[RoadAtlas]

The Shinkansen was an astounding display of Japanese technical superiority at that time. They had been the fastest train in the world for close to 2 decades (please correct if I am wrong), dwarfed by only the TGV when they were introduced in France in 1981.

All the high-speed train lines in Europe have seen small numbers of derailment, technical glitches, and deaths of both passengers and staff. Shinkansen has derailed only once, that too during an Earthquake.

Amazing company, impeccable team!

[VijayAnand1]

Chicken soup for the soul on a lazy Tuesday lockdown noon. Stumped to know Kawasaki has ever laid the foundation for the great little country, Japan for what it is that we all know today. Equally an eyeopener to know how Kawasaki has expanded and forayed into almost everything that can be mechanized. A pictoral a la carte, that is sure to mesmerize anyone who knows the name Kawasaki. Great one san.

Cheers!
VJ

[k88k]

Excellent travelogue & thanks for the wonderful pictures Dr.AD!

I happened to visit Japan in May of 2018 for meetings with the Big 3: Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki. Out of the 3, the Kawasaki tour is the one which is quite vivid in my memory. Was surprised to see many businesses of Kawasaki housed in a single big campus. Had thorough fun!

I recollect a funny incident, when I had to call the Kawasaki representative a day prior, anticipating a 15-20 min. delay in our meeting (factoring in the train commute, the walk to plant premises & all). Meeting was promptly rescheduled, but I happened to arrive on previously scheduled time! When I told him the reason why I took the buffer time, he smiled and said trains are never late in Japan. Obviously, he was right!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by RoadAtlas

The Shinkansen was an astounding display of Japanese technical superiority at that time.

Not just the Shinkansen, but the whole Japanese railway network is astounding. There are so many lines, from local trains to bullet trains, so many trains, and such dense interconnected railway network that you have trains reaching almost every square km of the land. I rarely found an urban area where there was no train station within 1km. And in spite of such complex network, all trains run absolutely on time (within a few seconds of delay, at max) throughout the day. It is just amazing to experience the Japanese train system. I have not seen such elaborate and precise system anywhere else in the world.

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Chicken soup for the soul on a lazy Tuesday lockdown noon. Great one san.

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by k88k

Excellent travelogue & thanks for the wonderful pictures Dr.AD!

Thank you very much!

I recollect a funny incident, when I had to call the Kawasaki representative a day prior, anticipating a 15-20 min. delay in our meeting (factoring in the train commute, the walk to plant premises & all). Meeting was promptly rescheduled, but I happened to arrive on previously scheduled time! When I told him the reason why I took the buffer time, he smiled and said trains are never late in Japan. Obviously, he was right!

Very true! I also had such experiences initially. We always keep some buffer time in hand, because we are used to totally inconsistent and unpredictable traffic and transport systems. But in Japan, everything works so precisely and so well, that there is no room for delay. They arrange meetings looking at transport times and schedules, and everything is arranged precisely and tightly, without any time buffer. I used to initially wonder how it is possible to follow such a tight schedule, but soon I realized that there are never any delays in any event, and everything runs precisely.

Not just meetings, even flights are arranged within such tight windows. I have taken some domestic flights within Japan with my Japanese customers, and initially I was shocked that they planned meetings till close to the flight times and left only a very tight window to reach the airport and catch the flight. We once reached Tokyo Haneda airport precisely 20 minutes before the flight time, as per plan! The check-in process was so fast and efficient that we still boarded the plane 10 minutes before the flight time, and the flight took off at the exact scheduled time! It is an unbelievable experience for sure.