a flavor of life and work in Asia

The last run of the 500 series shinkansen (bullet train) took place on the 28th February 2010

Capable of 320 km/h the most striking of all shinkansen will no longer run on the Nozumi service. Covering the 515km distance from Tokyo to Osaka in 2.5 hours it was my favourite of all the shinkansen trains. Seeing it nearly every day passing Marukobashi it still made me stop and look at its ultra sleek profile.

Only 9 were ever built at a cost of over US$45mm each, it first went into service in 1995. The sixteen car running gear had computer controlled suspension but unfortunately this still made the ride one of the worst of the current shinkansen. Operating on the Nozumi service (Nozumi means “hope” or “wish”) it will be sadly missed and with only three days of service left the photographers are out in force along the track and at stations to get their final shot.