Japan.com's article on December 15, original title: China's development story from the perspective of railways - "Railways and Patriotism" by Katsuiko Yoshioka China's expanding high-speed railway network has become a powerful witness to China's economic growth and a symbol of the success of China's reform and opening up policy.
For journalists, travel is like work. In other words, travel is work. It's a blissful thing for people who love to travel. Keiko Yoshioka, the author of "Railways and Patriotism", has been a hardcore "railway fan" since she was young, and I felt the author's happiness when she was able to travel around the world by rail as a worker.
Keiko Yoshioka is concerned about the exit of the "Shinkansen" as a foreign correspondent for the Asahi Shimbun. Based on this experience, the main character of the book is China, and the theme of the book is undoubtedly to tell the story of China's development through railways.
The chief architect of China's reform and opening up*** had taken the Shinkansen during his visit to Japan and was so impressed by Japan's technology that he decided to introduce it to China. China has taken Japan, Europe and the United States as benchmarks, while learning from their technology, and competing with them to become the world's high-speed railway power, and competing with Japan in high-speed rail exports.
Some of the stories the author presents in the book provide an alternative perspective to avoid falling into stereotypes about China. China has expressed an interest in asking Japan to build a high-speed railway between Dalian and Harbin. At that time, Japan was very positive, but Japanese companies were more negative, because this area is a cold region, it will definitely freeze in winter, and the high-speed rail between "Dalian-Harbin" is not on the main trunk line such as "Beijing-Shanghai". Taking these factors into account, Japan ultimately rejected the Chinese proposal.
Although Japan later lagged behind European and American companies in the competition for Chinese high-speed rail orders, one can imagine what would have happened if the Chinese had accepted this proposal at that time. The author's intention can be seen throughout the book, which is to guide readers to observe China in many aspects, while avoiding misunderstandings and misinterpretations of China.
Railways embody nationalism and national interests. Railways have been the subject of humanity since the Industrial Revolution. Railways, which bring huge investments, the movement of people and the formation of cities, involve national interests and diplomacy as a matter of course. But isn't it the railway that best reflects people's dream of "wanting to go to a distant place"? There is a romance that overrides nationalism in the railway, and this can be felt between the lines of the authors who love the railroad. (Written by Tsuyoshi Nojima, translated by Zeng Mao).