The Design 100

A high-speed train that actually leans into curves may not be everyone's idea of the perfect travel experience. But that's just what Japan's new N700 bullet train between Tokyo and the western Japanese cities of Osaka and Fukuoka does. Though the incline system helps shave only 5 min. from the 2½-hr. trip between Tokyo and Osaka, the big bonus is that the train is 19% more energy-efficient than its predecessor, thanks in part to a hood that completely encloses the spaces between cars, reducing air resistance and noise. So far, passengers are wild for the slope-nosed N700—some 1,300 people turned out for the 6 a.m. maiden voyage last July. Good news, then, that there are 43 trips a day via N700 on the Tokyo-Osaka-Fukuoka route. —Kate Novack