Shinkansen was a symbol of the Japanese economy growing

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.