West Japan Railway terminated regular operations of Shinkansen (the high-speed railway system in Japan) Series 0 trains on Nov. 30, 2008. Series 0 had been used since the establishment of Shinkansen in 1964, and it was called the Dream Superexpress at that time.

The final Series 0 train leaving Hiroshima Station on Nov. 30 was photographed from Daioku-no-hana, branch point of Kyobashi river and Enko river. (Click the photo to enlarge)

I was born in 1964, so I am as old as Shinkansen. The news of the retirement of Series 0 makes me feel that I have become an "old man." This page displays photographs about Series 0, which I took when I lived in Okayama and travelled more than 200km everyday between the University and my house.

The above photograph was taken with Olympus C-5050, and the others with Panasonic Lumix FX500.

Although the 18 finally remained Series 0 cars had been painted gray for some years, the color was changed to the original ivory and blue for the forthcoming retirement.

These are the very colors and shape of Shinkansen.

The original 16-car trains were shortend to 6 cars. However, the gallant figure when it had 16 cars was displayed in the vestibule of the train. This magnified photo shows that the car No. 16 is in the frame.

"Product of the wisdom and effort of the Japanese people"

I like this phrase very much. This plate is displayed near the entrance of the stair to the track No. 19 of Tokyo Station, where the first train of Shinkansen departed on Oct. 1, 1964.

Farewell to the Dream Superexpress; Shinkansen is a "history of Japan" which we should really be proud of.