Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday.
High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on October 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after its World War II defeat.
The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life – so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job.
JR Central says it has never had an accident resulting in death or injury on the bullet train, even in a country where earthquakes, typhoons and heavy snow are common.
Safety is “our top priority”, Daisuke Kumajima, the company’s PR officer, told AFP.
So “we take our education and training of our employees very seriously.”
This month for the first time, on another line run by the company JR East, two linked bullet trains uncoupled, resulting in an emergency stop but no injuries.
With ageing Japan increasingly facing labor shortages, the company is also researching a new digital inspection system that can analyse images of a train to spot dangers.
JR East, meanwhile, has said driverless bullet trains could be introduced from the mid-2030s.
There is also a huge project underway to build a high-speed maglev – magnetic levitation – line in Japan, long-delayed due to environmental opposition.
Maglev trains, which can run at 500 kilometres per hour, were meant to begin service between Tokyo and Nagoya in central Japan in 2027, but JR Central has pushed this back to 2034 or later.
The aim is to create a “dual system” with the Shinkansen, said Kumajima, to respond to demand and keep operations stable in the case of maintenance work or a big quake.
