trading as Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...

, is a Japanese

private railway A private railway is a railroad run by a private business entity (usually a corporation but not need be), as opposed to a railroad run by a public sector. Japan In Japan, , commonly simply ''private railway'', refers to a public transit railway o ...

company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern

Kansai region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

and is one of the flagship properties of

Hankyu Hanshin Holdings is a Japanese multinational '' keiretsu'' holding company which owns Hankyu Corporation, the Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., Toho Co., Ltd., and affiliate companies. On October 1, 2006, Hankyu Holdings changed its name to the present c ...

Inc., in turn part of the

Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group (before 2006 known as the ) is a Japanese keiretsu (association of businesses) centered on companies established by railway tycoon Ichizō Kobayashi: Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, H2O Retailing and Toho. The keiretsu historically included Sanwa Bank ...

(which includes H₂O Retailing Corporation and

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

Co., the creator of ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films prod ...

''). The railway's main terminal is at

Umeda Station is a railway station in Kita-ku in the northern commercial center of Osaka, Japan. It is the busiest station in western Japan, serving 2,343,727 passengers daily in 2005. Umeda Station is served by the following railways: * Hankyu Railway ( K ...

in Osaka. The signature color of Hankyu cars is maroon. The Hankyu network serves 1,950,000 people every weekday and offers several types of express service with no extra charge. The head offices of

, Inc. and Hankyu Corporation are at 1-16-1, Shibata, Kita-ku, Osaka; the both companies' registered headquarters are at 1-1, Sakaemachi,

Ikeda Ikeda may refer to: * Ikeda (surname), a Japanese surname * Ikeda (comics), a character in ''Usagi Yojimbo'' * Ikeda clan, a Japanese clan * Ikeda map, chaotic attractor * ''Ikeda'' (annelid) a genus of the family Ikedidae Places * Ikeda, Osaka i ...

, Osaka Prefecture. The

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Japa ...

, an all-female musical theatre performance company, is well known as a division of the Hankyu railway company; all of its members are employed by Hankyu.

History

Etymology

The name is an abbreviation of . refers to the area served by Hankyu trains, comprising the cities of , and , along with the suburbs that connect them to each other. means "express train(s)".

Foundation

In 1907, the , a forerunner of

, Inc., was established by

Ichizō Kobayashi , occasionally referred to by his pseudonym , was a Japanese industrialist and politician. He is best known as the founder of Hankyu Railway, the Takarazuka Revue, and Toho. He served as Minister of Commerce and Industry between 1940-1941. Li ...

(precisely, he was one of the "promoters" of the tramway). On 10 March 1910, Minoo Arima Tramway opened the rail lines from Umeda to Takarazuka (the

Takarazuka Main Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway operator Hankyu Railway. It connects Umeda Station in downtown Osaka with Takarazuka Station in Takarazuka, Hyogo. It has a branch line, the Minoo Line, and the Nose Electric Ra ...

) and from Ishibashi to Minoo (the Minoo Line). The tramway was popular due to Kobayashi's pioneering act to develop housing around stations along the line (a first in Japan), a forerunner to

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between ...

Expansion to Kobe

On February 4, 1918, Minoo Arima Tramway was renamed . On July 16, 1920, the Kobe Main Line from Jūsō to Kobe (later, renamed Kamitsutsui) and the Itami Line from Tsukaguchi to Itami were opened. On April 1, 1936, the Kobe Main Line was extended from Nishi-Nada (present-day Ōji-kōen) to the new terminal in Kobe (present-day

Kobe-Sannomiya Station , or simply , is located in the heart of Kobe, Japan. This station is the main railway terminal of Kobe. Lines Sannomiya is served by the following railway lines and stations: *Hanshin Electric Railway ( Main Line) - Kobe-Sannomiya Station ...

), and the Kobe Main Line from Nishi-Nada to Kamitsutsui was named the Kamitsutsui Line, which was abandoned on May 20, 1940. In 1936, Hankyu established a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

team and in 1937 the Nishinomiya Stadium as the team's home field was completed near

Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Nishinomiya Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the private transportation company Hankyu Railway.It is one of the main stations in Nishinomiya City, with Hanshin Nishin ...

