Those days, in the West, high-speed transportation of airplanes and highways were considered to be the newest means of transportation. The railroad was already considered to be an inconvenient outdated vehicle. Even in Japan, many politicians and scholars had such an opinion. Therefore, even the personnel of JNR were dissatisfied with the plan to build the Shinkansen.
Hiroyuki Agawa, a Japanese railroad fan's famous writer, said "There are three absurdly big constructions in the world. They are the construction of Battleship YAMATO, construction of the Great Wall, and construction of the pyramids. These are three foolishly big constructions in the world which are not helpful. And the construction of the Shinkansen is the same as the construction of the 2nd battleship YAMATO. Although Battleship YAMATO was a large-sized battleship, it was sunk by the power of the airplane. Construction of the Shinkansen is the same. It is too outdated and a foolish waste of money. Now, airplanes and cars are state-of-the-art means of transportation. This outdated management of the Shinkansen will go wrong and will be ridiculed by the world."
He and a newspaper criticized the plan of the Shinkansen in this way. Such opinions were actually many opinions of people of those days and the government. There were other problems. The economy of Japan of those days was still at the struggling to revive following the defeat. Japan was insufficient of funds to perform the carpentry of such huge, new technology.
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