>>1595435Japanese catenary is usually more European in design, this was due to the fact that Japanese railway engineers travelled to Europe in the early 20th century to understand what the electrification standards were, and how they developed their catenary.
While Japanese maintenance standards are high, nothing can really stop incidents from abnormal conditions from occurring.
Pantograph entanglement happens during storms and earthquakes, when the catenary wire is moving in a way that isn't ordinarily experienced during normal operational conditions.
Now, I know what you're going to tell me - that all Shinkansen trains engage their emergency brakes when an earthquake early warning is issued, and the trains all lower their pantographs. This is correct, but many conventional lines do not feature this, and Shinkansen only developed the early warning proceedures in the 80s.
In Europe, where earthquakes don't really happen, except in like Italy, the bigger concern comes from stormy weather when strong winds can blow about the catenary from where it's supposed to be.
This isn't because European catenary is improperly maintained, but because unexpected extreme weather can cause trouble.
