Five ways the Japanese are technically better than us

By Ian Morris on 09 October 2008, 5:58pm

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When you go to a train station in the UK it's generally ancient with peeling paint, spiders as big as your head liberally strewn around and underpasses with a stench of urine so strong it would distress a tramp. The staff will be rude and unhelpful, and will either try to fine you for not having a valid ticket or deafen you with their incessant whistle blowing.

Once you get on the train (which will arrive late), there will be some reprobate listening to his music over his phone speakers and you'll be squashed together in conditions that would horrify cattle. The train will travel at 30mph and frequently stop because there is a leaf on the line, while the guard mumbles some incoherent nonsense over the tinny PA system.

In Japan on the other hand, major cities are linked via the Shinkansen, or as it's known abroad, the bullet train network. In its nearly half century of operation, the Shinkansen has carried as many as 7 billion passengers -- an estimated 200,000 people a day. The bullet train is also incrediby fast, with regular speeds of up to 190mph. It's possible for it to travel faster than that, with the Japanese rail company having conducted speed tests that prove its trains can travel at up to 275mph, and have broken a record on maglev tracks going at 361mph.

They are also safe; accidents involving the Shinkansen are incredibly rare. Pretty much only earthquakes can knock them off their rails, which is why each train is fitted with a system that slams on the brakes if it detects a quake. That's not the only safety feature either: because reading a speed-limit sign at 190mph is quite tricky, each train signals the driver with a currently posted speed limit. If the driver ignores it, the train can slow itself. Even with all this technology, there's plenty for the driver to worry about -- check out this YouTube video for a look behind the scenes.

Photo credit: MK Products via Wikipedia