See a Shinkansen bullet train’s nose cone in London

For the next few months, it’s possible to see the nose cone from one of Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains on display in central London.

Not just any nose cone, though. It’s the one used on the very last journey on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen line by the first-generation Series 0 trains, which were introduced on the line 60 years ago today.

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen line was the world’s first high-speed rail line, inaugurated on 1st  October 1964, just 10 days before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games. The first generation ‘Series 0’ Shinkansen completed the 515-km journey between Tokyo and Osaka in just 4 hours, shattering the previous travel time of 6 hours 30 minutes and transforming domestic travel.

After 35 years of service, on 18th September 1999, the final trip by the first-generation trains took place on the Tokaido Shinkansen line between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, with a specially decorated nose cone.

The message reads: “Thank you for your enduring support. ‘Series 0’ final run. 18 September 1999”

Now, the nose cone has left Japan for the first time and is on display in Japan House London, on Kensington High Street. You can find it in the basement exhibition foyer, and it will be there until the end of January 2025.

It’s free to visit.

While you’re there, they also have a large exhibition about the Japanese custom of creating fake food for display in restaurant windows, and a large model of Godzilla with some exhibits on the ground floor is there until the end of October.