The needle-nose tip of the bullet train at Osaka Station.
The needle-nose tip of the bullet train at Osaka Station.
  • Japan's Shinkansen bullet train was the first high-speed rail network in the world, debuting in 1964.
  • Tokaido is the busiest line, running at 186 miles per hour and connecting Tokyo and Osaka in less than three hours.
  • I rode one of the super-speedy bullet trains on a recent trip to Japan and thought it was an incredible experience.
Japan's bullet train system — known as Shinkansen — is the fastest in the nation and one of the fastest in the world.
Shinkansen
A Shinkansen bullet train.