Travel Fast

In 1998, I was in Japan for two weeks. I was attending a regional trade promotions training program organized by the Japanese Ministry of Trade and AOTS (Association of Overseas Technical Scholars).


And I, together with eight other Filipinos (Chin, Menchie, Honey, Injong, Nelia, Roland, and others) took a bullet train ride from Osaka to Tokyo.

Boy, it was a fast train. These high-speed trains run through a network called The Shinkansen. The trains first started in 1964 running at 210 km/h (130 mph).

Shinkansen literally means "New Trunk Line" and hence strictly speaking refers only to the tracks, while the trains themselves are officially referred to as "Super Express." Shinkansen use tunnels and viaducts to go through and over obstacles, rather than around them.