Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 56 minutes ago
A single Shinkansen trainset costs roughly $40 million USD. In Europe, a train like this would run for 30 or 40 years. In Japan, they are often retired and scrapped after just 13 years. This video is a deep dive into the counter-intuitive economics of the Shinkansen fleet. It explains why Japan builds the world's most advanced trains only to throw them away, and how standardization and depreciation drive a ruthless industrial machine.
Footage: Shutterstock
Inquiries: behindasian@gmail.com
Brought to you by the Behind Asian Team.
A single Shinkansen trainset costs roughly $40 million USD. In Europe, a train like this would run for 30 or 40 years. In Japan, they are often retired and scrapped after just 13 years. This video is a deep dive into the counter-intuitive economics of the Shinkansen fleet. It explains why Japan builds the world's most advanced trains only to throw them away, and how standardization and depreciation drive a ruthless industrial machine.
Footage: Shutterstock
Inquiries: behindasian@gmail.com
Brought to you by the Behind Asian Team.
