The first Shinkansen opened in 1964, just in time for the Tokyo Olympics. At that time, no other country had trains that fast. The very first model was called the 'Series 0', and its long round nose made people start calling it the 'bullet train'.
Today's Shinkansen has a much pointier nose - it looks more like a duck's beak. That long shape isn't just for looks. It stops the train making a huge BOOM when it shoots into a tunnel at high speed. The engineers got the idea from watching kingfishers dive into water without making a splash.
The trains are famously on time. If a Shinkansen is more than a minute late, the train company says sorry. Some workers stay on duty just to make sure each train leaves and arrives at exactly the right second. A whole train can be cleaned and ready for the next trip in only 7 minutes.
Riding a Shinkansen is smooth and quiet. Even at 300 km/h, you can stand up and walk around with a cup of water without spilling. From Tokyo to Osaka - a journey that takes most of a day by car - the Shinkansen does it in 2 hours 22 minutes.