Japan's Iconic Bullet Trains Get a Makeover

New designs for a series of Japanese bullet trains have been unveiled and could be on the tracks by the end of the decade.

The new E10 Shinkansen model will replace the current E2 and E5 bullet trains when they are retired in 2030, marking the first time a non-Japanese agency has designed Japan’s signature mode of transport.

Why It Matters

The Shinkansen, meaning “bullet train” in Japanese, has forever changed transportation in Japan and in nearly two dozen countries around the world. Japan’s nearly 2,000 miles of track connect major cities across three of the country’s four main islands: Honshu, Kyushu, and Hokkaido. Shinkansen trains transport approximately 150 million passengers per year.

What To Know

The new designs were commissioned by the East Japan Railway Company, also known as JR East, and were completed by design studio Tangerine, based in London and Seoul. The Shinkansen will operate on JR East’s Tohoku route, connecting Tokyo to Aomori.

Matt Round, Tangerine’s chief creative officer, told Newsweek that incorporating the culture of Japan into the design was vital for the cross-continental collaboration.

“There are so many different parties within the supply chain that you need to work with as a designer in order to bring your vision to life,” Round said.

“Those relationships are really important, and there’s a team of us doing this together. We’re bridging cultures, we’re bridging technical expertise, and pulling the best teams together to deliver this.”

For the bullet train, Tangerine adopted a design philosophy called “thoughtful travel,” which focused on how the train engaged with Japan’s countryside and culture. One example the designers highlighted was the decision to shape the train in a way inspired by sakura flowers, the Japanese cherry blossom.

“We took inspiration from all of the scenery along the way, from the forests, the coasts, the cities, and used that kind of imagery to fuel the design,” Round said.

“It’s a really great kind of source of inspiration to use, and it’s been used many times.”

What People Are Saying

Matt Round, Tangerine’s chief creative officer, told Newsweek: “We took the spirit of thoughtfulness and used that to drive passenger preference; both the passengers at home and the passengers abroad.

“We began to center all of our design around thoughtfulness, so that we could think really carefully about what we needed to do to satisfy the needs of different consumer groups and different stakeholders within the business. And we arrived at a design philosophy that we call thoughtful travel.”