Exactly 50 years ago today, on October 1st, 1964, the first Shinkansen high-speed train line was inaugurated between Tokyo and Ōsaka. At the time, the Shinkansen trains (later known as Series 0) were operating at a maximum speed of 210km/h, traveling between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka in 3 hours and 10 minutes. The maximum speed was increased in 1986 to 220km/h and today the Nozomi services are reaching 300km/h. And speed improvements are still planned…

I took this photo in the Shinkansen Train Zone of the SCMaglev and Railway Park museum in Nagoya, a place I highly recommend for any traveler interested in the history of the railways. From right to left, you can see an original Series 0, a Series 100 built in 1986 and, from the ’90s, two Series 300 Shinkansen cars.

SCMaglev and Railway Park, Nagoya

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Have a Happy Sake day! Nihonshu no hi