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.
