新幹線
しんかんせん · shinkansen
Shinkansen, bullet train
What it means
Japan's high-speed rail lines. Most run on their own tracks, apart from the older lines. The word names both the lines and the trains that run on them.
Watch for
The Shinkansen is not one line; each route has its own name and trains. Some, such as the Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen, also use older lines rebuilt to the same track width. Some stations have separate Shinkansen and conventional-line gates, with a transfer gate between them.
On operators’ English pages
Shinkansen
See also
Sources
- How to use the trains | Central Japan Railway Company · JR Central
- 新幹線(シンカンセン)とは？ 意味や使い方 - コトバンク · Kotobank (Nihon Daihyakka Zensho and other encyclopedias)
- Train Varieties | JR KYUSHU RAILWAY COMPANY · JR Kyushu
Checked against operator and official sources · 2026-11-08