Aomori (city)
Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 1 April 2017, the city had an estimated population of 287,800 in 136,209 households, a population density of 350 persons per km2; the city is one of Japan's 48 core cities. The total area of the city was 824.61 square kilometres. Aomori is located in central Aomori Prefecture, on a plain between the southern end of Aomori Bay, which it faces to the north and the Hakkōda Mountains to the south. Among other smaller rivers, the city has two large rivers flowing through it, the Komagome River and its tributary, the Arakawa River. Aomori Prefecture Kuroishi, Towada, Hirakawa Kitatsugaru District – Itayanagi Minamitsugaru District – Fujisaki Higashitsugaru District – Hiranai, Yomogita Kamikita District – Shichinohe Like most of Tōhoku, Aomori has a humid temperate climate with hot summers, cold, though not extreme, winters; the city has a humid continental climate using 0 degree isotherm, with monthly averages ranging from −1.2 °C in January to 23.3 °C in August.
Aomori and its surrounding area are renowned for heavy snowfall, the heaviest among all Japanese cities, and, in fact, among the heaviest in the world. In February 1945 the city recorded a maximum snow cover of 209 centimetres, but the extreme low of −24.7 °C was recorded 14 years earlier. In contrast, Sapporo's heaviest snowfall occurred in 1939, and, only 164 centimetres, more northerly Wakkanai has recorded similar maxima; the heavy snow is caused by several winds that collide around the city and make the air rise and cool, resulting in quick, thick cloud formation followed by intense precipitation. In summer, a cool wind called "Yamase" blows from the east, which sometimes results in abnormally cool weather and poor harvests. Additionally, thick fogs from the Oyashio Current are observed in mountainous areas in the summer. Due to this fog, flights to Aomori Airport are cancelled. Per Japanese census data, the population of Aomori has remained steady over the past 40 years. Aomori means blue forest, although it could be translated as "green forest".
The name is considered to refer to a small forest on a hill which existed near the town. This forest was used by fishermen as a landmark. A different theory suggests; the area has been settled extensively since prehistoric times, numerous Jōmon period sites have been found by archaeologists, the most famous being the Sannai-Maruyama Ruins located just southwest of the city center dating to 5500-4000 BC, the Komakino Site farther south dating to around 4000 BC. The large scale of these settlements revolutionized theories on Jōmon period civilization. During the Heian period, the area was part of the holdings of the Northern Fujiwara clan, but remained inhabited by the Emishi people well into the historic period. After the fall of the Northern Fujiwara in the Kamakura period, the territory was part of the domain assigned to the Nambu clan, into the Sengoku period, it came under the control of the rival Tsugaru clan, whose main castle was located in Namioka. After the start of the Edo period, Aomori was a minor port settlement for Hirosaki Domain called Utō.
The town was rebuilt in 1626 under orders of the daimyō, Tsugaru Nobuhira and renamed "Aomori", but this name did not come into common use until after 1783. After the Meiji Restoration, the feudal domains were abolished and replaced with prefectures, of which a total of six were created in the territory of modern Aomori Prefecture; these were merged into the short-lived Hirosaki Prefecture in July 1871. However, due to the historic enmity between the former Tsugaru territories in the west and the former Nambu territories in the east, the prefectural capital relocated from Hirosaki to the more centrally-located Aomori after the merger and the prefecture was renamed Aomori Prefecture on September 23, 1871. However, the municipality of Aomori was not given town status within Higashitsugaru District until April 1, 1889, was not designated a city until April 1, 1898; the Hokkaidō Colonization Office began operations of a ferry service from Aomori to Hakodate in Hokkaido from 1872. In September 1891, Aomori was connected with Tokyo by rail with the opening of the Tōhoku Main Line.