. The Hankyu Braves (named in 1947) played until the 1988 season and became the predecessors of the present-day Orix Buffaloes.

Merger and separation with Keihan

On October 1, 1943, under the order of the government, Hanshin Kyūkō and

Keihan Electric Railway , known colloquially as the , , or simply , is a major Japanese private railway operator in Osaka, Kyoto, and Shiga Prefectures. The transit network includes seven lines; four main lines with heavy rolling stock, two interurban lines, and a funic ...

were merged, and renamed . The merged lines included the

Keihan Main Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by Keihan Electric Railway. The line runs between Sanjō Station in Kyoto and Yodoyabashi Station in Osaka. There are through services to the Keihan Ōtō Line and the Keihan Nakanoshima Line. Trains fro ...

, the Uji Line, the Shinkeihan Line (present-day Kyoto Main Line), the Senriyama Line (present-day Senri Line), the Jūsō Line (part of Kyoto Main Line), the Arashiyama Line, the

Keishin Line The is an interurban railway line in Japan operated by the private railway operator Keihan Electric Railway. The 7.5 km line connects Misasagi Station in Kyoto and Biwako-Hamaōtsu Station in the neighbouring city of Ōtsu. Train service ...

and the

Ishiyama Sakamoto Line The is a railway line in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Keihan Electric Railway. Stations History The Otsu Railway opened the Hamaotsu to Awazu section in 1913, electrified at 600 V DC. The line was extende ...

. The Katano Line was also added in 1945. On December 1, 1949, the Keihan Main Line, the Katano Line, the Uji Line, the Keishin Line, and the Ishiyama-Sakamoto Line were split off to become part of the newly established

Co., Ltd. Although this revived the former Keihan Electric Railway, Keihan was now smaller than before the 1943 merger, because the Shinkeihan Line and its branches were not given up by Keihanshin. The present structure of the Hankyu network with the three main lines was fixed by this transaction. The abbreviation of Keihanshin Kyūkō Railway was changed from "Keihanshin" to "Hankyū".

Postwar development

On April 7, 1968, the Kobe Main Line started through service to the Kobe Rapid Transit Railway Tozai Line and the

Sanyo Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway operating company based in western Hyōgo Prefecture. It runs local and express rail service between Himeji and Kobe, and also connects directly with Hanshin Main Line to Osaka. Although the Hanshin Electric R ...

Main Line. On December 6, 1969, the Kyoto Main Line and the Senri Line started through service to the

Osaka Municipal Subway The is a major rapid transit system in the Osaka Metropolitan Area of Japan, operated by the Osaka Metro Company, Ltd. It serves the city of Osaka and the adjacent municipalities of Higashiosaka, Kadoma, Moriguchi, Sakai, Suita, and Yao. Os ...

Sakaisuji Line. In 1970, the Senri Line was one of access routes to the

Expo '70 The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

held in Senri area. On April 1, 1973, Keihanshin Kyūkō Railway Company assumed its current name.

On April 1, 2005, former Hankyu Corporation became a holding company and was renamed . The railway business was ceded to a subsidiary, now named Hankyu Corporation (before the restructuring, the new company which reused a dormant company founded on December 7, 1989, was called until March 28, 2004, then from the next day). On October 1, 2006, Hankyu Holdings became the wholly owning parent company of Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd. and the holdings were renamed

, Inc.. Hankyu's stock purchase of Hanshin shares was completed on June 20, 2006.

Rail lines

Hankyu operates three main trunk lines, connecting Osaka with Kobe, Takarazuka and

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

respectively, and their branches. : : : : : : : The three groups of the lines, the Kobe Lines, the Takarazuka Lines and the Kyoto Lines, can be further grouped into two, the Kobe-Takarazuka Lines and the Kyoto Lines from a historical reason. Hankyu has two groups of rolling stock, one for the Kobe-Takarazuka Lines and the other for the Kyoto Lines.

