Services on three Shinkansen lines in central and eastern Japan were suspended on Jan. 23 after a power outage occurred, triggered by loose overhead wires, forcing many passengers to walk to stations.

SAKU (Nagano): Before the Shinkansen was chosen to stop here, Fumihiro Yanagisawa, 52, felt stuck in a town that was going nowhere. Its main industry – agriculture – is on a slow decline.