Freak of Nature

An unusual freak of nature occurred yesterday evening in the northern Japanese prefecture of Niigata. No, I am not referring to the magnitude 6.8 earthquake that shook buildings as far away as Tokyo, or the multiple aftershocks that followed. I am referring to the derailment of a JR Shinkansen train 6 kilometers from JR Nagaoka station at about 6pm. The train was traveling around 200kmph on a 13 meter high bridge at the moment of derailment. Now to someone living anywhere else in the world this might not seem that unusual but this is in fact the first time a bullet train has derailed in Japan since they started service 40 years ago in 1964. Now I don’t know any country in the world that can boast that kind of record. In addition, no one was severely injured (or possibly injured at all – I was unable to confirm). I travel on the Shinkansen quite often from Hamamatsu to Tokyo and I must say that I would choose it over an airplane any day of the week. One must take caution however, not to occupy a smoking car (unless you are a smoker). The amount of second hand salaryman smoke could kill Godzilla. Another thing I would recommend is purchasing a reserved seat ticket as they are not (in my opinion) significantly more expensive enough to gamble sitting on the floor in between cars. If you have the chance to travel south from Tokyo make sure to sit on the right side of the train as you will have a beautiful view of Mount Fuji (weather permitting). While there are many things you can criticize about Japanese trains, danger and punctuality are not among them. The only time I have seen a late train is when on several occasions a drunk oyaji (old man) in a drunken stumble took the last fall of his life or some poor soul decided to end their life (when this happens the family is mailed the tab – honest). As with many aspects of Japanese life responsibility is generally taken so seriously that the train companies offer written explanation or proof of delay slips upon exit for employees to provide to their companies in such cases. So Japan Rail, we won’t hold this one against you. Thanks for the safety and punctuality you have provided to millions of us since 1964. Hopefully, it will be another 40 before it happens again.

Comments

[Peter]

Thank you for the link. I can read the first line "Catastrophe in Japan" but I must admit that I can't speak French well. Again thanks and reagrdless of the negative feeling towards the French that the Bush administration tries to emit most of us Americans value our friendship with you.

[Darren]

I can't believe it's the first time that a shinkansen has been derailed. It's even more miraculous that no-one was killed. Did the train just skid along and not overturn?That shinkansen was so unlucky to be so close to the epicentre.

When I travelled to Kyoto from Tokyo by shinkansen I was lucky enough to be sitting on the right side by the window. Unfortunately due to the weather the view of Mt. Fuji wasn't great. Even so, every time I see it I am simply amazed by it.

[Peter]

From the information that I was able to gather the train mostly skided along the tracks, eight out of ten cars were derailed. The part that sucks is that everyone had to walk back to the station - oh well at least the lived.

[sycamore]

Nice blog