The most famous train in Japan is the Shinkansen which has been running on its own rail network to the country's most important cities since 1964. This is a journey on the high-speed train from Tokyo to Hiroshima. Japan is the birthplace of high speed trains and our adventure on the Shinkansen begins in the imperial city of Tokyo, an exotic world in which the ancient traditions of the Samurai merge with the progress of the twenty first century.

Tokyo Station was built in 1914 as a red brick building in Renaissance style. It is from here that the Shinkansen embarks and in each station it has its own well-defined area and is only accessible with a special ticket. The train is extremely futuristic and the passengers are seated at windows whose shape is reminiscent of aircraft windows. The railway lines are built in such a way that the enormous speeds which are attained, cannot be felt.

Nagoya, Japan's fourth largest city, developed around the fortress of the Imagawa and Oda Families. In 1612, Tokugawa Ieyasu had the great castle built for his son, Yoshinao, and appointed him ruler of the Province Of Owari. The clan finally ruled until 1868 and power was eventually ceded to the central government in Tokyo.

Osaka is located in the estuary delta of the Yodo River in western central Honshu. The Venice Of The East was Japan’s first large commercial centre long before Tokyo was built. Osaka owed its early success as a centre of trade, to shipping and waterways.

Half an hour by train is the port city of Kobe whose Chinatown highlights its prominent sea trade with China. At that time, in the seventeenth century, Japan's isolation under the Tokugawa-Shogunat led to the collapse of international trade.

Here, the dream of every railway enthusiast becomes reality: comfort, punctuality, speed and, above all, safety. The whole of Japan is proud of this railway and today the Shinkansen is legendary - a train that arrived from the future!