SOGO submitted a proposal of the budget of a small sum to Parliament.
He to whom this has courage fought as his manager. This was a strategy. The building program of the Shinkansen was recognized in Parliament in 1958. A ground-breaking ceremony was held on April 20th, 1959. The Diet members were surprised. The total cost of the construction was corrected from the schedule from the beginning. It changed to 380 billion yen. This also caused a rapid rise of the price of land. SOGO had refused construction of a new route which resulted in a local loss. Originally, his judgment was right. Otherwise, he completed a railroad reservation system called MARS which was famous around the world. It is a result of the MARS system. Completion of this system greatly contributed to the progress of Japanese computers. Moreover, he accepted construction of the longest Seikan Tunnel in the world for the Shinkansen to Hokkaido.
It was all an important investment for present Japan. However, the local Diet members blamed him. He resigned as President of JNR just before completion of the Shinkansen. SHIMA who was the chief engineer also resigned from JNR.
They were not invited to the ceremony of the launch of the first Shinkansen, either. Were it not for these two people there wouldn't have been an economical development for present Japan. This is not an exaggeration.
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