0
Your cart

Your cart is empty

Books > Sport & Leisure > Transport: general interest > Trains & railways: general interest

Buy Now

Dream Super-Express - A Cultural History of the World's First Bullet Train (Hardcover) Loot Price: R2,776
Discovery Miles 27 760
Dream Super-Express - A Cultural History of the World's First Bullet Train (Hardcover): Jessamyn Abel

Dream Super-Express - A Cultural History of the World's First Bullet Train (Hardcover)

Jessamyn Abel

Series: Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University

 (sign in to rate)
Loot Price R2,776 Discovery Miles 27 760 | Repayment Terms: R260 pm x 12*

Bookmark and Share

Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days

A symbol of the "new Japan" displayed at World's Fairs, depicted in travel posters, and celebrated as the product of a national spirit of innovation, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen—the first bullet train, dubbed the "dream super-express"—represents the bold aspirations of a nation rebranding itself after military defeat, but also the deep problems caused by the unbridled postwar drive for economic growth. At the dawn of the space age, how could a train become such an important symbol? In Dream Super-Express, Jessamyn Abel contends that understanding the various, often contradictory, images of the bullet train reveals how infrastructure operates beyond its intended use as a means of transportation to perform cultural and sociological functions. The multi-layered dreams surrounding this high-speed railway tell a history not only of nation-building but of resistance and disruption. Though it constituted neither a major technological leap nor a new infrastructural connection, the train enchanted, enthralled, and enraged government officials, media pundits, community activists, novelists, and filmmakers. This history of imaginations around the monumental rail system resists the commonplace story of progress to consider the tug-of-war over the significance of the new line. Is it a vision of the future or a reminder of the past, an object of international admiration or a formidable threat? Does it enable new relationships and identities or reify existing social hierarchies? Tracing the meanings assigned to high-speed rail shows how it prompted a reimagination of identity on the levels of individual, metropolis, and nation in a changing Japan.

General

Imprint: Stanford University Press
Country of origin: United States
Series: Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Release date: 2022
Firstpublished: 2022
Authors: Jessamyn Abel
Dimensions: 229 x 152mm (L x W)
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 304
ISBN-13: 978-1-5036-1038-5
Categories: Books > Humanities > History > General
Books > Sport & Leisure > Transport: general interest > Trains & railways: general interest
Books > History > General
LSN: 1-5036-1038-1
Barcode: 9781503610385

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!

You might also like..

The Blue Ridge Tunnel - A Remarkable…
Mary E Lyons Paperback R655 R591 Discovery Miles 5 910
Tragedy at Southern Oregon Tunnel 13…
Scott Mangold Paperback R646 R582 Discovery Miles 5 820
New York's Original Penn Station - The…
Paulm Kaplan Paperback R583 R537 Discovery Miles 5 370
Union Station in Denver
Rhonda Beck Paperback R577 R530 Discovery Miles 5 300
Book 4: Midlands & North West 2022
Martyn Brailsford Paperback R677 Discovery Miles 6 770
Pittsburgh's Inclines
Donald Doherty Paperback R636 R572 Discovery Miles 5 720
Last Years of Steam Across Somerset And…
Michael Clemens Hardcover R630 R561 Discovery Miles 5 610
A History of the East Coast Main Line
Robin Jones Paperback  (1)
R786 R735 Discovery Miles 7 350
Blue Diesels in View
Gavin Morrison Hardcover R664 Discovery Miles 6 640
Slow Trains Around Spain - A 3,000-Mile…
Tom Chesshyre Paperback R259 Discovery Miles 2 590
Book 1: Scotland & Isle of Man
Martyn Brailsford Paperback R575 Discovery Miles 5 750
The Birth of the Tubes
Antony Badsey-Ellis Hardcover R584 Discovery Miles 5 840

See more

Partners