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.
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