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The story
On September 25, 2026, it was reported that Shizuoka Governor Yasutomo Suzuki has approved the start of construction on the Shizuoka section of the Linear Chuo Shinkansen. The project, planned by JR Central at a total cost of roughly ¥11 trillion, had been stalled for about nine years over environmental concerns regarding its impact on the Oi River’s water supply. Former governor Heita Kawakatsu had continued to oppose the project until his resignation in 2024, and it was only under his successor that construction finally got the green light. On 5channel, threads buzzed with exasperation over the long delay, worries about ground subsidence from the tunneling work, and skepticism about whether the project is worth the cost.
9/25/2026
Shizuoka Governor Yasutomo Suzuki has approved the start of construction on the Shizuoka section of the Linear Chuo Shinkansen.
The massive ¥11 trillion project has finally emerged from a nearly nine-year deadlock that began with environmental concerns.
Source: asahi.com / Original article here
What people said
Life's tough, quit whining.
It's giving the Shikoku Shinkansen (another perpetually-stalled shinkansen plan) a real run for its money.
Go ask former governor Kawakatsu.
There's no such thing as tunnel construction that doesn't affect groundwater.
A tunnel's being dug right under their houses.
It could cave in just like it did in Chofu (site of a 2020 road collapse linked to tunnel boring).
Do you not realize how many subway lines already run under Tokyo?
That's when Kawakatsu's job was basically done, and he resigned in 2024.
Shizuoka residents were never going to allow construction without a real plan for the Oi River.
It wasn't really about Kawakatsu personally — any governor would've faced the same situation.
If the fare stayed the same it'd be one thing, but if it ends up jacking up prices on the existing trains and shinkansen too, forget it.
Eventually it'll become unsustainable and just get shut down.
when you add it all up, it's really been 50 years now.
After 50 years of investment,
is the Tokyo–Nagoya route actually going to turn a profit?
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The Linear Chuo Shinkansen is a national project that has been in the works since the 1970s, with JR Central funding and building it at its own expense. The Shizuoka section runs along a route that cuts through the Southern Alps, and Shizuoka Prefecture had long withheld approval for construction over concerns that tunneling would reduce the water flow of the Oi River. A concrete plan for water resource countermeasures was finalized in 2023, after which former governor Heita Kawakatsu, who had opposed the project, resigned in 2024; it was under his successor, Governor Yasutomo Suzuki, that this approval was finally reached. Opinions in the thread were split between skepticism over whether the line will ever actually open and concern for residents living directly above the tunnel route in Shinagawa and Kanagawa Prefecture. The original target opening date was 2027, but with the major delays in the Shizuoka section, a postponement now looks unavoidable — and it’s easy to misread this approval as settling a new opening date, which it does not.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Business News+) thread “(Economy, Casually) When Will the Linear Line Actually Open? Nine Years to Groundbreaking in the Shizuoka Section — How It Got This Tangled.”
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