The Shinkansen

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen began service on 1 October 1964, between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka, shortly before the opening of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics on 10 October. It was operated by the now-iconic 0 series trains, whose rounded noses gave the "bullet train" its English nickname, and it ran at a maximum speed of 210 km/h — later raised to 220 km/h — far beyond anything a passenger train had sustained before. The new line cut the journey along Japan's busiest corridor dramatically and was an immediate commercial success.

What made it revolutionary was as much the engineering philosophy as the speed. Rather than upgrade the existing 1,067 mm narrow-gauge lines, Japan built entirely new tracks to the international 1,435 mm standard gauge, completely grade-separated from road traffic so that there are no level crossings anywhere on the network. Power is distributed across electric multiple units — every axle is driven — rather than concentrated in a single heavy locomotive, which improves acceleration and spreads weight on the track. Safety and spacing are managed by an Automatic Train Control (ATC) system that signals the driver in the cab, eliminating the need for trackside signals at high speed.

From that first line the network spread across the country. The Sanyō Shinkansen extended high-speed service westward, reaching Okayama on 15 March 1972 and Hakata (Fukuoka) on 10 March 1975, linking the capital region to Kyūshū. In 1982 two new lines opened on the same day pattern that defined the era: the Tōhoku Shinkansen between Ōmiya and Morioka on 23 June, and the Jōetsu Shinkansen to Niigata on 15 November. Expansion has continued for decades — the Hokuriku Shinkansen opened toward Nagano in 1997 and reached Tsuruga in 2024, the Kyūshū Shinkansen to Kagoshima was completed in 2011, and the Hokkaido Shinkansen crossed the Seikan Tunnel to reach Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto on 26 March 2016.

Speeds have climbed steadily alongside the network's reach. The Sanyō Shinkansen runs at up to 300 km/h, and the fastest services today reach 320 km/h on the Tōhoku Shinkansen between Utsunomiya and Morioka, worked by the E5 series introduced in 2011. The Tōhoku line itself only reached its northern terminus at Shin-Aomori on 4 December 2010, decades after its first section opened, illustrating how the system has been extended in stages rather than all at once.

The Shinkansen's safety and reliability are central to its reputation. Over more than half a century of operation, no passengers have been killed as a result of derailments or collisions during normal high-speed running — a record built on the dedicated, grade-separated tracks and the ATC system, and reinforced by an earthquake early-detection system that cuts power and applies the brakes when seismic waves are detected, before the strongest shaking arrives. Punctuality is equally celebrated: on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen the average delay per train was measured at about 12 seconds in 2019, even though the line runs close to 400 services a day. Ridership reflects this trust — the Shinkansen has carried more than 6.5 billion passengers in total since opening in 1964.

The network is still evolving. The newest conventional-gauge train, the N700S series, entered service in 2020 on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō lines, bringing lighter, more efficient cars and improved ride quality. Looking further ahead, the Chūō Shinkansen is under construction as a superconducting maglev (SCMaglev) line designed for commercial running at 505 km/h. Its first phase will link Shinagawa in Tokyo with Nagoya over 285.6 km, with construction having commenced in 2014; the same L0 series maglev technology set a world record for a crewed train of 603 km/h on 21 April 2015. Once the slowest railway-poor corridor of the original Tōkaidō, the Tokyo–Nagoya–Ōsaka axis is again where Japan is pushing the boundary of how fast a train can carry people.

• 1964Tōkaidō Shinkansen opens between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka on 1 October — the world's first high-speed railway, with 0 series trains at 210 km/h.
• 1972Sanyō Shinkansen opens from Shin-Ōsaka to Okayama on 15 March.
• 1975Sanyō Shinkansen extended from Okayama to Hakata (Fukuoka) on 10 March.
• 1982Tōhoku Shinkansen opens between Ōmiya and Morioka on 23 June; Jōetsu Shinkansen opens to Niigata on 15 November.
• 1985Tōhoku Shinkansen extended south to Ueno on 14 March.
• 1991Tōhoku Shinkansen reaches Tokyo Station on 20 June.
• 1997Hokuriku Shinkansen opens toward Nagano on 1 October.
• 2004Kyūshū Shinkansen begins service on its first section on 13 March.
• 2010Tōhoku Shinkansen reaches its northern terminus, Shin-Aomori, on 4 December.
• 2011Kyūshū Shinkansen completed to Kagoshima-Chūō; the E5 series enters service at 320 km/h on the Tōhoku Shinkansen.
• 2015The L0 series maglev sets a world speed record for a crewed train of 603 km/h on 21 April.
• 2016Hokkaido Shinkansen reaches Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto through the Seikan Tunnel on 26 March.
• 2020The N700S series enters revenue service on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen.
• 2024Hokuriku Shinkansen extended to Tsuruga on 16 March.
• PresentThe Chūō Shinkansen, a superconducting maglev (SCMaglev) designed for 505 km/h, is under construction between Shinagawa and Nagoya (285.6 km), begun in 2014.