The Ōu Main Line running along the Sea of Japan coast opened in December 1894. The development of modern Aomori was due to its prefectural capital status and the singular importance as the terminus of these rail lines and the Seikan ferry, which opened in 1908; the 8th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army were stationed in Aomori from 1896. In the winter of 1902, 199 of 210 soldiers on a military cold-weather readiness exercise perished while attempting to cross the Hakkōda Mountains from Aomori to Towada in what was called the Hakkōda Mountains incident. Much of the town burned down in a large fire on May 3, 1910; the port facilities were expanded in 1924, the city received its first bus services in 1926. Japan Air Transport began scheduled air services from 1937. Towards the final stages of World War II, on the night of July 28–29, 1945, Aomori was subject to an air raid as part of the strategic bombing campaign waged by the United States of America against military and civilian targets and population centers during the Japan home islands campaign.
The July 28–29 bombing claimed 1,767 lives and destroyed 88% of the city. In the post war period, Aomori rebuilt as the local commercial center; the Tsugaru Line railway opened in 1951, Aomori Airport in 1964. The city was connected to Tokyo by highway in 1979 with the
Chūō Main Line
The Chūō Main Line called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It connects Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the eastern portion, the Chūō East Line, is operated by the East Japan Railway Company, while the western portion, the Chūō West Line, is operated by the Central Japan Railway Company. The dividing point between the two companies is Shiojiri Station, where express trains from both operators continue to the Shinonoi Line towards the cities of Matsumoto and Nagano. Compared to the huge urban areas at either end of the Chūō Line, its central portion is lightly traveled; the Chūō Main Line passes through the mountainous center of Honshu. Its highest point is about 900 meters above sea level and much of the line has a gradient of 25 per mil. Along the Chūō East Line section, peaks of the Akaishi and Kiso as well as Mount Yatsugatake can be seen from trains; the Chūō West Line parallels the steep Kiso Valley.
Entire Route: 424.6 km East Line: 222.1 km Tokyo - Kanda: 1.3 km Kanda - Yoyogi: 8.3 km Yoyogi - Shinjuku: 0.7 km Shinjuku - Shiojiri: 211.8 km East Line - Tatsuno branch line: 27.7 km West Line: 174.8 km Shiojiri - Kanayama: 171.5 km Kanayama - Nagoya: 3.3 km This section lists all stations on the Chūō Main Line and explains regional services on the line. In addition, there are limited express services connecting major cities along the line, namely Azusa, Super Azusa, Hamakaiji, Narita Express and Shinano. For details of the limited express trains, see the relevant articles; the section between Tokyo and Mitaka is grade-separated, with no level crossings. Between Ochanomizu and Mitaka, the Chūō Main Line has four tracks; the local tracks are used by the main line local trains and the Chūō-Sōbu Line local trains, while the rapid tracks carry rapid service and limited express trains. The Tokyo-Mitaka portion is a vital cross-city rail link; the commuter services on the rapid tracks are collectively called the Chūō Line in comparison with the Chūō Line or the Chūō-Sōbu Line on the local tracks.
The former is referred to as the Chūō Line and the latter the Sōbu Line. Separate groups of trainsets are used for these two groups of services: cars with an orange belt for the rapid service trains and cars with a yellow belt for the local service trains, with the exception of early morning and late night local service trains which use cars with an orange belt. Signs at stations use these colors to indicate the services; this section is located within Tokyo. The four-track section ends at Mitaka. Most of the section between Mitaka and Tachikawa had been elevated between 2008-2011 to eliminate level crossings. Plans have been proposed to add another two tracks as far as Tachikawa, but were not included in the track elevation. Most of the rapid service trains from Tokyo terminate at Takao where the line exits the large urban area of Tokyo; the section between Takao and Ōtsuki still carries some commuter trains as well as long distance local trains and Limited Express trains. The Kaiji limited express terminates at Kōfu, the capital of Yamanashi Prefecture, while the Azusa and Super Azusa continue beyond Shiojiri to Matsumoto via the Shinonoi Line.
