Updated: Apr 10, 2024
Shinkansen was born in 1964 and was called Dream of Super express when I was younger. Hearing that right now, you may not think it’s a dream already. I was also born in the same year. This train was a symbol for the Japanese economy to have grown. Speaking of 1964, the Japanese economy was in the midst of a growing period.
I have to say it “was” a symbol, this is because there are many super express trains in the world now, not only in Japan. In France, China, Indonesia, they have the same kind of super express. To be honest, I want to try to board such trains. When I visit Western Europe on my travels, I will definitely board such a super express.
In Japan, the Shinkansen was opened on 10/1 1964. That was the year when the Tokyo Olympics was held. Japan opened the Shinkansen, with the enthusiasm of making success of the Olympics, to tell the truth. Back then you traveled 4 hours from Tokyo to Osaka by this train. And now, it takes only 2.5 hours to travel the same route. Japan has repeatedly tried to improve this Shinkansen system.
Do you know there are no railroad crossings on the Shinkansen lines? I heard this was very rare around the era when the Shinkansen opened. Because of no railroad crossings, this train can run more than 250 kilometers per hour, I can say. And it’s said that there have been no accident fatalities since the railway opened. That’s an amazing fact, I think.
Now in Japan, there are 10 Shinkansen lines all over Japan. Since 1964, these lines have been expanded widely. You can travel from the Hokkaido region to the Kyushu region by Shinkansen. That would be a fantastic experience. Traveling by train has a bit of a different taste compared to airs.
If you travel in Japan by Shinkansen, I recommend you to install the app “スマートEX” into your smartphone. On this app, you can board the train ticketless and you can easily change trains at any time. It’s very convenient.
Some of my acquaintances commute by Shinkansen. They commute from Nagoya to Osaka everyday, the distance between these cities is about 180 kilometers. It’s incredible but they commute. They say that their commuting costs are paid by the company. Anyway, it’s possible to commute because Shinkansens rarely delay.
This accuracy of the time is very Japanese-like, I think. Japanese don’t prefer to delay time especially on business. This aspect may be still a symbol of the Japanese economy.
I loved this novel around the age of 20. This is the most famous and the top seller book since the past in Japan. Although, to tell the truth I don’t know the reason why this novel is sold so much. Because this novel’s story is filled with a dark mood. The significant sentence in this novel is this.
“恥の多い生涯を送ってきました”
“Mine has been a life on much shame”
This translation was from a very famous researcher about Japanese literature. I would like to tell you the meanings of these words.
恥 haji : shame
生涯 syogai : life
You may not be able to imagine what “a life on much shame” is. This sentence is a confession from the main character. However, we know that this confession came from this author’s life. His name is Osamu Dazai.
He had tried to suicide sometimes in his life, and some of them were lovers’ suicide. And eventually he died at the age of 38, with his lover. That affair occurred in Tokyo and also it has been reported in newspapers.
I’m not sure why this novel has been sold so much, however I can say that many Japanese intellectuals have sympathy with this author’s confession. And also it can be said that this confession is an expression from humans’ anxiety itself. In a modern society, everybody feels anxiety, I think. He wrote, “Mine has been a life on much shame.” Yeah, namely, we always fear being embarrassed within a society, the same as this author.
In this novel, the main character also hates hypocrisy about his life itself. He wanted to live pure in his mind. But it has been difficult. I think many Japanese see the same thing in his mind as their own.
This novel isn’t a fact, but it reflects the author's life. So, we read this novel as the author’s confession.
A ex-soldier woman got award related to the issue of sexual harassment. Her name is Runa Gonoi. She is Japanese but she got an award in the US. This topic is getting big news now. She has been fighting against the sexual harassment from her coworkers in the Japanese deffence army for a long time. And in Japan, this kind of issue has deep roots in society.
Anywhere in the world, organizations such as the army are “male society”. In such an organization, sexual harassment has often occurred. In Japan, a big talent agency called “Johnnys” was accused of this issue last year. Not only for this company, many big Japanese companies have the same problem yet.
To tell the truth, I have an experience where I accused my boss of this issue. I was not a victim but I knew that a female coworker had been harassed by the boss. That's why I couldn’t have looked over my boss’s harassment. Then, I accused him in our company.
For me, those were stressful days back then. I complained about him to the president of our company, but it was not clear if my boss was condemned. After that, the female victim resigned from our company, I didn’t know the reason. And, my boss got isolated completely in our company. I didn’t learn what the result was, but it seemed that this affair was resolved.
It needs bravery to accuse this kind of issue in an organization. You would have to spend stressful days in a workplace, and you may be fired by your boss unfortunately. I had been in such a situation back then. However, I think that I was not wrong. From that experience, I got bravery myself.
If you are a victim of some issues in a society, I respect you to fight against the issue, for yourself.