History of rail transport in Japan

There have been four main stages:[1] The development of the Japanese railway network commenced shortly after the country opened its borders to formal international contact after a shogunate-imposed isolation of about 250 years, and was initiated (along with many other changes to Japanese society at the time) so that Japan could achieve rapid modernization.

Bodies such as the Satsuma Domain and the Tokugawa shogunate reviewed railway construction from Edo to Kyoto via an inland route, but a line did not come to reality before the Meiji Restoration.

In 1866 the shogunate proposed a railway from Edo to Kyoto via an inland route, but in 1868 the Meiji Restoration saw the Emperor returned as an effective leader of the country, relocating his permanent residence to the renamed Tokyo ("Eastern Capital").

[3] In 1868 Thomas Blake Glover, an Anglo-Scottish merchant, was responsible for bringing the first steam locomotive, "Iron Duke", to Japan, which he demonstrated on an 8-mile track in the Ōura district of Nagasaki.

[4] However, after about 250 years of a culture of distrust of foreigners, construction of the premier railway connecting Japan's former and new capitals by non-Japanese was considered politically unacceptable to the new Japanese regime, and so the government of Japan decided to build a railway from the major port of Yokohama to Tokyo using British financing and 300 British and European technical advisors: civil engineers, general managers, locomotive builders and drivers.

[6] The next line constructed was from another port, Kobe, to the major commercial city of Osaka (opening in 1874), and then to Kyoto (1877) and Otsu (1880) at the southern end of Lake Biwa.

A line was constructed from Tsuruga, on the Sea of Japan, to Ogaki (connecting to a canal to Nagoya) via Nagahama on the northern end of Lake Biwa, opening in 1884 and utilizing trans-shipment onto water-going vessels to connect the Sea of Japan to Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya.

Initially, the proposed route was inland, from Tokyo north to Takasaki, then west through the Usui Pass to Karuizawa and the Kiso River valley.

In 1888 the San'yō Railway Co. (SRC) was granted a charter to build the San'yō Main Line from Kobe west to Shimonoseki, a port providing a connection to the port of Moji on Kyushu, from which the Kyushu Railway Co (KRC) built its line to Hakata and Kumamoto opening between 1889 and 1891, extended to Yatsushiro in 1896.

Other private endeavours included the Mito Railway, which opened the first section of the Joban Line in 1889 and was acquired by the NRC in 1892 which extended to Sendai via an east coastal route in 1905 and the Bantan Railway, which built a 52 km line north from Himeji between 1894 and 1901, and was acquired by the SRC in 1903.

However, in 1891 the failure of a company proposing to build a line from Gotenba to Matsumoto ended the "mania", and the Government realized a more planned approach to the network expansion it desired was required.

In 1887 the Japanese Army proposed building its own lines to ensure routes of military significance were given priority.

The Railway Department deflected that proposal by commencing the development of a policy for a comprehensive national network.

The Japanese Government became increasingly interested in policy formulation following the completion of the Tokaido Main Line in 1889, the creation of the National Diet in 1890 and the financial panic of 1891.

The major routes proposed under the act for government construction included; The Chuo line, the route which approximated the initial proposed inland line between Tokyo and Nagoya, was favoured by the military as its inland alignment protected it from the perceived risk of bombardment by enemy vessels.

A privately built line from Shinjuku to the silk industry centre of Hachioji opened in 1889, and this became the starting point for government construction.

The Ou line from Fukushima to Yamagata, Akita and Aomori, serving the poorer northern Sea of Japan coastal prefectures, was seen as a priority for national development that was commercially unattractive.

German manufacturers produced a number of smaller tank locomotives including some for 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge.

Unlike interurban operators in the United States, which suffered from motorization as early as the 1910s, Japanese counterparts did not experience the phenomenon until the 1960s, giving them stable development and allowing their survival.

From 1943, the national railway reduced its civilian passenger service, giving priority to military transport.

This is the deadliest rail accident in Japan if excluding the explosion of a military train of the Okinawa Prefectural Railways on December 11, 1944, that resulted in about 220 deaths.

The lack of materials necessitated people buying wholesale resulting in a rapid increase in passengers.

The "New Performance Trains" (新性能電車, Shin-seinō densha), such as 101 series EMU developed in 1957, symbolize the phenomenon.

However, Japan finally began to experience motorization, and tram networks in cities were treated as obstacles to vehicles.

With the expanding economy, the number of commuters using railways rapidly increased, especially in the Greater Tokyo Area.

JNR tried to increase its capacity by the Five Directions of Commuting Campaign (通勤五方面作戦, Tsūkin Go-hōmen Sakusen) to redevelop major five lines in the area by making them quadruple track.

Fierce competition between railway operators put a great emphasis on efficiency, possibly more so than safety.

Rail transport in Japan retains its reputation for efficiency, capacity, punctuality, and technology through continuous improvements.

Over this period, railways became the most important means of transport – especially for the movement of passengers – and they retain this role in larger cities today.

With many suburban cities having been developed by railway operators, the unchallenged importance of rail is something unique in the world.