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Forget Brad Pitt; the bullet train is the real star

A new movie finally gives top billing to Japan’s most famous train, but it comes during troubled times for the fabled Shinkansen

    • Covid-19 has clouded the outlook for Japan's famous Shinkansen, with Zoom calls increasingly taking the place of the business day-trips that are the backbone of bullet-train revenues, and foreign tourists still largely absent.
    • Covid-19 has clouded the outlook for Japan's famous Shinkansen, with Zoom calls increasingly taking the place of the business day-trips that are the backbone of bullet-train revenues, and foreign tourists still largely absent. PHOTO: AFP

    Gearoid Reidy

    Published Fri, Aug 5, 2022 · 02:00 PM

    IN THE world of the movie Bullet Train, opening in United States theatres this weekend, Brad Pitt is an assassin in a hyper-stylised, neon-tinged Japan; Sandra Bullock and Puerto Rican pop sensation Bad Bunny also appear.

    But forget them: The real star should be the train. A staple set for any movie that takes place in Japan, from Lost In Translation to Inception, it’s about time the Shinkansen itself got top billing. Based on a novel by Japanese mystery writer Kotaro Isaka, Bullet Train shows the enduring obsession with Japan’s ultra-efficient and super-fast trains, nearly 60 years since their introduction.

    Famously, there has never been a fatal accident — not even when a shinkansen derailed earlier this year after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake.

    JapanTrains

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