Former lines

Abandoned lines

*Kitano Line (Umeda – Kitano) *Kamitsutsui Line (Nishi-Nada (Ōji-kōen) – Kamitsutsui)

Transferred lines

*Keihan Line **

( – ) ** Katano Line ( – ) ** Uji Line ( – ) *Ōtsu Line **

(Sanjō – ) **

( – ) The Keihan and Ōtsu Lines were transferred to

Co., Ltd. which separated from Keihanshin Kyūkō (now Hankyu) on December 1, 1949.

Rolling stock

, Hankyu had 1,319 cars for passenger service. Standard cars have three pairs of doors per side and bench seating facing the center of the train (exceptions are noted below). The Kobe Line and Takarazuka Line use the same fleet. Some former Hankyu trains, such as the 2000 series and 3100 series, have been transferred to the

Nose Electric Railway The , occasionally abbreviated as Nose Railway or , is a Japanese private railway company headquartered in Kawanishi, Hyogo, which links several areas in the mountainous Nose, Osaka, area to Kawanishi-noseguchi Station in Kawanishi, where one can ...

Kobe Line/Takarazuka Line

* 1000 series * 3000 series * 3100 series * 5000 series * 5100 series * 6000 series *

7000 series 7000 series may refer to: Japanese trains * Chichibu Railway 7000 series electric multiple unit (EMU) * Echizen Railway 7000 series EMU * Hankyu 7000 series EMU * Hokushin Kyuko Electric Railway 7000 series EMU operating for the Kobe Municipal Su ...

* 8000 series (includes small number of transverse seating cars) * 8200 series * 9000 series

Kyoto Line

* 1300 series (from spring 2014) * 2300 series * 3300 series * 5300 series * 6300 series (two doors per side, transverse seating) * 7300 series * 8300 series * 9300 series (transverse seating)

Fares

Single fare (adult) in Japanese Yen by travel distance is as follows. Fares for children (6–11 years old) are half the adult fare, rounded up to the nearest 10 yen. For fare collection, IC cards (

PiTaPa is a contactless smart card ticketing and electronic money system used in the Kansai region (and may also be used in some areas of Okayama Prefecture, Hiroshima Prefecture, and Shizuoka Prefecture) of Japan. The name ''PiTaPa'' is an acronym of ...

ICOCA The card is a rechargeable contactless smart card used on the JR West rail network in Japan. The card was launched on November 1, 2003 for usage on the Urban Network, which encompasses the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe (Keihanshin). It ...

and others) are accepted. The fare rate was changed on April 1, 2014, to reflect the change in the rate of

consumption tax A consumption tax is a tax levied on consumption spending on goods and services. The tax base of such a tax is the money spent on consumption. Consumption taxes are usually indirect, such as a sales tax or a value-added tax. However, a consumpti ...

from 5% to 8%, and again on October 1, 2019, from 8% to 10%.

In popular culture

A 2-car Hankyu train was featured in the 1988 Japanese animated war drama ''Grave of the Fireflies''.http://my.opera.com/opera%20kanta/blog/2008/08/13/grave-of-the-fireflies-hankyu-train. 2008-08-13. Retrieved 2010-12-25. One 2008 book by the Japanese writer

Hiro Arikawa is a female Japanese light novelist from Kōchi, Japan. Biography Arikawa was born on June 9, 1972 in Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture, Japan. She won the tenth annual Dengeki Novel Prize for new writers for ''Shio no Machi: Wish on My Precious'' ...

, , occurs entirely on the Hankyu–Imazu line, in the north-west suburbs of Osaka, where various characters meet and interact in the trains and at the various stations of the line. It was made into a film in 2011, titled '' Hankyu Railway: A 15-Minute Miracle''. The Hankyu 2000 is the locomotive of choice for the main character, Takumi Fujiwara, in Densha de D. A parody of Initial D where the main characters race with trains instead of cars.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Railway companies of Japan Companies based in Osaka Prefecture Standard gauge railways in Japan * Railway lines opened in 1910 Midori-kai Japanese companies established in 1910 Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Railway companies established in 1910