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Train to nowhere: Japan’s high-speed rail ambitions hit the skids

Stalled HSR projects across the country are also holding up growth in secondary cities.

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A shinkansen train travelling through Japan's Shin-Osaka station.

A shinkansen train travelling through Shin-Osaka station. As Japan regains a surer economic footing after the slump of its “lost decades”, the high-speed rail (HSR) epitomises a crossroads.

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

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Instead of a two-hour journey through winding mountain roads, imagine being whisked from Hokkaido’s main city Sapporo to the world-famous ski resort Niseko in just 25 minutes.

Such convenience – surely a dream for the legions of Singaporeans and other travellers who treat

Niseko as their winter playground

– ought to have been a reality by 2030.

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