The Brilliant Japanese Engineer Who Kept Getting Fired
It took a five-star general and one simple man to launch the Bullet Train
The Japanese word Gaman (我慢) means “patience; endurance; perseverance; tolerance; self-control; self-denial.”
Hemingway called it “grace under pressure.”
The Japanese Ministry of Railways is not known for its ability to think outside the box. It may explain the skepticism towards a nerdy 25-year-old engineer who dreamed of a railroad track stretching 320 miles across Honshu, Japan’s most extensive and populous island. Shideo Shima imagined a steel train with a bullet-shaped nose. It sounded like science fiction to the old hands. The train would race from Osaka to Tokyo at more than 130 mph if the concrete track were devoid of curves. Unfortunately, in 1964 that was like saying we could live happily on Mars if we didn’t have to breathe. The idea of a curveless track in a mountainous country seemed inconceivable. It would take a tragic derailment and the intervention of a five-star general, but Shima would be proved right in the end.
Winding Road
Shima wasn’t a dreamer. He had studied steam locomotive design at Tokyo Imperial University before joining the Ministry of Railways as a rolling-stock engineer in 1925. Early on he realized that instead of being pulled by an engine up front, individual rail coaches could be driven by a separate electric motor in each car. It was profound. It was daring. But it was also a bit crazy.
The fact that no one had ever heard of a bullet train was a problem. Second, as the Greek mathematician Archimedes proved, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Unfortunately for Shima, that line ran right through the heart of the Japanese Alps. The range’s name should have been a hint.
Other difficulties would have discouraged a lesser dreamer. According to CNN Travel, Japan stretched the limits of rail technology due to its complex geography and drastically different temperatures, ranging from the tropical humidity further south to the icy winters in the north. Another factor was seismic activity. With 10% of the world’s volcanoes and one of the most geologically unstable countries in the world, Japan is prone to earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.
While pulverizing tall granite mountains was a grave engineering challenge, on the plus side, it would provide a stunning view of Mount Fuji, which rises to a height of more than 12,350 feet, and let’s not forget one active volcano. But the bureaucrats at the Ministry of Railways weren’t seduced by picturesque details.
Shima was undeterred.
Narrow Gauge
At the time, the Japanese railroad network consisted of narrow-gauge lines that took roundabout routes and couldn’t be upgraded to move at incredible speeds due to the steep terrain. As a result, Japan required more new high-speed lines than nations with wide-gauge rail systems. Shima would need to persuade numerous layers of bureaucracy to turn an idea into a blueprint, a skill that, among his many other qualities, seemed to be lacking. But he had one advantage.
He found a benefactor that had five stars.
In 1964, a bullet train was the equivalent of jet travel to the airline industry. Shima was no ordinary visionary. He was as obstinate as he was creative. Realizing that moving mountains was something only great men could do, he sought a leader with foresight and authority. The man he asked happened to be one of nine American generals in history awarded a fifth star. General Douglas Macarthur was the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or SCAP during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II.
The Hachikō Line derailment in 1947 was the turning point in the relationship between MacArthur and Shima. The Japanese Ministry of Railroad was obliged to get clearance from SCAP before modifying passenger railway cars, especially when the changes required a crucial post-war commodity such as steel. The United States had witnessed the consequences of ignoring steel requisitions in pre-war Germany. Over 3,000 train cars made of wood were ready for replacement.
Five Star Service
In 1947, a train derailment was the pivotal moment in Shima’s career. On February 25, a passenger train traveling in the “down” direction derailed on a tight curve. Four carriages rolled over into a field, causing the most railroad fatalities in Japanese history. Four hundred ninety-five passengers were hurt, while 184 perished. It became known as the Hachiko Line Derailment. When it was discovered that the high death rate was caused by overcrowding in wooden passenger carriages, the time for change had arrived.
Shima had his motive. He turned to General Douglas MacArthur to seek approval to replace all wooden passenger cars with steel-bodied. MacArthur agreed. Once the steel cars were on track, it was a short hop to the bullet train. According to William Manchester, MacArthur’s biographer, Japan would not have been able to transition from an imperial, totalitarian regime to democracy without his leadership. They also would not have had a bullet train.
By 1948, Shima was promoted to head of the rolling stock department. Then three years later he abruptly resigned again after a fire broke out at Yokohama station that killed more than 100 people. Shima was in no way responsible but always took responsibility.
Terminal Stop
To oversee the construction of his original idea, the first bullet train or Shinkansen line (“new trunk line”), he left the railroad and went to work for Sumitomo. However, his former boss, Shinji Sog, the president of the Japanese National Railway (who also resigned after the Yokohama fire), begged him to return. Shima was appointed chief engineer and installed the first bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka in Oct 1964. Other innovations made by Shinkansen included air suspension and air conditioning. The sleek cone-shaped front, which gave the bullet train its name, was created by Shima’s crew.
By 1963, although the first line proved successful, the construction — which required 3,000 bridges and 67 tunnels to allow for a clear and predominantly straight path — led to significant cost overruns. Once again, Shima had to resign. His reputation fell so far that he was not invited to the opening ceremony despite the project being finished in time for the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 1964. But Shima never stopped believing. As other nations, such as France and Germany, created comparable networks, he was constantly on call across the globe.
Bullet Proof
Japanese business executives eventually rushed to take the 60 trains per day that ran between Tokyo and Osaka, connecting the two cities in 3 hours and 10 minutes. Today, Shinkansen trains join most of the country’s significant regions at more than 185 miles per hour.
It is impossible to overestimate the significance of “bullet train” culture to Japan, a nation renowned for punctuality. For instance, a Japanese train conductor, or shashou, will shout “Hai, shinkou,” which translates to “Ok, go.” This is because the 120,000 trains on the Tokaido shinkansen rails depend entirely on timing. The conductor is the main reason for the train’s on-time performance.
On a busy day, one train runs every three minutes. Due to the close spacing, even a slight delay will affect the entire line, but the average annual delay is only 30 seconds. This considers significant delays brought on by typhoons, so trains are typically on time. The bullet train relies on conductors to perform with a French chef’s perfection.
That is why, according to CNN, when a conductor left for a moment to take a bathroom break, havoc broke out in the news media. At another time, a train left a station 25 seconds ahead of schedule because its conductor couldn’t see anyone on the platform. Japan’s national railway condemned the driver’s acts as reckless, calling them “inexcusable” and apologized for causing “great inconvenience.” An identical message was issued a year earlier after a Tsukuba Express conductor left 20 seconds before, leading puzzled commuters to compare railway networks worldwide. The typical commuter in New York or Chicago would be amused.
Coda
In 1969, Shima began a new career as the Japan National Space Development Agency director. He received the James Watt International Medal from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers of Great Britain in the same year, making him the first non-Westerner to do so. In recognition of his lifetime achievements, Shima was awarded the Japanese Order of Cultural Merit in 1994.
He passed away on March 18, 1998, at age 96.
