The first segment of the Tokaido Shinkansen was built in between between Tokyo and

The first segment of the Tokaido Shinkansen, opened in 1964, connected Tokyo to Osaka, Japan's two largest cities. This 515-kilometer line was the world's first high-speed rail line and was built for the Tokyo Olympics. The route was chosen because it connected the most important economic centers on Japan's main island of Honshu. Honshu is the island where the line is located, not the destination city. Hiroshima is on a different Shinkansen line (Sanyo), and Singapore is in a different country entirely.