Without a doubt, one of Japan's most iconic technological achievements of the last century was the bullet train. Ushering in a new era of prosperity and propelling the entire nation to the forefront of modernity, the shinkansen was an unqualified success.
It would take several decades for the rest of the world to catch up, with the first foreign high-speed trains hitting the rails of France in 1981 as the famous TGV series. Other iterations have followed, such as Germany's ICE train, among others.
But recent moves in the United States — which is not known for recent exploits in train technology — and Brazil have dramati- cally focused attention on high-speed trains and the competition taking place among suppliers.