Editing Shinkansen (section)

=== Early proposals ===
The popular English name ''bullet train'' is a literal translation of the Japanese term {{Nihongo|''dangan ressha''|弾丸列車}}, a nickname given to the project while it was initially discussed in the 1930s. The name stuck because of the original [[0 Series Shinkansen]]'s resemblance to a [[Minié ball]] and its high speed.

The ''Shinkansen'' name was first formally used in 1940 for a proposed standard-gauge passenger and freight line between Tokyo and [[Shimonoseki]] that would have used steam and electric locomotives with a top speed of {{convert|200|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}. Over the next three years, the Ministry of Railways drew up more ambitious plans to extend the line to Beijing (through a [[Japan–Korea Undersea Tunnel|tunnel to Korea]]) and even [[Singapore]], and build connections to the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]] and other trunk lines in Asia. These plans were abandoned in 1943 as Japan's position in World War II worsened. However, some construction did commence on the line; several tunnels on the present-day Shinkansen date to the war-era project.<ref name=":4">{{cite book |last=Hood |first=Christopher P. |title=Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-32052-8 |pages=21–23}}</ref>

{{See also|Greater East Asia Railroad}}