Fushiki to Beijing - Grounded: A Down to Earth Journey Around the World - page 47

In the end, though, the most important factor is likely cultural. Trains are a group-oriented form of trans-
portation. In exchange for wonderful efficiency, they put limits on our autonomy, personal space, and self-
expression. The Japanese are comfortable with this, as am I. It seems most Americans are less so.
Practically speaking, it might well make a ton of sense to build a high-speed rail line from, say, Los
Angeles to Las Vegas. But then people would miss out on that epic road trip through the desert. Would you
rather emerge from a Las Vegas train station as part of a faceless, thousand-person blob? Or would you
prefer to gun your convertible down a stretch of open highway, stop for a burger at a roadside diner, and
then cruise the Vegas Strip with the ragtop down, announcing your uniquely ass-kicking arrival?
One is more sensible. The other more American.
KOBE is a port city of 1.5 million wedged between a mountain range and a harbor. It has waterfront prom-
enades, lots of high-end shopping, and a relaxed vibe. To foreigners, Kobe is perhaps best known as the
site of a massive 1995 earthquake that killed more than five thousand people. A museum here shows video
of the quake, including some harrowing silent footage taken from a security camera in a convenience store.
(A customer is reaching for an item when suddenly everything on the shelves leaps into the air—as though
the store were inside a roughly shaken snow globe.)
The city's other claim to fame is its world-renowned steak. Kobe beef is deliciously marbled, perhaps
because the pampered Wagyu cattle are regularly massaged and fed large quantities of beer. They have a
life I wouldn't mind for myself—right up until that abrupt final moment.
For the dedicated surface traveler, though, clearly the most compelling attraction here is the Kobe Mari-
time Museum. Upon our arrival in the city, we make it our top-priority destination. And we are not disap-
pointed. To our tremendous excitement, there is an entire exhibit here on containerization.
Kobe's container port, built in 1967, was the first in Japan. By 1973, it was the busiest container port in
the world, exporting Japanese cameras and hi-fi systems by the literal boatload. It's fallen down the rank-
ings a bit since then. The earthquake didn't help, as it disrupted operations and damaged trucking routes
leading into the city. Still, Kobe's port remains a major shipping center—fully worthy of the maritime mu-
seum's light-up diorama and accompanying low-budget educational video.
The video—dubbed into English, if you can find the right button to press—explains how a celery stalk
harvested in California can come to appear inside a child's lunchtime bento box in Kobe. We watch as the
celery stalk gets loaded into a refrigerated container in America, floats on a container ship across the Pa-
cific, and gets unloaded onto a waiting truck in Japan. Hosted by the animated Professor Container, and his
little robot assistant, the short film is captivating. But I'm not sure why it was necessary to show the robot
getting sloppily drunk after he pilfers sake bottles out of an unattended container.
In the basement of the museum is an area called Kawasaki Good Times World. This sponsored exhibit
details the exciting history of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Group. (Founder Shozo Kawasaki established
a shipyard in Kobe in the late 1800s.) Next to all the Kawasaki motorcycles, airplanes, and Jet Skis here,
there are also pictures and models of Kawasaki-designed rolling stock. Kawasaki in fact manufactured the
original 0 Series Shinkansen back in 1964. The exhibit includes a full-scale replica of that first bullet train,
which was nicknamed for the appearance of its rounded-off nosepiece.
For me, the highlight of Kawasaki Good Times World is without doubt a video game called Let's Go by
Train! 2—which presumably builds on the popularity of the original Let's Go by Train! Your mission in
this game is to pilot a Shinkansen down a stretch of track and then bring it safely to a stop at a crowded
station platform. I do just fine on the open rail, but when it's time to stop I always come in too hot and
compensate by slamming hard on the brakes. An animated Japanese woman whiplashes her head forward