The Sanyō Railway (山陽鉄道, San'yō-tetsudō) was established in 1887 and served as a major railroad company during the Meiji period in Japan.

By 1894, the Sanyō Railway had been extended west, along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, from Kobe to Hiroshima.

[4] An express train from Kobe to Hiroshima took 81⁄2 hours, travelling 304 km (189 miles).

[5] Sanyō also operated steamship service, from Shimonoseki to Busan in Korea.

[7] Sanyō Railway also operated a ferry from Miyajimaguchi Station, which opened on September 25, 1897, to Itsukushima (Miyajima).