In recent years, China has been the go-to builder of Asia's high-speed-rail networks, but Japan is proving a competitive rival in the bidding for several of the region's high-profile projects.
China has built roughly 60% of the world's high-speed railways, but it is now being challenged by Japan for major jobs in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, India and the Philippines. Japan also has begun offering soft loans for high-speed-rail projects, a tactic previously used extensively by China.