Q 01/05

Known abroad as the bullet train, what does Shinkansen literally mean?

A) Fast iron road

B) Lightning train

C) New main line

D) Super express

Answer · why

C) New main line

New main line is the literal reading; the English nickname instead translates dangan ressha, a label coined for a high-speed scheme planned back in 19...

Q 02/05

The first Shinkansen line opened in October 1964, days before which event?

A) The Osaka World Expo

B) The Nagano Winter Olympics

C) The Emperor's jubilee

D) The Tokyo Summer Olympics

Answer · why

D) The Tokyo Summer Olympics

The Tokyo Summer Olympics opened nine days after the first trains ran, yet the line was not begun for them: ground was broken a month before Tokyo was...

Q 03/05

Bullet trains from Tokyo bypass the old Osaka Station; which purpose-built station do they use instead?

A) Shin-Osaka

B) Osaka-Namba

C) Osaka-Umeda

D) Osakajokoen

Answer · why

A) Shin-Osaka

Shin-Osaka was built about 3 km north of the old station because land in the crowded centre was short and the site let the line carry straight on west...

Q 04/05

Shinkansen cleaning crews at Tokyo Station turn a train around in about seven minutes, then do what on the platform?

A) Bow to waiting passengers

B) Sing the company song

C) Salute the driver

D) Hand out hot towels

Answer · why

A) Bow to waiting passengers

Bow to waiting passengers: the crew lines up and bows in unison to show the train is ready, a routine that visiting reporters christened the seven-min...

Q 05/05

The engineer who shaped the first bullet train's rounded nose had spent World War II designing what?

A) Warplanes

B) Submarines

C) Battleships

D) Torpedoes

Answer · why

A) Warplanes

Warplanes: Tadanao Miki was a former aircraft engineer, and colleague Tadashi Matsudaira used what he knew about steadying fighter wings to stop the n...