Dream super-express : a cultural history of the world's first bullet train /

"A symbol of the "new Japan" displayed at World's Fairs, depicted in travel posters, and celebrated as the product of a national spirit of innovation, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen--the first bullet train, dubbed the "dream super-express"--represents the bold aspirations of a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Abel, Jessamyn R., 1970- (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2022.
Series:Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University.
Subjects:
Related Items:Online version: Dream super-express.
Classic Catalogue: View this record in Classic Catalogue
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100 1 |a Abel, Jessamyn R.,  |d 1970-  |e author.  |9 61227 
245 1 0 |a Dream super-express :  |b a cultural history of the world's first bullet train /  |c Jessamyn R. Abel. 
260 |a Stanford, California :  |b Stanford University Press,  |c 2022. 
300 |a ix, 289 pages :  |b illustrations ;  |c 23 cm 
490 1 |a Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University 
504 |a Includes bibliographical references and index. 
505 0 |a Introduction : dreams of infrastructure -- Invisible infrastructures of protest in Kyoto -- Reconstructing the Tōkaidō -- Railroad for the information society -- Nostalgia for imperial Japan -- Technology of cultural diplomacy -- Conclusion : bullet train dreams in the twenty-first century. 
520 |a "A symbol of the "new Japan" displayed at World's Fairs, depicted in travel posters, and celebrated as the product of a national spirit of innovation, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen--the first bullet train, dubbed the "dream super-express"--represents the bold aspirations of a nation rebranding itself after military defeat, but also the deep problems caused by the unbridled postwar drive for economic growth. At the dawn of the space age, how could a train become such an important symbol? In Dream Super-Express, Jessamyn Abel contends that understanding the various, often contradictory, images of the bullet train reveals how infrastructure operates beyond its intended use as a means of transportation to perform cultural and sociological functions. The multi-layered dreams surrounding this high-speed railway tell a history not only of nation-building but of resistance and disruption. Though it constituted neither a major technological leap nor a new infrastructural connection, the train enchanted, enthralled, and enraged government officials, media pundits, community activists, novelists, and filmmakers. This history of imaginations around the monumental rail system resists the commonplace story of progress to consider the tug-of-war over the significance of the new line. Is it a vision of the future or a reminder of the past, an object of international admiration or a formidable threat? Does it enable new relationships and identities or reify existing social hierarchies? Tracing the meanings assigned to high-speed rail shows how it prompted a reimagination of identity on the levels of individual, metropolis, and nation in a changing Japan"-- 
526 8 |a AAL 
541 1 |a Donated by Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh, Read Japan Project 2025, The Tokyo Foundation, supported by The Nippon Foundation.  |e 45855 
650 0 |a Tōkaidō Shinkansen (High speed train)  |x History.  |9 61228 
650 0 |a High speed trains  |x Social aspects  |z Japan  |x History.  |9 61229 
650 0 |a Railroads  |x Social aspects  |z Japan  |x History.  |9 61230 
650 0 |a Technology  |x Social aspects  |z Japan  |x History.  |9 61231 
651 0 |a Japan  |x History  |y 1945-1989.  |9 61232 
776 0 8 |i Online version:  |a Abel, Jessamyn R., 1970-  |t Dream super-express.  |d Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2022  |z 9781503629950  |w (DLC) 2021019538 
830 0 |a Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University.  |9 60986 
852 1 |a Ayesha Abed Library  |c General Stacks 
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