When I was four, my mom gave me a DK Eyewitness Book titled, Train. It contained everything a kid needed to know about trains- the essentials of railroading throughout history. One of the two-page spreads covered the five most important high-speed trains of the modern world. None of the images of these trains stuck with me except for the image of the Shinkansen, a high-speed passenger train in Japan. A white and blue streak flying past the base of Mt Fuji, the train seemed to blend in so well, gracefully concealing its true identity as a machine. The shining white body matched the snow atop the mountain and the coach line under the windows matched the deep blue of the sky. Having little prior knowledge of the country, this image represented Japan to me, and still does. The image of the Shinkansen in front of Mt. Fuji continues to symbolize Japan, specifically, the way that Japan continues to modernize without uprooting tradition. The Shinkansen is more than a way to get from point A to point B, it reflects Japan’s achievement as a nation, as well as key aspects of Japanese society and culture.

On October 1st, 1964, the Japanese government opened a high-speed railroad line from Tokyo to Osaka called the Shinkansen. During this time period, Japan was advancing immensely as a nation. It made a speedy recovery after it’s defeat in World War II, and spent the decades leading up to the opening of the Shinkansen growing at a rapid economic rate. After the war, Japan placed heavier emphasis on education, a process already highly valued in Japan, and this greatly contributed to Japan’s success in the coming years, as well as expansion of industrial production for both domestic and international markets. The opening of the Shinkansen and the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo not only served as international symbols of Japan’s recovery from World War II, but also as symbols of Japan’s success as a modern nation.

Before the Shinkansen, the demise of passenger trains in Japan was commonly believed to be approaching. By the ’60s, Japan’s automotive industry was growing rapidly. The average Japanese person was able to afford an automobile, and Japan was starting to produce more cars than both France and Italy. Focusing on a new train seemed like a step backward when Japan was clearly on its way to catching up with the automotive superpowers of the world. This negative view on rail transport was so widely shared that even some of Japanese National Railways’ (JNR) own personnel were opposed to the idea of The Shinkansen. However, the vision was too powerful for JNR’s managers to let go of. Shinji Sogo, the president of JNR, firmly believed in the idea and gaining government approval of the project was of utmost importance to him. This meant the company had to do whatever they could to ensure government approval. Their tactic was risky. They set the budget of the project at an unrealistically low ¥200 billion, and the government approved the project. Their method had worked, but they immediately faced another obstacle- completing the project. JNR couldn’t hide the fact that the budget they set was far too low for long, and when construction began, it became clear that the original budget was a gross underestimation. By the time the line opened, the project had ended up costing a whopping ¥400 billion, twice as much as the original estimate. Despite this, Shinji Sogo’s firm belief in the importance the project was validated almost immediately after the Shinkansen was opened. Ridership was so strong that the Shinkansen’s one-hundred-millionth passenger stepped aboard after less than three years of service in 1967. To put that into perspective, The U.S.’ nationwide rail service, Amtrak, runs about 21,300 miles of routes, serving over 500 destinations throughout the country. Despite operating a network almost 67 times longer than the 320-mile Tokaido Shinkansen, Amtrak’s annual ridership in recent years usually adds up to around 30 million passengers. This means that ridership over three years of Amtrak service on its 30 routes wouldn’t even add up to ridership of the Tokaido Shinkansen on its singular route in its first 2.5 years of service.

The Shinkansen was successfully run for many years after it’s opening. New lines were opened, and customers were said to have consistently received “excellent” service. Unfortunately, The Shinkansen wasn’t JNR’s only responsibility- they managed Japan’s entire rail network, and eventually, they lost their grip and went into a debt of “catastrophic proportions”. By 1987, they were ¥25 trillion in debt. JNR was government-owned, but it was run independently, and eventually it reached a point where it’s independent financial management and accounting were completely failing, so the Japanese government eliminated it before it could drain any more money from the national budget. JNR’s assets were broken up and privatized into six-for profit companies, all under the umbrella of Japan Railways Group (JR). Unlike JNR, JR wouldn’t be wasting trillions of yen on excessive numbers of employees and excessive investment in both infrastructure and running unprofitable lines. The problem with JNR, was that its management didn’t have to carry any direct financial burden- they made the decisions for their company, but their company didn’t have to pay for itself. JR, however, did have to pay for itself, and that’s why it was so much more successful than JNR. JR would only be spending money “if there were economic grounds to do so”. Privatization automatically created a better rail system in Japan because private companies would be more inclined to run the railways like a successful business than the public JNR. JR had more motivation to make a profit and spend their money wisely because they were financially responsible for themselves.

The decision to privatize Japan’s railways was a crucial step in further propelling the Shinkansen to the forefront of today’s high-speed train world, but some might argue that the Shinkansen is not as important to the modern world of high-speed trains as I say it is. It’s not the fastest train in the world and its top speed of 275 MPH is small compared to France’s iconic TGV, which holds the world record for highest speed achieved by a wheeled train, at 357 MPH. However, both trains are regulated to around 200 MPH for regular passenger service so, while the TGV possesses incredible abilities, the two trains aren’t very different in real life. What sets the Shinkansen apart from the TGV is its self-sufficiency. JR “does not require any public subsidy from the Japanese government, unlike the heavily subsidized French network”. The Shinkansen doesn’t take from Japan’s citizens, it relies on itself to be able to provide service to its customers. JR is able to rely on itself for a couple of reasons. It owns all the infrastructure on its routes, rather than ownership and management of the stations, trains, and tracks being split up. This saves time and money. JR also own all the land around the railroad and planned out an extremely intelligent system in which they rent that property out. This generates “nearly a   third” of JR’s revenue. That money is then reinvested into the rail network. This is why JR’s management has been crucial in allowing the Shinkansen to continue to succeed into the present day. This continued success is what keeps Japan at the forefront of modern high-speed rail. This, however, this is not the only reflection of the Shinkansen’s success, and success is not the Shinkansen’s only reflection of Japan. The success of the Shinkansen would be impossible without the other factors that make it as special as it is. JR merely made it possible for all of these factors to come into play. They fixed a crucial gear in the Shinkansen clock so all the other gears would be able to keep turning.

