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Old Man Thunder: Father of the Bullet Train

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Biographies about entertainers, athletes and politicians are plentiful. Some of the most interesting biographies are about lesser known individuals. This is an interesting and insightful look at an innovator and visionary.

In the decade when the United States was building its costly but convenient interstate highway system, Japan, after intense soul-searching, opted to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a transportation technology that many believed to be outmoded.

The result was Shinkansen, the Bullet Train system that stitches cities together with amazing efficiency, economy, and convenience. Today during rush hours on the original 320-mile segment of the Bullet System routes, the passenger equivalent of four fully loaded jumbo jetliners leaves Tokyo every six minutes for Osaka 320 miles away, and an equal number departs Osaka for Tokyo. Racing at speeds averaging more thatn 120 m.p.h., the Shinkansen requires only one-fifth the energy of aircraft to move an equivalent load.

It is likey the Bullet Train never would have developed, except for a short, stubby former farm boy with an explosive temper. His name was Shinji Sogo. His lifetime spanned the period of Japan's transformation from feudalism to work economic power. He was involved in the strugle within the nation between civilians and the militias, and a failed plot to overthrow the government in the tense days that led to Pearll Harber.

Largely unknown outside Japan, Sogo deserves to be known as "Old Man Thunder" and "Father of the Bullet Train."