This book is the first book written in English about the secret story of the birth of the Shinkansen in Japan and its subsequent developments. The author, Mr. Shuichiro Yamanouchi, a former chairman of East Japan Railway (JR East), addresses what the essence of Shinkansen technology is and how it could be achieved in such a short time. And the book, written based on his long experience in railway engineering and management, gives readers a bird's-eye view of the Japanese railway as a whole, and the technical philosophy of his great career behind it.

In this book, its whole picture is clarified, that is, the world's first 200 km/h running, dealing with troubles after the opening, and development of the 300 km/h commercial operation after that, including the failure stories encountered in the process. These gave a big stimulation to the development of other high-speed railways, and this book helps readers to learn about the accumulated experiences of Japanese high-speed railways that have not been revealed so far, such as railway safety, noise against the environment, railway privatization, harmonization of management and engineering, and so forth."