Reverberations from the bullet train derailment in Niigata Prefecture on Oct. 23 continue to echo across Japan, as experts debate whether it was luck or skill that saved the day for the passengers roughed up by the series of strong earthquakes.
The accident -- the first derailment in the 40-year history of the bullet train service -- is putting enormous pressure on the Japan Railway group to bolster the long-held safety myth of the shinkansen system.
Some officials and experts argue that East Japan Railway Co. succeeded in minimizing the potential damage of the deadly quakes. In fact, none of the 151 passengers aboard the Toki 325 bound for Niigata from Tokyo -- which was running at about 200 kph when it jumped the tracks near Nagaoka Station -- was injured.