TOKYO > OSAKA

In a land of harmony and serenity, where mangas and robots coexist with traditions dating back thousands of years, the Japanese are passionate about trains. On this archipelago between the Pacific and the Sea of Japan, the railways have shaped the country since 1872. They have become part of the country’s history and culture. Among sumptuous landscapes, on a high-speed dedicated passenger line between Japan’s two biggest cities, Tokyo and Osaka, the world’s first high-speed train, the Shinkansen, became a reality. This ground-breaking accomplishment is a powerful symbol of the country’s post-war economic progress and technological prowess, and its launch has astonished and inspired the rest of the world. Today the Shinkansen circulates with the same frequency as a metro system, and Shin-Osaka station is a mere two hours and 22 minutes from Tokyo.

• Leaving Tokyo
• The world’s first high-speed line
• Tokyo-Osaka – the journey
• Features specific to Japan

• The first Shinkansen trains
• Arriving at Osaka
• The Shinkansen effect
• Magnetic levitation – train of the future

Leaving Tokyo

In Tokyo, motorways and railway tracks wind their way around the capital city’s skyscrapers. This XXL city boasts an international reputation, nevertheless, for safety and high living standards. The sprawling metropolis boldly mixes and matches styles: gaudy neon signs and hectic shopping, peaceful side streets and timeless temples, sumo wrestling and origami workshops, weddings in kimonos and trend-obsessed teenagers...Yet in Japan’s most populated city – 13.8 million inhabitants – peace and calm can always be found; and cycling is a real pleasure. Cleanliness, mutual respect, and an innate public spirit are part of everyday life. This trio of attributes comes to life in the immense Tokyo Station, one of the largest on the Japanese rail network.

Crowds move about with great courtesy, and passengers can easily find their platforms with the help of bilingual signage – in Japanese and English – and highly-attentive staff. This is where many Shinkansen bullet trains operating on the westbound, eastbound, and northbound lines arrive and depart every few minutes, in addition to heavy commuter rail traffic. Thousands of trains transit the station every day.

The world’s first high-speed line

Japan’s first railway line entered commercial service in 1872 with narrow gauge tracks. Cheaper to build, this system goes hand in hand with low passenger capacity, and limited speeds. Prior to the 1940s, the government started exploring a solution to increase transport capacity; but the project was soon interrupted by World Word II. It resumed after the war in 1959.The rail network had become a vital tool in the country’s modernisation, providing support for development. The Japanese government considered the railway to be a top priority.
The turning point arrived with the Shinkansen, literally ‘new railway’, which describes both the fast train and its infrastructure. Tokaido Shinkansen, the first dedicated high-speed line connecting Tokyo and Shin-Osaka at 210km/hr, entered commercial service on 1 October 1964, ten days before the opening of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The first high-speed line in the world – and an instant success – it was operated by Japanese National Railways (JNR) until 1987, when the public company was divided and privatised into six geographical units. Since then, it has been run by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). In 1967, works began to extend the line westwards. The Sanyo Shinkansen line linking Shin-Osaka station to Hakata, on the island of Kyushu, opened in 1975. The Kyushu Shinkansen line finally reached Kagoshima-Chuo, at the southernmost tip of the island, in 2011.

Tokyo-Osaka – the journey

It is not easy to leave Tokyo, with its never-ending suburbs and vast shopping centres. The train runs alongside Sagami Bay then enters the Chubu region, in the middle of the island, with its contrasting landscapes. To the south are international sea ports of industrial importance such as Nagoya, Shimizu and Tagono-ura, as well as coastal towns; to the north, the ‘Japanese Alps’ whose mountain peaks reach altitudes of 3,000 metres. Through the windows of the Shinkansen...the stuff dreams are made of...views of Mount Fuji with its snowy summit dominating the surrounding tea plantations. Just as unreal are the traditional houses built close to the tracks. While Aichi is well-known for its Toyota car manufacturing plants, less familiar are its extremely popular recipes for grilled eels and miso pork.

JR Central Towers, built as Nagoya Station building, completed in 1999, is the biggest in the world in terms of height and floor space in its category! The complex is composed of twin towers - each more than 50-storeys high - that are notably home to the offices of JR Central, the company that operates the line. The station is home to a dozen shops and restaurants with hundreds more in the neighbourhood’s other large-scale underground complexes, which attract both passengers and local visitors. Next up is the Kansai region, the cradle of Japanese civilisation and home to much of the cultural heritage of the archipelago. The train races across a vast basin, then stops in Kyoto. Nearly 1,500 Buddhist temples, 300 Shinto shrines, a profusion of gardens.... Like Nara, Kyoto is one of the most beautiful cities of the archipelago, where all is order, harmony and beauty. Renowned for its university, Kyoto was the imperial, cultural, and spiritual capital city for over 1,000 years. Kyoto Station offers wonderful views of the tall Kyoto Tower standing just opposite. Shin-Osaka is the end of the line for the Tokaido Shinkansen.

Features specific to Japan

This 515-km line, dedicated exclusively to passenger transport, opened after just five years of construction work. At the time, creating infrastructure for trains to operate at 210km/hr was no mean feat, as was the construction of many engineered structures along the route. Viaducts and embankments eliminate the need for level crossings, making this railway line the first to be built in Japan without such structures.
Over the past 50 years, it has benefitted from several technological innovations: most remarkably, JR Central attained commercial speed of 270km/hr by introducing the Series 300 in 1992. Its lightweight car body, made of aluminium alloy, and alternating current regenerative braking system were realised thanks to integrated enhancement of infrastructure and rolling stock.
Along this line, Kyoto has treated itself to a truly monumental station. The state-of-the-art building reaches 15-storeyshighand has three subsurface levels. Its checkerboard rooftops take inspiration from the layout of the old lanes of Kyoto. Metal footbridges and vertiginous escalators criss-cross the spectacularly tall station, clad in glass and steel. Visitors to the 15th-floor garden terrace can admire views of the city. Crowds are dense, but the atmosphere is never hectic. People stroll through vast shopping centres, among exclusive boutiques and small businesses. This mini-city even offers a luxury hotel and theatre.

Breakup and privatisation

The national railway network (Japanese National Railways) was divided into seven private companies: three (JR Central, JR West, and JR East) on the main island; three (Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku) on the smaller islands; and one, transversal, dedicated to rail freight.