From polling station to political station? Politics and the shinkansen

Hood, Christopher Philip ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7477-3944 2006. From polling station to political station? Politics and the shinkansen. Japan Forum 18 (1) , pp. 45-53. 10.1080/09555800500498228

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Abstract

More often than not, discussions of the development of the shinkansen (‘bullet train’) in Japan focus on the Jōetsu Shinkansen between Tokyo and Niigata, Tanaka Kakuei and pork-barrel politics. This article aims to offer an objective analysis of the building of the shinkansen lines and stations and the intervention of politicians in their construction from the 1950s to the present. It begins by considering the development of railways in Japan from the Meiji era through the early post-war years and argues that lessons learned from this past were far more important than pork-barrel politics not only when it came to construction of the Jōetsu Line, but also in relation to the decisions to construct other shinkansen lines. By focusing on the facts and the logic of railway construction in Japan, it attempts to separate the history of the shinkansen from the various myths surrounding this ‘symbol’ of modern Japan and to lay a basis for more focused and revealing inquiry into the operation of pork-barrel politics in that country.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JQ Political institutions Asia T Technology > TF Railroad engineering and operation
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Shinkansen; bullet train; politics; construction; railways; symbolism
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis
ISSN:	0955-5803
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2022 10:19
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/39803

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