On October 1, 1964, days before Japan staged its first Olympic Games, the nation presented Travel one of its most ambitious undertakings.
The Shinkansen, or “new trunk line,” was the first high-speed rail service in history. Its streamlined appearance and lightning-fast acceleration earned it the nickname “bullet train.”
Tokyo and Osaka, the two biggest cities in Japan, were connected by the Tokaido Shinkansen, the country’s first rail line. It took barely four hours to traverse 515 km, as opposed to the previous six and a half hours. With a top speed of 210 km/h, the Shinkansen was the fastest train in the world at the time.
There was discussion about whether Japan could afford to undertake such a large project, given the damage done to the nation’s trains during World War II.
Many opposed the Shinkansen as plans started to take shape in 1957, citing the decline in US rail usage as only one reason.
However, the government persisted because it believed that the Shinkansen was necessary to connect Japan’s most populous regions, especially in light of the economic growth of the 1950s. The outcome was a marvel of engineering. Japanese professionals have to address geographic obstacles, as their land is mountainous.
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