All stations from Tachikawa to Shiojiri are served by the Chūō Main Line Local. The Okaya-Shiojiri branch is an old route of the Chūō Main Line, it carries a small number of shuttle trains and trains from/to the Iida Line, which branches off at Tatsuno. Prior to the opening of the new route between Okaya and Shiojiri, there was a junction between Ono and Shiojiri stations, it had a reversing layout. The signal station was closed on October 12, 1983. Shiojiri is the dividing point of the West Line; the Shinano limited express is the main service for the rural Shiojiri-Nakatsugawa section. Local and rapid service trains run on the line from Nakatsugawa to Nagoya; this section carries urban traffic for the Greater Nagoya Area. Legends: R: Rapid CL: Central Liner HL: Home Liner Fumonji Junction is a junction between Chino and Kami-Suwa stations in Suwa, Nagano, it entered into use on 2 September 1970. Sannō Junction is a junction that diverts freight traffic from the Chūō Main Line to the Tōkaidō Line freight branch between Kanayama and Nagoya stations in Nagoya.
It entered into use on 10 October 1962. New E233 series trains entered service on Tokyo-area commuter services from 26 December 2006; these trains are a development of the E231 series used on other commuter lines in the Tokyo area, replaced the aging 201 series rolling stock introduced on the line in 1981. From 2016, new E353 series EMUs are scheduled to be introduced on Azusa and Super Azusa limited express services
Tokyo Station
Tokyo Station is a railway station in the Chiyoda City, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Imperial Palace grounds; the newer Eastern extension is not far from the Ginza commercial district. Due to its large area covered, the station is divided into Marunouchi and Yaesu sides in its directional signage. Served by Shinkansen high-speed rail lines, Tokyo Station is the main intercity rail terminal in Tokyo, it is the busiest station in Japan in terms of number of trains per day, the fifth-busiest in Eastern Japan in terms of passenger throughput. It is served by many regional commuter lines of Japan Railways, as well as the Tokyo Metro network. Trains on the following lines are available at Tokyo Station: JR East Tohoku Shinkansen Yamagata Shinkansen Akita Shinkansen Joetsu Shinkansen Hokuriku Shinkansen Hokkaido Shinkansen Tokaido Main Line Ueno–Tokyo Line Keihin-Tohoku Line Yamanote Line Chūō Main Line Sōbu Main Line Yokosuka Line Keiyo Line JR Central Tokaido Shinkansen Tokyo Metro Marunouchi LineThe station is linked by underground passageways to the Ōtemachi underground station complex served by the Tōzai, Hanzōmon, Mita subway lines.
It is possible to walk to the Nijūbashimae, Hibiya, Yūrakuchō, Higashi-ginza Stations underground, but these stations can be reached more by train. Tokyo Station is a major intercity bus terminal, with regular midday service to several cities in the Kantō region and overnight service to the Kansai and Tōhoku regions; the main station façade on the western side of the station is brick-built, surviving from the time when the station opened in 1914. The main station consists of 10 island platforms serving 20 tracks, raised above street level running in a north-south direction; the main concourse runs east-west below the platforms. The Shinkansen lines are on the east side of the station, along with a multi-storey Daimaru department store. Underground are the two Sōbu/Yokosuka line platforms serving four tracks to the west of the station; the whole complex is linked by an extensive system of underground passageways which merge with surrounding commercial buildings and shopping centres. Lines 3 through 10 were numbered as lines 1 through 8 and additional lines were numbered sequentially from west to east through the opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen in 1964.
Lines 9 through 13 were used for the Tokaido Main Line and Yokosuka Line but were removed in 1988, line numbers 12 and 13 were used for the new Tohoku Shinkansen platform from 1991 to 1997. The current Chuo Main Line platform opened in 1995 as lines 1 and 2, other lines were renumbered accordingly, leaving lines 10 and 11 unused; the current line numbering became effective in 1997, when one of the Tokaido Main Line platforms was repurposed for the Joetsu Shinkansen as lines 20 and 21. The existing Tohoku Shinkansen platforms were renumbered as 22 and 23. In 1889, a Tokyo municipal committee drew up plans for an elevated railway line connecting the Tōkaidō Main Line terminal at Shinbashi to the Nippon Railway terminal at Ueno; the Imperial Diet resolved in 1896 to construct a new station on this line called Central Station, located directly in front of the gardens of the Imperial Palace. Construction was delayed due to the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War, but commenced in 1908.
