Japan's high speed rail lines (Shinkansen) are a popular way to travel the country.  As seen on Japan Railways's website, the Shinkansen lines not only cover much of Honshu and part of Kyushu but also run frequently during the day, making them a convenient way to travel.  For an introduction to the history of trains in Japan, please see "Building Japan's First Railways: How Western and Japanese Cultures Interacted while Conducting Technology Transfer in the 19th Century," excerpted from Early Japanese Railways 1853-1914: Engineering Triumphs That Transformed Meiji-era Japan by Dan Free (Tuttle Publishing: 2008) and our photo of a Shinkansen train taken in 1966. 

Photo courtesy of Christina Gentile.