As the 'sound' of Shinkansen trains, the onomatopoeic expression of 'byuwaan' was used from the early days, and was often taken up by the media as well (used in commercials for travels using Shinkansen, and included in the song of 'Hashire-hashire chotokkyu' (Go, go, super express).
新幹線の「音」は「ビュワーン」という擬音表現が古くからよく知られ、メディアなどでも取り上げられることが多かった（新幹線を用いた旅行という設定のCM、後述する『はしれちょうとっきゅう』の歌詞など）。