大至急日本語訳お願いいたします。
辞書をつかっても訳サイトをつかっても自然な訳ができません。
英語のできる方お願いいたします。
In Switzerland, there is a saying: “You can set your
watch by the train timetable.” Japanese could make the
same boast about one of the most amazing inventions in
the latter half of the 20th century: The bullet train, 0r
shinkansen.
What is remarkable about this system? First of all,
it is an impressive form of transportation. Look at how
many countries have copied it—and are still copying
it! Second, its safety record is incredible. This may be
matched only by its environmental record.
The name shinkansen actually means “new trunk
line.” People forget that this is the name for the system
of tracks, not the train itself. In English, it is called “the
bullet train” because of its initial shape: the front of the
train looks like a bullet. Also, this name was casually
used for the idea of high-speed rail back in the 1930s,
when planners talked of a dangan ressha.
The bullet train began running on October 1, 1964, just
in time for the Tokyo Olympics. The first run to Osaka
took four hours. This produced great savings in terms
of time, but Within a year, Japan National Railroad had
shortened the trip to three hours and ten minutes. The
shinkansen showed the world that Japan had not only
recovered from World War II, but that its economy was
powerful and its technology first class. All of Asia must
have been very proud on October 1, 1964.
It wasn’t long before lines Were built elsewhere. Not
only did the bullet train connect J apan’s two most
important cities at the time, Tokyo and Osaka, but rural
areas started to grow again because it was easy to get
there quickly.
The bullet train is amazingly environmental, so in
this sense, Japan was also a leader in another form of
technology . . . eco technology. While most countries were
developing roads and air routes in the late 1950s, J NR’s
president insisted that it would be better for Japan t0
have high speed rail. The shinkansen produces just 16%
of the CD2 given off by cars. On the Osaka-Tokyo line
alone, 15,000 tons of CO2 emissions are saved each year.
In terms of safety, no one can say that the shinkansen
is not remarkable. How many passengers have died
in bullet train accidents? Since 1964, not one. It is a
stunning record! Certainly people have jumped both in
front of and out of the shinkansen, but these deaths were
not the fault of the company.
