September 24, 2014
Shingo Ito
Tokyo (AFP) - Fifty years ago, (click here) the first bullet train pulled out of Tokyo station and hurtled across the countryside, heralding Japan's arrival as a modern economic powerhouse with a transport system soon to become the envy of the world.
Less than two decades after a bitter World War II defeat that left much of the country in ruins, Japan was at the cutting edge with its sleek, airplane-shaped "shinkansen" that glided over great distances of newly-laid track.
"With the start of the shinkansen, we had a feeling that the starving time would end and Japan would change dramatically," recalled Fumihiro Araki, a former railway engineer.,,,
