Shinkansen: from bullet to low-flying plane

Shinkansen – From Bullet train to Low-Flying Plane

Dr Christopher P. Hood

(Cardiff Japanese Studies Centre, Cardiff University – [e-mail])

The shinkansen has become a symbol of modern Japan. Indeed, the image of a shinkansen passing in front of Mount Fuji is probably one of the best known and most used images of Japan. This paper will look at its origins, its development, and the plans for the future. The research is still on-going, with a book, Shinkansen – From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan, to be published in 2005 by RoutledgeCurzon.
The present-day shinkansen started in 1964, with its opening timed to coincide with the hosting of the Tokyo Olympics. Both of these events symbolised Japan’s rise from the ashes of the Pacific War and its complete return to the international community. However, the origins of the shinkansen actually date back to the Pacific War. The original shinkansen – or dangan ressha (literally ‘bullet train’) – was planned by Shima Yasujirō¹ as a high speed line to link Tokyo with Shimonoseki, with other related plans also being made to speed up the links between Shimonoseki, Korea and Manchuria. The dangan ressha would be a 200km/h steam train linking major cities along Japan’s eastern seaboard using a ‘standard gauge’ track of 1435mm (rather than the narrower ‘Japanese gauge’ of 1067mm).² Much of the land was purchased for this plan and construction started, particularly on some of the challenging tunnels, before it had to be halted due to the deterioration of Japan’s position in the War. Indeed, it is for this reason that in the photographs taken to commemorate the start of construction of the shinkansen, it is possible to see a well formed tunnel entrance in the background.
In the late 1950s, the plan for a high speed train was revived by Shima Hideo, the son of Shima Yasujirō. The Tōkaidō line linking Tokyo with Osaka had reached its capacity and there had been some horrific railway accidents partly as a result of this. Due to the poor safety record of Japanese National Railways (JNR) there was much opposition to the introduction of faster services, which were seen as increasing the potential for catastrophic accidents. However, Shima and his supporters pushed ahead with the plan and managed to secure part-funding for it from the World Bank, which was seen as a means to tie the Japanese government to being committed to the project by Shima. The plans for the new high speed railway, at least in technical terms, were almost identical to those that had been put forward around thirty years previously, and construction of the line was relatively fast as some of the tunnels had already been constructed or started, although parts of the route did vary from the dangan ressha plan for various reasons.
It is worth pausing at this moment to consider the name of the train. The name used in the 1950s and early 1960s was ‘yume no chōtokkyū’ (‘the super express of dreams’), though strictly speaking this term, which continued to be used for some years even after the line opened, was for the faster of the two services that were introduced in 1964. However, over time the word used to refer to the train became ‘shinkansen’ – although strictly speaking this is the name of the railway line (literally ‘new trunk line’) rather than the train. In English, the train is probably best known around the world as the ‘bullet train’, although as already mentioned, the origins of this name lies in the wartime period as much as due to the shape and speed of the train. Interestingly, on board the shinkansen now, digital readouts in English refer to the train as ‘the super express’, whereas the Japanese uses the term ‘shinkansen’. In English, there is no doubt there is a degree of confusion about what term to use, probably as much to do with uncertainty as to how well known the term ‘shinkansen’ has become as to do with any linguistic matters.
While there may be a certain degree of confusion over the name of the train itself, one thing that is clear is the name of services. When the Tōkaidō Shinkansen began, there were to be two services – an all-stops-service and a limited-stops-service. Although originally it was thought that train services would have numbers in much the same way that airline flights do, it was eventually decided that there should be specific names, like for express trains, relating to the type of service, as well as a number to indicate the specific train that day. This system makes it easier to ensure that passengers board the correct train. To decide the name of these services, the general public were invited to suggest names that they would like. As a result, Hikari and Kodama were chosen. However, these were not the most popular choices in terms of number of votes. In total there were some 558,812 votes. Hikari (light) gained 19,845 votes. Other popular choices were Hayabusa (peregrine falcon), Inazuma (flash of lightening), Hayate (wind), Fuji, Ryūsei (shooting star), Akatsuki (dawn), Sakura (cherry blossom), Nihon (Japan) and Kodama (echo). However, JNR felt that Hikari and Kodama made a good pairing.
As the lines have developed over the years, operators have continued to ask the general public to vote on the name for new services in all but one case.³ For the Akita Shinkansen, the name Komachi, a term referring to the famed attractive women from the prefecture, was chosen. For the new service on the Tōhoku Shinkansen to Hachinohe, Hayate was chosen. In fact, Hayate was not only not the most popular choice, it placed only 19^th on the list. However, JR East, as in previous such votes, had made it clear from the beginning that the decision would not be based on the number of votes. One has to wonder whether the US Presidential elections should also carry the same disclaimer.

