 "60 years of Japan’s bullet train: How Shinkansen changed country, transformed world travel")
Sixty years ago today, Japan’s first bullet trains pushed off from Tokyo and Osaka.
Since then, Shinkansen, which means “new trunk line”, has become the symbol of post-World War II Japan and a shining example of speed and efficiency.
But what do we know about the world’s first high-speed train service that connects Tokyo with most of Japan’s major cities?
Let’s take a closer look:
Origins
The idea for the Shinkansen came in 1957 – in the aftermath of World War II, as per Channel News Asia.
Though the war had left Japan’s railways in dire strait, many opposed the project.
However, the government saw it as a way to connect the country.
On 1 October, 1964, the high-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on the New Tōkaidō Line.
These were given the ‘bullet train’ nickname both for their speed and the shape of their noses.
As per The Guardian, footage from the day shows men, women and children – dressed to the nines – admiring the countryside speeding by.
Both trains arrived at their destinations at exactly 10 am.
The 515-kilometre journey used to take nearly seven hours.
Now, it was finished in around four hours.
Mark Schreiber, a long-time resident of Japan, told The Guardian he was “thrilled” when he rode the bullet train in 1965.
“The ride was so smooth, the only sensation of speed was watching the scenery fly by,” said Schreiber. “This is a country that really loves its trains, and their pride and enthusiasm has been contagious.”
“The opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen and the 1964 Olympics become entwined in a powerful symbolic message to the world: Japan is back. But not only is Japan back, it is ready to be a world leader,” Christopher Hood, reader in Japanese studies at Cardiff University and author of Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan told the newspaper_._
The Shinkansen today
Today, there are eight such lines including the Sanyo Shinkansen, Tohoku Shinkansen, Hokkaido Shinkansen and Joetsu Shinkansen.
All of them are operated by Japan Railways.
As per The Guardian, the network now covers three of the country’s main islands and spans nearly 2,900 kilometres.
As per CNN, the trains have ferried over 10 billion passengers since 1964.
In 2022, over 290 million people used the train.
The Tokaido Shinkansen line, the oldest and most popular line, alone has carried over 7 billion passengers, as per Japan Times.
It stretches from Tokyo past Mount Fuji to Hakata around five hours away.
It runs 372 trains running daily and transports around 430,000 passengers.
One top-speed Nozomi train arrives up to every five minutes.
The trains run at a speed of 320 kilometres per hour and are known for being punctual, efficient, safe and clean.
The fastest journey is completed in 2 hours and 21 minutes.
The line on Tuesday commemorated sixty years of service with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
JR Central says it has never had an accident resulting in death or injury on the bullet train, even in a country where earthquakes, typhoons and heavy snow are common.
Safety is “our top priority”, Daisuke Kumajima, the company’s PR officer, told AFP.
So “we take our education and training of our employees very seriously.”
This month for the first time, on another line run by the company JR East, two linked bullet trains uncoupled, resulting in an emergency stop but no injuries.
Today, the service remains integral to the Japan’s economy and way of life.
Perhaps this is why keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job.
At a 10-storey, state-of-the-art staff training centre, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping her cool when a video screen down the platform shows a flailing passenger stuck in a door.
The live-in facility southwest of Tokyo offers what rail operator JR Central describes as an “intense education” for future conductors, drivers and other team members.
“Thank you for riding,” Okuno practised saying, bowing deeply after checking the time on her watch.
Rail operator JR Central runs an “intense education” programme for future conductors, drivers and other team members.
The Shinkansen is no longer the world’s fastest train, having been outpaced by China.
But the original high-speed locomotive’s streamlined nose and spacious interiors remain a symbol of Japanese engineering prowess and attention to detail.
It’s also a tourist must-do and pop culture mainstay – such as in Brad Pitt’s 2022 blockbuster “Bullet Train”.
A meticulous maintenance schedule means the trains are gleaming outside and in, with cleaners adjusting headrests and using brushes to ensure the seats are free of crumbs
In some countries, train delays mean there is little time for such primping, said Hood.
On the bullet train network, however, the average delay is less than a minute.
They are also a fairly cheap way of travelling thanks to a number of train pass schemes.
Impact on country
The growth of cities along Shinkansen routes over the decades shows its impact on the economy in Japan, where “face-to-face business is very, very important”, added Hood, a researcher at Britain’s Cardiff University.
In tandem the train has played a role in speeding up depopulation in rural Japan, according to Hood, leaving many elderly people isolated.
“People would rather live in the big cities… and then use the Shinkansen to go and visit relatives out in smaller cities if they need to,” he told AFP.
Shigeru Morichi, a transport policy expert and professor emeritus at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, told The Guardian, “It has expanded the sphere of economic activity, just as the Silk Road and Roman road-building revolutionised the economy, culture, and civilisation of the time.”
Donna Burke, who has been has been the English-language “voice” of the shinkansen for two decades, added that it “epitomises what I love about most about Japan – pride in your work, service to others, efficiency and dependability”.
At a JR Central site, an engineer taps the inner machinery of a bullet train, listening closely for any unusual sounds that could reveal a loose part.
With ageing Japan increasingly facing labour shortages, the company is also researching a new digital inspection system that can analyse images of a train to spot dangers.
JR East, meanwhile, has said driverless bullet trains could be introduced from the mid-2030s.
There is also a huge project underway to build a high-speed maglev – magnetic levitation – line in Japan, long-delayed due to environmental opposition.
Maglev trains, which can run at 500 kilometres per hour, were meant to begin service between Tokyo and Nagoya in central Japan in 2027, but JR Central has pushed this back to 2034 or later.
The aim is to create a “dual system” with the Shinkansen, said Kumajima, to respond to demand and keep operations stable in the case of maintenance work or a big quake.
It’s easy to take the Shinkansen for granted in Japan, which is a good thing, according to Hood.
But when Japanese people travel overseas, particularly in Europe or the United States, “they soon appreciate that ‘yeah, the Shinkansen is a little bit special’,” he said.
“We will work hard to make the Tokaido Shinkansen line even more loved as we move toward the future,” Shunsuke Niwa, president of JR Tokai, told Japan Times.
“It’s really cool and amazing that the Shinkansen still runs at high speeds and carries so many people,” a fifth-grade elementary school student who came to attend the commemoration ceremony from Tokyo with his father added.
Impact on world
Shinkansen hasn’t had an impact on just Japan alone.
As per CNA, the trains inspired many countries including France, Germany, UK and China to follow suit.
France’s Train à Grand Vitesse (TGV) from Paris to Lyon became operational in 1981, while Germany began its Inter-City Express in 1991.
The UK has its own high-speed Eurostar trains which go from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
It also has Hitachi-built “Intercity Express Trains” which were built using Japanese technology.
However, they run at just 200 kilometres per hour.
Thailand and India are planning their own high-speed rail networks, as per CNN.
With inputs from agencies
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
