, the Crystal Express set was withdrawn from service on 30 November 2019, and was scrapped in May 2020.

In July 2022, JR Hokkaido announced that the North Rainbow Express set would be withdrawn from service in Q1 2023.

[32][5] 48 (KiHa 182-1001) Four cars of what would be known as the 183-1000 series were manufactured between 1988 and 1989, originally for services to the Holland Village located in Nagasaki.

Due to the Tosu to Mojikō section of the Kagoshima Main Line experiencing high demand, a coupler was added to the front end to enable joint working with 485 series trains.