In the March 28, 2010 edition, THE WASHINGTON POST ran an article that described how the streamlined noses of the Japanese bullet trains are made by hand by craftsmen with hammers and aluminum. "The nose of a bullet train is not particularly well-suited to the expensive and highly specialized mass-production machinery that molds and cuts metal to make hundreds of thousands of cars, . . . The number of high speed locomotives built for each bullet-train in Japan is quite limited, from 40 to 120. In (Yamashita Kogyosho Co's) small factory, metal workers pound together a new nose every week or so. There are other ways to make one, but Yamashita's method is flexible, reliable and relatively cheap. When engineers demand sudden design changes, the company does not have to rebuild elaborate machines. Workers simply pound out new shapes. The company estimates that it has built noses for about 30% of all the bullet trains in Japan, as well as high speed trains in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Dubai . . ."