The three-story station building was designed by architect Tatsuno Kingo as a restrained celebration of Japan's costly victory in the Russo-Japanese War. The building is rumoured to be fashioned after Amsterdam Centraal railway station in the Netherlands, although there is little evidence to support the opinion. Terunobu Fujimori, a scholar of Western architecture, denies the rumor, having studied Tatsuno's styles as well as the building itself. Tokyo Station opened on December 1914 with four platforms; the Chūō Main Line extension to the station was completed in 1919 and stopped at the platform now used by northbound Yamanote/Keihin-Tōhoku trains. During this early era, the station only had gates on the Marunouchi side, with the north side serving as an exit and the south side serving as an entrance. In 1921, Prime Minister Hara Takashi was assassinated at the south gates; the Yaesu side of the station opened in 1929. Much of the station was destroyed in B-29 firebombing on May 25, 1945; the bombing shattered the impressive rooftop domes.
The station was rebuilt within the year, but simple angular roofs were built in place of the domes, the restored building was only two stories tall instead of three. These postwar alterations are blamed for creating the mistaken impression that the building is based on the central station in Amsterdam. Plans in the 1980s to demolish the building and to replace it with a larger structure were derailed by a preservation movement; the Yaesu side was rebuilt following the war, but the rebuilt structure was damaged by fire in 1949, the Yaes
Track gauge
In rail transport, track gauge or track gage is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a rail network must have running gear, compatible with the track gauge, in the earliest days of railways the selection of a proposed railway's gauge was a key issue; as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still used as a descriptor of a route or network. In some places there is a distinction between the nominal gauge and the actual gauge, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, this device is referred to as a track gauge; the terms structure gauge and loading gauge, both used, have little connection with track gauge. Both refer to two-dimensional cross-section profiles, surrounding the track and vehicles running on it; the structure gauge specifies the outline into which altered structures must not encroach.
The loading gauge is the corresponding envelope within which rail vehicles and their loads must be contained. If an exceptional load or a new type of vehicle is being assessed to run, it is required to conform to the route's loading gauge. Conformance ensures. In the earliest days of railways, single wagons were manhandled on timber rails always in connection with mineral extraction, within a mine or quarry leading from it. Guidance was not at first provided except by human muscle power, but a number of methods of guiding the wagons were employed; the spacing between the rails had to be compatible with that of the wagon wheels. The timber rails wore rapidly. In some localities, the plates were made L-shaped, with the vertical part of the L guiding the wheels; as the guidance of the wagons was improved, short strings of wagons could be connected and pulled by horses, the track could be extended from the immediate vicinity of the mine or quarry to a navigable waterway. The wagons were built to a consistent pattern and the track would be made to suit the wagons: the gauge was more critical.
The Penydarren Tramroad of 1802 in South Wales, a plateway, spaced these at 4 ft 4 in over the outside of the upstands. The Penydarren Tramroad carried the first journey by a locomotive, in 1804, it was successful for the locomotive, but unsuccessful for the track: the plates were not strong enough to carry its weight. A considerable progressive step was made. Edge rails required a close match between rail spacing and the configuration of the wheelsets, the importance of the gauge was reinforced. Railways were still seen as local concerns: there was no appreciation of a future connection to other lines, selection of the track gauge was still a pragmatic decision based on local requirements and prejudices, determined by existing local designs of vehicles. Thus, the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway in the West of Scotland used 4 ft 6 in; the Arbroath and Forfar Railway opened in 1838 with a gauge of 5 ft 6 in, the Ulster Railway of 1839 used 6 ft 2 in Locomotives were being developed in the first decades of the 19th century.