Figure 1 – Shinkansen Network in 2003

There are now seven shinkansen lines, with further extensions and new lines being either planned or constructed. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen is the line that connects Tokyo with Osaka and was the original line. Since its opening nearly 40 years ago, there has not been a single death due to a train accident or derailment. The line is now owned and operated by JR Central (often referred to as JR Tōkai), and is the busiest high speed railway in the world. Presently up to 11 trains leave Tokyo every hour, each carrying up to 1,300 passengers. This is equivalent to about 3 fully laden Jumbo Jets taking off every 5 minutes! Not satisfied with this, a new terminal at Shinagawa will be opened in 2003, allowing up to 15 trains per hour to leave Tokyo. Despite the massive number of services, average delays per train remains less than 30 seconds.

To compete with air transport, speed is also important. During the mid-Meiji Period (1890s) it took 16 hours 29 minutes to travel from Tokyo (Shimbashi) to Osaka. At the beginning of the Shōwa Period (1920s), this was reduced to 8 hours 20 minutes. However, in 1963, it still took 6 hours 50 minutes to travel the 550km between the capital and Japan’s second city. In 1964, the shinkansen cut this time to just 4 hours, which was further reduced to 3 hours 10 minutes the following year (once the track had properly settled and further training had taken place). The fastest time now is a mere 2 hours 30 minutes. Allowing for check-in times, transfers to the city centre, etc., it is now quicker to travel from Tokyo city centre to Osaka city centre by train than plane. It is possible that the fastest time will be cut to around 2 hours 10 minutes within five years (when a new safety system will be introduced as well as a tilting-train), though it is unlikely that any further cuts will be possible after that due to the nature of the track design and close proximity for much of track to housing.
The Sanyō Shinkansen is effectively the extension of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen. The line was first extended to Okayama, then on to Hakata (in Fukuoka). Following the break-up of JNR in 1987, the Sanyō Shinkansen services are now operated by JR West. In the case of through trains from Tokyo to Hakata, the whole train crew, including drivers, change over at Shin-Osaka from JR Central to JR West, which accounts for the longer stops at that station – 2 minutes rather than 50 seconds! The Sanyō Shinkansen is faster than the Tōkaidō line, due less curves for example, and the 500 series shinkansen has a top speed of 300km/h, which in terms of its average speed (between Hiroshima and Hakata) is the fastest train in the world. The Sanyō Shinkansen has greater problems than the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in that the population density of its route is lower, is further from Tokyo (thus giving a greater advantage to air travel), and has even suffered in the past from construction faults in some of its tunnels.
With the rapid success of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, plans were made to link much of the Japanese archipelago with shinkansen lines. Some of these are still being extended and constructed, some still planned, and others have been abandoned (for example, the Narita Shinkansen, despite construction being started on it, as can still be seen near the airport). The first two routes going to the north of Tokyo were the Tōhoku and Jōetsu Shinkansen lines. Originally the terminal for both of these lines was Omiya, but the Tōhoku line was later extended to Ueno and then Tokyo (Jōetsu trains also use this extension).
The Jōetsu Shinkansen is probably most well-known due to its strongest advocate – Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei – who was keen to have the shinkansen link Tokyo and his home prefecture of Niigata. Construction of this line was time consuming and expensive due to the need for several extensive tunnels. The Tōhoku line has now been extended beyond Morioka to Hachinohe, with construction of the line between Hachinohe and Aomori continuing. Eventually the line may even be extended to Sapporo in Hokkaido via the Seikan Tunnel. The problem that both these lines face is that they cover large areas that have relatively low population density, though both have benefited in recent years from the rise in commuters on the shinkansen amongst those living within 200km of Tokyo. To make this last point more graphic for British readers, this would mean that cities such as Cardiff, Birmingham, Leicester, and Nottingham would become commuter-land for those working in London!
Two other lines that are operated by JR East that were opened in the 1990s are not proper shinkansen lines. Both the Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen lines are ‘mini-shinkansen’. Although the trains use the Tōhoku Shinkansen lines for part of the journey and can travel at the appropriate speed for that line, when on their own lines, their maximum speed is reduced to 130km/h as they cover areas with greater curves, that have level-crossings, and are in places single-track. Usually these trains link up with Tōhoku shinkansen trains at the station where they meet the Tōhoku Shinkansen and then travel to Tokyo. The advantage of mini-shinkansen is that, while not as fast as full shinkansen, they have still managed to significantly cut travelling time to/from Tokyo and this has been achieved at a considerably lower cost that building a full shinkansen line. A large part of the funding has also been provided by local government and organisations, keen to see the link to Tokyo improved, and so reduced the burden on the railway company. The effectiveness of the Yamagata shinkansen can be clearly demonstrated by the fact that ANA has now stopped flying between Tokyo and Yamagata due to the shinkansen’s dominance.
