Big in Japan

This guy I met in the lounge at a hotel had interesting stories about a long career traveling around Japan, but he made the storyteller's fatal mistake when he broke suspension of disbelief by not being able to answer a basic question about the Shinkansen.

"What was Japan's train network called? Shinasomething?"

"I don't know."

I think it dawned on him later that he failed the test because he avoided me until he was off on his next travels.