Bullet from the blue: Six decades of Japan's wonder train
The Guardian Weekly|October 11, 2024
At 6am on 1 October 1964, two trains set off in opposite directions in a daring experiment that would turn them into symbols of Japan's transformation from militarist pariah to global economic powerhouse.
Justin McCurry
Bullet from the blue: Six decades of Japan's wonder train

Footage shows smartly dressed men, women and children marvelling at the countryside whizzing past their windows, some perhaps trying to calm their nerves at being whisked along at speeds unheard of in rail travel.

Crowds gathered on platforms to watch the two trains reach their destinations, Tokyo and Osaka. Then, like now, they arrived exactly on time, at 10am, depositing their passengers after a 515km journey that had once taken almost seven hours but which they had just completed in four.

Six decades on, it is hard to believe that many then viewed the shinkansen - now the jewel in the crown of the country's public transport infrastructure - as an indulgence. There were protests over the acquisition of land, while critics labelled it an expensive anachronism in a postwar age of prosperity and mobility in which air and road travel would surely reign.

Instead, the shinkansen, commonly known outside Japan as the bullet train, has become a byword for Japanese comfort and efficiency. The network now covers three of the country's four main islands - a network of almost 3,000km that connects most major cities, taking passengers to their destinations at speeds of up to 320km/h.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 11, 2024 من The Guardian Weekly.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 11, 2024 من The Guardian Weekly.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY مشاهدة الكل
THE SAVAGE SUBURBIA OF HELEN GARNER
The Guardian Weekly

THE SAVAGE SUBURBIA OF HELEN GARNER

Over 50 years the Australian has become one of her country's most revered and beloved authors, writing as if readers were her friend, party to her most candid thoughts. Is she finally going to get worldwide recognition? By Sophie Elmhirst

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 07, 2025
Israel's block on aid raises health fears for underfed population
The Guardian Weekly

Israel's block on aid raises health fears for underfed population

Briefing the Israeli press after Benjamin Netanyahu’s order last Sunday to turn off the aid supply to Gaza - in an effort to pressure Hamas into accepting a change in the ceasefire agreement to allow for the release of hostages without an Israeli troop withdrawal - government officials claimed the Palestinian territory had several months’ worth of food stockpiled from earlier deliveries.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 07, 2025
Dam it! How eager beavers became the farmer's friend
The Guardian Weekly

Dam it! How eager beavers became the farmer's friend

A Cornish farmer is behind a change in the law to release wild beavers in England after witnessing the incredible benefits on his land

time-read
4 mins  |
March 07, 2025
Call of duty
The Guardian Weekly

Call of duty

This rural English village phone box was used fewer than 10 times in the whole of 2024-but Derek Harris sees it as a lifeline and is determined to save it.

time-read
8 mins  |
March 07, 2025
Santa Fe mourns the mysterious loss of Gene Hackman
The Guardian Weekly

Santa Fe mourns the mysterious loss of Gene Hackman

As New Mexico authorities investigate the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, their adopted home town of Santa Fe is grappling with the mystery of what happened to the couple.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 07, 2025
Ramadan should be a time for reflection, not date-scented shopping
The Guardian Weekly

Ramadan should be a time for reflection, not date-scented shopping

Supermarkets have wheeled out the 20kg bags of rice. High-street stores have popped hijabs on mannequins. Cosmetic companies are churning out products scented with pomegranate, cardamom, saffron and “sticky date” - at Lush you can buy Salam shower gel, Noor lip butter and a massage bar that apparently smells like a turmeric latte. All this can only mean one thing in our modern, consumerist world: Ramadan is upon us.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 07, 2025
Days of Gracie
The Guardian Weekly

Days of Gracie

After dodging toxic fans, 'nepo baby' jibes and her own projectile vomit, pop star Gracie Abrams explains why she's writing about our uncertain future

time-read
6 mins  |
March 07, 2025
The Guardian Weekly

I'm upset by my troubled mother-in-law's extreme views

I've had a terrible run in with my mother-in-law and don't know what to do about it.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 07, 2025
Only connect - The NigerianAmerican author returns with an ambitious, astute and moving exploration of female experience
The Guardian Weekly

Only connect - The NigerianAmerican author returns with an ambitious, astute and moving exploration of female experience

Novels had always felt to me truer than what was real,\" declares a character in Dream Count, the highly anticipated new novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 07, 2025
Labour's aid cuts are wrong morally - and economically, too
The Guardian Weekly

Labour's aid cuts are wrong morally - and economically, too

Get right down to it and there are two reasons for thinking that cuts to Britain's aid budget to pay for defence are a seriously bad idea.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 07, 2025