New Books on Japan: 'Dream Super-Express: A Cultural History of the World's First Bullet Train'

MJHA proudly presents a "New Books on Japan" event:

Book: _Dream Super-Express: A Cultural History of the World's First Bullet Train_ (Stanford University Press, 2022)

Author: Jessamyn R. Abel, Associate Professor of Asian Studies, Pennsylvania State University

Discussant: Yuting Dong, Assistant Professor of East Asian History, University of Chicago

Book abstract:

The winner of the 2024 Modern Japan History Book Prize, _Dream Super-Express_ by Professor Jessamyn Abel sheds fresh light on postwar Japan’s rise to technological and economic superstardom. Integrating the histories of technology, infrastructure, economics, politics, diplomacy, and empire, Abel argues that 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. 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. As the train variously enchanted, enthralled, and enraged government officials, media pundits, community activists, novelists, and filmmakers, it prompted a reimagination of identity on the levels of individual, metropolis, and nation in a changing Japan.

This presentation was made possible by support from the Japan Foundation.

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