1. Book Talk with Jessamyn Abel, Author of "Dream Super-Express"
- Author:
- Jessamyn Abel, Takuya Tsunoda, and Ariana King
- Publication Date:
- 10-2023
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- A symbol of the "new Japan" displayed at World's Fairs, depicted in travel posters, and celebrated as the product of a national spirit of innovation, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen—the first bullet train, dubbed the "dream super-express"—represents the bold aspirations of a nation rebranding itself after military defeat, but also the deep problems caused by the unbridled postwar drive for economic growth. At the dawn of the space age, how could a train become such an important symbol? In Dream Super-Express (Stanford University Press, 2022), Jessamyn Abel contends that understanding the various, often contradictory, images of the bullet train reveals how infrastructure operates beyond its intended use as a means of transportation to perform cultural and sociological functions.
- Topic:
- History, Infrastructure, Sociology, Culture, Economic Growth, and Book Talk
- Political Geography:
- Japan and Asia