His designs were so successful that they became the standard, when the Stockton and Darlington Railway was opened in 1825, it used his locomotives, with the same gauge as the Killingworth line, 4 ft 8 in. The Stockton and Darlington line was immensely successful, when the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first intercity line, was built, it used the same gauge, it was hugely successful, the gauge, became the automatic choice: "standard gauge". The Liverpool and Manchester was followed by other trunk railways, with the Grand Junction Railway and the London and Birmingham Railway forming a huge critical mass of standard gauge; when Bristol promoters planned a line from London, they employed the innovative engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He decided on a wider gauge, to give greater stability, the Great Western Railway adopted a gauge of 7 ft eased to 7 ft 1⁄4 in; this became known as broad gauge. The Great Western Railway was successful and was expanded and through friendly associated companies, widening the scope of broad gauge.
At the same time, other parts of Britain built railways to standard gauge, British technology was exported to European countries and parts of North America using standard gauge. Britain polarised into two areas: those that used standard gauge. In this context, standard gauge was referred to as "narrow gauge" to indicate the contrast; some smaller concerns selected other non-standard gauges: the Eastern Counties Railway adopted 5 ft. Most of them converted to standard gauge at an early date, but the GWR's broad gauge continued to grow; the larger railway companies wished to expand geographically, large areas were considered to be under their control. When a new
Railway electrification system
A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use electric locomotives to haul passengers or freight in separate cars or electric multiple units, passenger cars with their own motors. Electricity is generated in large and efficient generating stations, transmitted to the railway network and distributed to the trains; some electric railways have their own dedicated generating stations and transmission lines but most purchase power from an electric utility. The railway provides its own distribution lines and transformers. Power is supplied to moving trains with a continuous conductor running along the track that takes one of two forms: overhead line, suspended from poles or towers along the track or from structure or tunnel ceilings. Both overhead wire and third-rail systems use the running rails as the return conductor but some systems use a separate fourth rail for this purpose. In comparison to the principal alternative, the diesel engine, electric railways offer better energy efficiency, lower emissions and lower operating costs.
Electric locomotives are usually quieter, more powerful, more responsive and reliable than diesels. They have an important advantage in tunnels and urban areas; some electric traction systems provide regenerative braking that turns the train's kinetic energy back into electricity and returns it to the supply system to be used by other trains or the general utility grid. While diesel locomotives burn petroleum, electricity can be generated from diverse sources including renewable energy. Disadvantages of electric traction include high capital costs that may be uneconomic on trafficked routes. Different regions may use different supply voltages and frequencies, complicating through service and requiring greater complexity of locomotive power; the limited clearances available under overhead lines may preclude efficient double-stack container service. Railway electrification has increased in the past decades, as of 2012, electrified tracks account for nearly one third of total tracks globally. Electrification systems are classified by three main parameters: Voltage Current Direct current Alternating current Frequency Contact system Third rail Fourth rail Overhead lines Overhead lines plus linear motor Four rail system Five rail systemSelection of an electrification system is based on economics of energy supply and capital cost compared to the revenue obtained for freight and passenger traffic.
Different systems are used for intercity areas. Six of the most used voltages have been selected for European and international standardisation; some of these are independent of the contact system used, so that, for example, 750 V DC may be used with either third rail or overhead lines. There are many other voltage systems used for railway electrification systems around the world, the list of railway electrification systems covers both standard voltage and non-standard voltage systems; the permissible range of voltages allowed for the standardised voltages is as stated in standards BS EN 50163 and IEC 60850. These take into account the number of trains drawing their distance from the substation. Increasing availability of high-voltage semiconductors may allow the use of higher and more efficient DC voltages that heretofore have only been practical with AC. 1,500 V DC is used in Japan, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, France, New Zealand, the United States. In Slovakia, there are two narrow-gauge lines in the High Tatras.
