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Japan's first Shinkansen bullet train line opened just before which major event?
It opened on 1 October 1964, nine days before the Games began.
The Tokaido Shinkansen began service between Tokyo and Osaka on 1 October 1964. The Tokyo Olympic Games opened on 10 October, so the line was running nine days before the opening ceremony. Tokyo had been awarded the Games in 1959, and the railway's timing was a deliberate national showcase of postwar recovery. The Olympic Games were the first held in Asia.
Before the new line, the fastest limited express, the Kodama of 1958, took under seven hours. The shinkansen ran at a top speed of 210 km/h in 1964, a world first for regular high-speed service, and later speeds rose to 270 km/h in 1992 on the Tokaido line. Its tracks were built to standard gauge, and a dedicated right-of-way separated it from slower trains and level crossings.
The line has an exceptional safety record. Nippon.com reports no fatal derailment or collision in its first 50 years. The precise times for Tokyo to Osaka at opening, about four hours initially according to commonly cited accounts, are not confirmed in the pages consulted. 'Bullet train' is the English nickname, reflecting the speed and rounded nose of the early cars; the Japanese name means 'new trunk line'.