On This Day in 1995, Mishima Station Accident

On this day in 1995, a fatal accident occurred at Mishima Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen high-speed rail line in Shizuoka, Japan. At around 18:30 local time on 27 December, 17-year-old student Yusuke Kawarazaki was attempting to board a westbound Kodama service when his hand became trapped in the automatic door as it was closing. The train, a 0 Series Shinkansen operated by Central Japan Railway Company, departed the platform with his finger caught, setting in motion a sequence of events that led to his death. It was the first passenger fatality on the Tokaido Shinkansen since the line opened in 1964.

Subsequent investigations established that the airtight sealing system fitted to the Shinkansen doors engaged immediately once the doors closed, applying sufficient force to trap Kawarazaki’s finger. The door obstruction detection system failed to register the presence of his finger because it was too small to trigger the sensor. As the train accelerated away from Mishima Station, he was dragged along the platform for approximately 100 yards before falling onto the track area, where he sustained a fatal head injury.

The incident prompted a review of door safety mechanisms across the Shinkansen network. As a result, changes were introduced to trains operating on the Tokaido and Sanyō Shinkansen lines, including modifications to delay the full activation of the airtight seal until trains reached a speed of 30 kilometres per hour. These measures were intended to reduce the risk of passengers becoming trapped during departure and to improve overall safety standards.

Legal action followed, with Kawarazaki’s family filing a negligence claim against Central Japan Railway Company. In March 2001, the Shizuoka District Court ruled that the railway operator bore 60 percent of the responsibility for the accident, while Kawarazaki was assigned 40 percent. The court ordered JR Central to pay compensation totalling ¥48,460,000, and after appeals by both sides, a settlement was reached later that year at the Tokyo High Court.