In the Netherlands it is used on the main system, alongside 25 kV on the HSL-Zuid and Betuwelijn, 3000 V south of Maastricht. In Portugal, it is used in Denmark on the suburban S-train system. In the United Kingdom, 1,500 V DC was used in 1954 for the Woodhead trans-Pennine route; the system was used for suburban electrification in East London and Manchester, now converted to 25 kV AC. It is now only used for the Wear Metro. In India, 1,500 V DC was the first electrification system launched in 1925 in Mumbai area. Between 2012-2016, the electrification was converted to 25 kV 50 Hz AC, the countrywide system. 3 kV DC is used in Belgium, Spain, the northern Czech Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, former Soviet Union countries and the Netherlands. It was used by the Milwaukee Road from Harlowton, Montana to Seattle-Tacoma, across the Continental Divide and including extensive branch and loop lines in Montana, by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the United States, the Kolkata suburban railway in India, before it was converted to 25 kV 50 Hz AC. DC volt
Tokyo
Tokyo Tokyo Metropolis, one of the 47 prefectures of Japan, has served as the Japanese capital since 1869. As of 2018, the Greater Tokyo Area ranked as the most populous metropolitan area in the world; the urban area houses the seat of the Emperor of Japan, of the Japanese government and of the National Diet. Tokyo forms part of the Kantō region on the southeastern side of Japan's main island and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo was named Edo when Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters in 1603, it became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from Kyoto in 1868. Tokyo Metropolis formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture and the city of Tokyo. Tokyo is referred to as a city but is known and governed as a "metropolitan prefecture", which differs from and combines elements of a city and a prefecture, a characteristic unique to Tokyo; the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo were Tokyo City. On July 1, 1943, it merged with Tokyo Prefecture and became Tokyo Metropolis with an additional 26 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture, the Izu islands and Ogasawara islands south of Tokyo.
The population of the special wards is over 9 million people, with the total population of Tokyo Metropolis exceeding 13.8 million. The prefecture is part of the world's most populous metropolitan area called the Greater Tokyo Area with over 38 million people and the world's largest urban agglomeration economy; as of 2011, Tokyo hosted 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city in the world at that time. Tokyo ranked third in the International Financial Centres Development Index; the city is home to various television networks such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon Television, NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Tokyo third in the Global Cities Index; the GaWC's 2018 inventory classified Tokyo as an alpha+ world city – and as of 2014 TripAdvisor's World City Survey ranked Tokyo first in its "Best overall experience" category. As of 2018 Tokyo ranked as the 2nd-most expensive city for expatriates, according to the Mercer consulting firm, and the world's 11th-most expensive city according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's cost-of-living survey.
In 2015, Tokyo was named the Most Liveable City in the world by the magazine Monocle. The Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world. Tokyo was ranked first out of all sixty cities in the 2017 Safe Cities Index; the QS Best Student Cities ranked Tokyo as the 3rd-best city in the world to be a university student in 2016 and 2nd in 2018. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the 1979 G-7 summit, the 1986 G-7 summit, the 1993 G-7 summit, will host the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Paralympics. Tokyo was known as Edo, which means "estuary", its name was changed to Tokyo when it became the imperial capital with the arrival of Emperor Meiji in 1868, in line with the East Asian tradition of including the word capital in the name of the capital city. During the early Meiji period, the city was called "Tōkei", an alternative pronunciation for the same characters representing "Tokyo", making it a kanji homograph; some surviving official English documents use the spelling "Tokei".
The name Tokyo was first suggested in 1813 in the book Kondō Hisaku, written by Satō Nobuhiro. When Ōkubo Toshimichi proposed the renaming to the government during the Meiji Restoration, according to Oda Kanshi, he got the idea from that book. Tokyo was a small fishing village named Edo, in what was part of the old Musashi Province. Edo was first fortified in the late twelfth century. In 1457, Ōta Dōkan built Edo Castle. In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu was transferred from Mikawa Province to Kantō region; when he became shōgun in 1603, Edo became the center of his ruling. During the subsequent Edo period, Edo grew into one of the largest cities in the world with a population topping one million by the 18th century, but Edo was Tokugawa's home and was not capital of Japan. The Emperor himself lived in Kyoto from 794 to 1868 as capital of Japan. During the Edo era, the city enjoyed a prolonged period of peace known as the Pax Tokugawa, in the presence of such peace, Edo adopted a stringent policy of seclusion, which helped to perpetuate the lack of any serious military threat to the city.