The Hokuriku Shinkansen – commonly known as the Nagano Shinkansen at present – was opened in time for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics (construction had already started prior to notification of Nagano hosting the Olympics being given, but was sped up following the announcement). This is a full shinkansen, which branches off from the Jōetsu Shinkansen at Takasaki. In future the line will be extended via Jōetsu (where JR West will take over the operations) to Tōyama and Kanazawa. In fact, it is planned that it will eventually be extended to Shin-Osaka, however, no decision has been made as to the route beyond Tsuruga.
The Kyushu Shinkansen will open in 2003. The first part of it will open between Shin-Yatsushiro and Kagoshima-Chūō⁴, meaning that it will be isolated from the rest of the shinkansen network until the rest of the line is extended northwards to Hakata. This is a full shinkansen service and will drastically cut the journey time between Hakata and Kagoshima as there are many curves and mountains on the conventional line between Yatsushiro and Kagoshima, and so it was decided that the greatest advantage to passengers would be felt by constructing this part of the line first. In the future, a spur to Nagasaki is also planned. More adventurous plans include having a shinkansen crossing Kyushu to Shikoku and on to either Okayama or Osaka, but these are unlikely to be realised.
In terms of ambitious future plans, the one that has the greatest chance of being realised is the linear shinkansen. Research on the maglev or linear shinkansen began in 1962. Over the years the technology has advanced, and the original test centre in Miyazaki has been replaced with one in Yamanashi, which would make up part of the actual Chūō Shinkansen line should it be built. There are various reasons why it is seen as being necessary – not least because the Tōkaidō Shinkansen is reaching capacity, there is a demand to make the link between Tokyo and Osaka even faster, and to provide an alternative to the Tōkaidō Shinkansen should it become inoperable for any reason (a devastating earthquake being the most probable). However, it will be expensive to construct and money will need to come from sources other than just JR Central, who view it as a ‘national project’.
The linear shinkansen has been successfully tested at over 550km/h. Two trains passing each other with a combined speed of over 1000km/h was also successful. A new model of train was recently delivered as the research to try to increase efficiency and speed and to reduce costs continues. When the green light is given, the construction is likely to take 5 to 7 years, with the result being that Tokyo to Osaka would only take one hour!
In conclusion, the development and progress made by the shinkansen has been remarkable. However, although it is the speed and efficiency that many outside Japan tend to rave about, I have found that it is the safety record that the operators are most concerned with and proud of. For the shinkansen to operate as it is designed to, requires highly educated and trained personnel. It is for this reason why there are question marks about whether the system could be exported to other countries. It is now being exported to Taiwan (the project being run by Shima Hideo’s son, Shima Takashi!) and may also be exported to China. But it is unlikely that it would ever work in Britain without significant steps being taken both inside and outside the railway industry to improve attitudes towards work, property and society.


Acknowledgements

I have been conducting this research formally for over two years now, and would like to thank the following organisations for their help in various forms: JR Central, Railway Technical Research Institute, JR East, East Japan Railway Culture Foundation, JR Kyushu and Cardiff University. I would also like to thank the Japan Society, ANA and Sony who made it possible for me to present this paper to the Japan Society in September 2002.

Published as ‘Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Low-Flying Plane’, Japan Society Proceedings, Summer 2003, Number 141 (2003) 43-48, ISSN 0952-2050

1 Japanese names are given in their proper order of surname followed by first name. Macrons are used to indicate long vowel sounds, with the exception of common place names (e.g. Tokyo rather than Tōkyō).

2 Although most tracks in Japan are narrower () than the ‘standard’ gauge (1435mm), as used in the UK for example, the loading gauge is larger, with the effect that carriages are often the same width or wider than those in the UK, though have a lower top speed.

3 The service name Nozomi on the Tōkaidō shinkansen which was introduced in 1993 was not as a result of a public vote.

4 Nishi-Kagoshima will be renamed as Kagoshima-Chūō with the opening of the Kyushu shinkansen.

© Christopher P. Hood, 2003