Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.

What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. This is the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service.

All this week as the Olympics get underway in Japan,

we're bringing you programs looking back at the country's recent past.

We start with a story from our archives.

In 1964, as Japan hosted its first Olympic Games,

the country's national railways launched the fastest train the world had ever seen.

Lucy Burns spoke to a man who was involved in the launch

of the Shinkan Sen or Bullet train. It's a maki byashi was one of the first drivers.

Myhikowi,

didn't speak to the speed a lot. Nobody had ever gone that fast,

maybe on a plane taking off, but no one had ever experienced it on land.

It was just incredible, I can't explain it.

The great leap forward is ingrained in the Japanese personality.

Their new Tokaido line Express has its route controlled and programmed by computer.

It links the most heavily populated and industrialized areas of Japan

between Tokyo and Osaka.

It travels along a route without level crossings and with only one stop where other lines have a level crossing every 600 yards

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