Speaking of clockwork, the most stand-out feature of the Shinkansen to an average observer, apart from its vague resemblance to a platypus, would be its relationship to time. The Shinkansen runs hundreds of trains every day, but the density in which the Tokaido Shinkansen’s service is offered is specifically remarkable. “During morning and evening rush hours, trains depart at intervals of ten minutes or less”. Five or ten-minute intervals might not necessarily seem remarkable for a commuter train, until you consider the Shinkansen’s 1000+ passenger capacity and 200 MPH operating speed. The journeys have to be meticulously monitored and operated to be safely completed. While service frequency is impressive, the Shinkansen’s most important characteristic is punctuality. For many, the word “Japan” is synonymous with “efficiency”, and the Shinkansen is a prime example of this. In 1998,       96.1% of Tokaido Shinkansen departures arrived exactly on time. In 2008, the average delay of the Tokaido Shinkansen was just 36 seconds. “If a train is more than one minute behind the planned schedule, the train is considered to be delayed.” Japan’s standard of timeliness is extremely high. With the aid of computerized systems, precise punctuality is more achievable than ever, but “the notion of on-time transit was already deep-rooted in Japan even before the advent of such systems.” In an interview with Rieko Suzuki, Hideki Hashimoto of JR, stated, “The long-held Japanese sense of everyone working together to get things done on time eventually spread to the railways, so I think our baseline standard is probably more demanding than other countries”. As I stated earlier, JR does not waste money on providing the Shinkansen with abundant resources like JNR did. There are no extra trains, tracks, or employees to ensure the Shinkansen runs on time. This is why the efficiency and reliability of the hardware, software, and people involved in operating the system are so crucial. These three factors have to work together in perfect harmony because if they don’t, delays are inevitable, and delays are not acceptable. So, instead of having extra resources as a backup if anything goes wrong, The Shinkansen possesses four unique characteristics that minimize the possibility of that happening, setting it apart from conventional trains. 1. It runs on highly maintained lines, which are dedicated solely to the use of The Shinkansen. 2. The tracks are standard gauge (1435mm) as opposed to narrow gauge (1067mm), used on conventional railways. 3. Public access to the tracks is made nearly impossible by laws created specifically for the Shinkansen. “Along all the lines, high fences are put to prevent the public from approaching the tracks. There are no level crossings.” 4. “Train schedules are rather simple compared with those of conventional railway lines. No freight trains are running and no night trains are running, for example.” In the event of a major delay, extensive rescheduling would be required, so the schedules are kept as simple as possible to prevent unmanageable problems from arising.

The Shinkansen is a perfect example of how the Japanese strive for perfection, but more specifically, it’s an example of how Japan strives to perfect the way humans have different experiences at its own unique standard. Tadanao Miki, one of the Shinkansen’s original designers, was aiming for as little air resistance as possible when he was designing its body. Specialist engineers created many prototype models, designed to be unresistant to air, but Miki didn’t like these models, reportedly smashing them and “complaining of their ugliness” Miki’s goal of designing an aerodynamic body was overshadowed by his desire for the train to be beautiful. On the surface, Miki’s reactions to the prototypes and focus on beauty seems trivial and maybe even selfish. After all, the goal was to build an efficient train, not to create an aesthetic masterpiece based on one man’s perception of beauty. However, I think he was onto something. His design appealed to the tastes of Japanese society and captured the attention of the world. With every series that followed Miki’s original Shinkansen, his original notion of the importance of its beauty has been perfected. Now, looking back on the Shinkansen as a whole, I would argue that Miki’s desire for the Shinkansen to be beautiful has been realized. While aesthetic beauty is still subjective when it comes down to the individual, The Shinkansen does reflect most of Yanagi Soetsu’s “criterion of beauty in Japan”, which is a means of assessing beauty at Japanese standards. Each criterion is clearly numbered and quoted below.

Over the years, the Shinkansen has deeply integrated itself into Japanese culture, making it (1) “common and familiar”. The Shinkansen is (2) “useful”. The Shinkansen as a physical object couldn’t be more (3) “appropriate to its use” as a train because it is such a success. A Shinkansen ticket is accessible to most, making it (4) “inexpensive”. The Shinkansen achieves (5) “plurality” by running hundreds of trains a day. The Shinkansen even embodies the (6) “beauty of irregularity” with it’s ‘duckbill-platypus’ nose. The Shinkansen perfectly encapsulates the (7) “beauty of tradition” in so many ways, while simultaneously managing to be a symbol of modern Japan. The Shinkansen’s (8) “interaction with nature” is seamless, and it does not bear any (9) “excessive coloring or patterns”.

A white and blue streak flying past the base of Mt Fuji, the train seemed to blend in so well, gracefully concealing its true identity as a machine.