What is the name of Japan's high-speed bullet train network?

Japan’s high-speed bullet train network is called the Shinkansen. The Japanese name means “new trunk line,” referring to the purpose-built railway routes that connect the country’s major cities at high speed.

The first Shinkansen route, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, opened on 1 October 1964 between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka, shortly before the Tokyo Olympics. It was the world’s first dedicated high-speed railway and transformed travel between Japan’s largest urban centres.

The network later expanded across Honshu, Kyushu, and Hokkaido. Major routes include the San’yō, Tōhoku, Jōetsu, Hokuriku, Kyushu, and Hokkaido Shinkansen. Different services have names such as Nozomi, Hikari, and Kodama, but these are service classes—not names for the national network itself.

AVE is Spain’s high-speed system, TGV is France’s, and ICE is Germany’s. “Bullet train” is the familiar English nickname for Shinkansen trains, inspired partly by their streamlined shape and high speed.