Editing Transport in Japan (section)

===Shinkansen (bullet train)===
{{main|Shinkansen}}
[[File:Shinkansen map 202405 en.png|thumb|309x309px|Map of Shinkansen lines except [[Hakata-Minami Line]] and [[Gala-Yuzawa Line]]]]
The [[Shinkansen]], or "bullet trains", as they are known colloquially, are the [[high-speed rail]] trains that run across Japan.<ref name="Bullet50">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11133241/Bullet-train-at-50-rise-and-fall-of-the-worlds-fastest-train.html |title=Bullet train at 50: rise and fall of the world's fastest train |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=1 October 2014 |access-date=4 January 2016 |last=Ryall |first=Julian |location=Tokyo |archive-date=18 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118082308/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11133241/Bullet-train-at-50-rise-and-fall-of-the-worlds-fastest-train.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The {{Convert|2387|km|mi|round=5|abbr=on}} of 8 Shinkansen lines run on completely separate lines from their commuting train counterparts, with a few exceptions. Shinkansen takes up a large portion of the long-distance travel in Japan, with the whole system carrying over 10 billion passengers in its lifetime. 1,114,000 journeys are made daily, with the fastest train being the JR East [[E5 Series Shinkansen|E5]] and [[E6 series (train)|E6 series]] trains, which operate at a maximum speed of {{Convert|320|km/h|mph|round=5|abbr=on}}. Shinkansen trains are known to be very safe, with no accident-related deaths or injuries from passengers in their 50-plus year history.<ref name="BulletWorld">{{cite news | url=https://gizmodo.com/how-japans-bullet-train-is-taking-over-the-world-1749338443 | title=How Japan's Bullet Train Is Taking Over the World | work=[[Gizmodo]] | date=28 December 2015 | access-date=4 January 2016 | author=Lufkin, Bryan | archive-date=2 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102022432/http://gizmodo.com/how-japans-bullet-train-is-taking-over-the-world-1749338443 | url-status=live }}</ref> Shinkansen trains are also known to be very punctual, following suit with all other Japanese transport; in 2003, the average delay per train on the [[Tokaido Shinkansen]] was a mere 6 seconds.<ref>[[The Japan Times]]: [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20041002a1.html "Tokaido Shinkansen Line fetes 40 years" (2 October 2004)] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120629090901/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20041002a1.html |date=29 June 2012 }}. Retrieved on 27 April 2009.</ref> Japan has been trying to sell its Shinkansen technology overseas, and has struck deals to help build systems in [[India]], [[Thailand]], and the [[United States]].<ref name="BulletWorld" />

The first Shinkansen line opened between Tokyo and Osaka in 1964, and trains can now make the journey in 2 hours and 25 minutes.<ref name="Bullet50" /> Additional Shinkansen lines connect Tokyo to [[Aomori]], [[Niigata, Niigata|Niigata]], [[Kanazawa]], and [[Hakodate, Hokkaido|Hakodate]] and Osaka to Fukuoka and [[Kagoshima]], with new lines under construction to [[Tsuruga, Fukui|Tsuruga]] and [[Sapporo]]. A separate line heads out to [[Nagasaki]], albeit through a separate relay service.

Japan has been developing [[maglev]] technology trains, and broke the world maglev speed record in April 2015 with a train traveling at the speed of {{Convert|603|km/h|mph|round=5|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/21/japans-maglev-train-notches-up-new-world-speed-record-in-test-run | title=Japan's maglev train breaks world speed record with 600&nbsp;km/h test run | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=21 April 2015 | access-date=4 January 2016 | author=McCurry, Justin | location=Tokyo | archive-date=18 June 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618083538/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/21/japans-maglev-train-notches-up-new-world-speed-record-in-test-run | url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Chūō Shinkansen]], a commercial maglev service, is currently under construction from Tokyo to Nagoya and Osaka, and when completed in 2045 will cover the distance in 67 minutes, half the time of the current Shinkansen.