When people talk about changes in the Shinkansen, they usually mean faster or sleeker carriages. Recently, however, there has also been an overhaul in the facilities and services available aboard Japan's bullet trains. A ride on the Shinkansen in itself once used to be a treat, but as the novelty has worn off, the trains are undergoing a face lift to accommodate practical, business needs.

One victim of this trend has been the dining car, which used to be an integral part of the Shinkansen. The cars served their last meals on March 10, 2000, having been discontinued as part of reforms to Shinkansen operations. Shorter journey times have prompted passengers to buy food and drinks from vending machines and the in-car trolley service instead of making their way to the dining cars. Other changes include the fitting of air purifiers in smoking carriages and the development of a special pillow that promises to make a Shinkansen ride much more relaxing.

On-Board Vending Machines
The dining car made its debut on Japan's railways 101 years ago, but these cars have gradually been disappearing as the advent of faster trains have shortened journey times. The first Shinkansen dining car opened in autumn 1974, just before the line linking Tokyo and Hakata in Kyushu began operating. In those days, passengers would line up outside the cars even before they opened, and cooks on different trains would compete to see who had, for example, fried the most pork cutlets that day.

In the period before the Japanese National Railways was privatized, dining cars were installed on almost all Hikari bullet trains linking Tokyo with western Japan. These new models, however, shortened journey times and thus the dining cars' opening hours, so the share of passengers patronizing the cars began to decline. A major hotel that had been a partner in the Shinkansen restaurant service withdrew its support, and in fiscal 1988 the privatized Japan Railways group, looking to increase its passenger capacity, began converting its dining cars into first-class "green" cars.

Until recently, only four Shinkansen trains equipped with dining cars were making the daily journey from Tokyo to Hakata and back--the double-decker Grand Hikari models. West Japan Railway Co., which owns these carriages, stopped all dining car services as part of changes to its operations implemented on March 11, 2000. Central Japan Railway Co., which operates the Tokaido Shinkansen line, ceased running dining cars in 1998, and East Japan Railway Co. has never operated dining cars on its Tohoku, Joetsu, and Nagano Shinkansen routes.

Dining cars are also being discontinued on non-Shinkansen lines. They remain only on such luxury trains as the Cassiopeia linking Ueno in Tokyo with Sapporo in Hokkaido. The joy of dining while watching the scenery go by is becoming a thing of the past.

Targeting Business Travelers
Carriages that permit smoking often become hazy with smoke. Growing complaints--even from smokers themselves--are prompting the Japan Railway firms to install powerful air purifiers in their carriages.

JR Central was the first to fit the devices, installing air purifiers it had developed jointly with an electronics firm on its newest Nozomi-series bullet trains. By the end of March, it had installed the devices in each smoking carriage (6 of the 16 cars) of all 11 new Nozomi models. The purifiers are powerful enough that even if 80% of passengers smoke in a carriage where all seats are filled, the smokiness will not cause discomfort. All the other Shinkansen operators are starting to install similar devices.

The first nonsmoking Shinkansen carriages appeared in 1976. In those days there was just one nonsmoking car on each Kodama Shinkansen. As the antismoking movement grew stronger, the number of nonsmoking carriages was increased, and in 1996 it overtook the number of smoking cars. The JR companies do not appear ready to prohibit smoking altogether, though. Since 1998, when all domestic airlines--rivals to the bullet train--banned smoking on all their flights, smoking carriages have become a way for railway firms to attract smoking passengers.

In an effort to sell the Shinkansen as not only fast but also comfortable, JR Central has started developing a special pillow for passengers of its Tokaido Shinkansen. They are studying how deeply people sleep on the bullet trains and testing out several prototypes. They aim to have a pillow ready for use in a few years. At the moment, tests appear to favor a model that keeps the head stable even when the train is in motion and is fitted with a device that wakes up the passenger as the train approaches their station. The Shinkansen is becoming more and more focused on strengthening services for business use.

Copyright (c) 2000 Japan Information Network. Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.

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