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Shinkansen
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A Shinkansen bullet train crosses a steel bridge in the foreground, with snow-capped Mount Fuji rising in the background under a clear blue sky in central Honshu, Japan. Shinkansen Tsubasa Shinkansen bullet train traveling through green fields and rural landscape with forested hills in Yonezawa, Japan. Shinkansen New Tōkaidō Line
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A Shinkansen bullet train crosses a steel bridge in the foreground, with snow-capped Mount Fuji rising in the background under a clear blue sky in central Honshu, Japan.
Japanese bullet train Japan's Shinkansen (bullet train) passing on a bridge, with Mount Fuji in the background.

Shinkansen

railway, Japan
Also known as: New Trunk Line, bullet train
Written by
Kenneth Pletcher
Ken Pletcher was Senior Editor, Geography and History for Encyclopædia Britannica. He holds an M.A. in Japanese studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As part of his master's program,...
Kenneth Pletcher
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

Shinkansen, pioneer high-speed passenger rail system of Japan, with lines on the islands of Honshu, Kyushu, and Hokkaido. It was originally built and operated by the government-owned Japanese National Railways and has been part of the private Japan Railways Group since 1987. The first section of the original line, a 320-mile (515-km) stretch between Tokyo and Ōsaka, was opened in 1964. Known as the New Tōkaidō Line, it generally follows and is named for the...

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