On October 1, 1964, high-speed Shinkansen trains started service between Tokyo and Osaka, signalling the start of a new era in rail travel as Japan developed into an economic powerhouse following its loss in World War II.
22-year-old Hazuki Okuno, wearing an exquisite waist-coated uniform and white gloves, boards a mock bullet train to practise the rigid procedures necessary for the seamless running of a Japanese institution celebrating its 60th anniversary on Tuesday.
Maintaining the service’s impeccable cleanliness, punctuality, and accident-free record is a serious task because it continues to be essential to the country’s economy and way of life.
Keeping her composure as a video screen down the platform shows a flailing passenger locked in a door, Okuno shouted from the window and gestured to fictional colleagues at a ten-story, state-of-the-art staff training centre.
For aspiring conductors, drivers, and other team members, the live-in facility southwest of Tokyo provides what rail operator JR Central refers to as a “intense education”.
Okuno rehearsed saying, “Thank you for riding,” and then she checked the time on her watch and bent down deeply.
Over a quarter of a million people travel on the Tokaido Shinkansen line every day, which travels five hours from Tokyo over Mount Fuji to Hakata.
Up to every five minutes, a single high-speed Nozomi train comes.
Even in a nation where earthquakes, typhoons, and a lot of snow are prevalent, JR Central claims to have never had an accident on the bullet train that resulted in death or serious injury.
The company’s public relations officer, Daisuke Kumajima, told AFP that safety is “our top priority”. “We take our education and training of our employees very seriously.”
For the first time this month, two linked bullet trains on a different JR East line uncoupled, causing an emergency halt but no injuries.
China has surpassed the 320 km/h top speed of the shinkansen, which is no longer the fastest in the world despite having routes all over the country.
However, the streamlined nose and roomy compartments of the original high-speed locomotive continue to stand as testaments to Japanese engineering skill and attention to detail.
In addition, it’s a popular culture staple and a must-do activity for tourists, as seen in Brad Pitt’s 2022 blockbuster “Bullet Train”.
The trains are spotless both inside and out thanks to a rigorous maintenance routine, which includes headrest adjustments and crumbs being brushed off of the seats by cleaners.
The author of the book “Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan,” Christopher Hood, noted that in certain nations, train delays leave little opportunity for such primping.
On the bullet train network, however, the average delay is less than a minute.
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.
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 aging Japan increasingly facing labour shortages, the company is also researching a new digital inspection system that can analyze images of a train to spot dangers.
However, JR East has stated that autonomous bullet trains might be used starting in the middle of the 1930s.
A massive project to construct a high-speed magnetic levitation (maglev) line in Japan is also under progress, however it has been long-postponed because of objections from the environment.
500 km/h maglev trains were supposed to start operating between Tokyo and Nagoya in central Japan in 2027, however JR Central has pushed this date back to 2034 or later.
According to Kumajima, the goal is to establish a “dual system” with the Shinkansen in order to meet demand and maintain operational stability in the event of maintenance work or a significant earthquake.
Hood says that it’s easy to take the shinkansen for granted in Japan, which is a good thing.
However, he added, “when Japanese people travel abroad, especially to Europe or the US, they soon realise that ‘yeah, the shinkansen is a little bit special.'”
We are considering a trip to Japan in 2026 and want to ride on the bullet train.