The absence of war-inflicted devastation allowed Edo to devote the majority of its resources to rebuilding in the wake of the consistent fires and other devastating natural disasters that plagued the city. However, this prolonged period of seclusion came to an end with the arrival of American Commodore Matthew C. Perry in 1853. Commodore Perry forced the opening of the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate, leading to an increase in the demand for new foreign goods and subsequently a severe rise in inflation. Social unrest mounted in the wake of these higher prices and culminated in widespread rebellions and demonstrations in the form of the "smashing" of rice establishments. Meanwhile, supporters of the Meiji Emperor leveraged the disruption that t
Hayabusa (train)
The Hayabusa is a high-speed Shinkansen service operated by East Japan Railway Company and Hokkaido Railway Company between Tokyo and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in Japan since 26 March 2016. The name was used for a limited express sleeping car service operated by JR Kyushu, which ran from Tokyo to Kumamoto, was discontinued in March 2009. Hayabusa services stop at the following stations. Tokyo Ueno* Ōmiya Sendai Furukawa* Ichinoseki* Kitakami* Morioka Iwate-Numakunai* Ninohe* Hachinohe* Shichinohe-Towada* Shin-Aomori Okutsugaru-Imabetsu* Kikonai* Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Not served by all trains The fastest service from Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto takes 4 hours; some Hayabusa services terminate at Shin-Aomori Station. Hayabusa services are operated by 10-car E5 series or H5 series trainsets, with car 1 at the Tokyo end. All seats are no-smoking. Hayabusa trains feature premium GranClass accommodation with 2+1 leather seating and complimentary food and drinks, including alcohol; the Hayabusa service commenced on 1 October 1958, operating between Kagoshima.
From 20 July 1960, the train was upgraded with 20 series sleeping cars, extended to run to and from Nishi-Kagoshima. From 9 March 1975, the train was upgraded with 24 series sleeping cars. Dining car service was discontinued from March 1993. From 4 December 1999, the Hayabusa was combined with the Sakura service between Tosu. From 1 March 2005, the Hayabusa was combined with the Fuji service between Tokyo and Moji, following the discontinuation of the Sakura service which operated in conjunction with the Hayabusa. Due to declining ridership, the Hayabusa, along with its counterpart service, the Fuji, was discontinued from the start of the revised timetable on 14 March 2009. From 5 March 2011, the Hayabusa name was revived for the new 300 km/h shinkansen services operated by JR East between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori using new E5 series trainsets, extended to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station on 26 March 2016. In its final days, the limited express train was formed of 14 series sleeping cars based at JR Kyushu's Kumamoto Depot consisting of six cars in the Hayabusa portion and six cars in the Fuji portion.
The train was hauled by a JR West EF66 electric locomotive between Tokyo and Shimonoseki, a JR Kyushu EF81-400 electric locomotive between Shimonoseki and Moji, by a JR Kyushu ED76 electric locomotive from Moji to Kumamoto. EF60-500 EF65-500 EF65-1000 EF66 The new shinkansen Hayabusa services use 10-car E5 series sets, which operated at a maximum speed of 300 km/h between Utsunomiya and Morioka; the maximum speed was raised to 320 km/h from the start of the revised timetable on 16 March 2013. From the same date, some services run coupled to E6 series Super Komachi services between Tokyo and Morioka; these services were limited to a maximum speed of 300 km/h. Since 15 March 2014, the name of Super Komachi services was returned to Komachi, the maximum speed has been raised to 320 km/h. From 26 March 2016, with the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen from Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, the Hayabusa name was used for services operating between Tokyo and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto. From the start of the 26 March 2016 timetable revision, ten return services operate daily between Tokyo and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, one return service daily operates between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto.
Blue Train High-speed rail List of named passenger trains of Japan Official JR East site for E5 series Hayabusa
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