The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) was the national railway system directly operated by the Japanese Ministry of Railways ( ja, 鉄道省, Tetsudō-shō, ) until 1949. It was a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the later Japan Railways Group.

Name

The English name "Japanese Government Railways" was what the Ministry of Railways (established in 1920) used to call its own and sometimes the ministry itself as a railway operator. Other English names for the government railways include Imperial Japanese Government Railways and Imperial Government Railways, which were mainly used prior to the establishment of the ministry. This article covers the railways operated by the central government of Japan from 1872 to 1949 notwithstanding the official English name of the system of each era.

Network

By the end of World War II in 1945, the Japanese Government Railways operated on the main Japanese islands of

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

, Shikoku and Karafuto. The railways in Taiwan and Korea were operated by the local Governor-General Offices - the Taiwan Government-General Railway and the Chosen Government Railway respectively - and were not part of JGR. While the JGR was the only major operator of intercity railways after the railways were nationalized in 1906–1907, privately owned regional railways were also active. The gauge used for Japanese railways was (narrow gauge) other than some minor exceptions ( total in the peak years of 1936-38) of gauge lines being used.

History

The first railway in Japan was operated by the imperial government in 1872. The idea of centralization of the railway was promoted under the idea of "breaking down of the geographical barriers that existed in the feudal communities which hindered the centralization of authority". Placing the railways under government control was for military and political ends; the government had no intention for the central railway to be operated as a "model enterprise". Early shareholders of the railway were members of the nobility, holding "the major portion of (the) capital". The governmental system was largely expanded by the promulgation of the Railway Nationalization Act in 1906. In 1920, the Ministry of Railways was established. In 1949, JGR was reorganized to become a state-owned

public corporation A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

named the Japanese National Railways.

Timeline

* June 12, 1872 - Provisional opening of Tokyo- Yokohama railway (

Shinagawa Station is a major railway station in the Takanawa and Konan districts of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), and the private railway operator Keikyu. The Tokaido Shinkan ...

- Yokohama Station) * October 14, 1872 - Formal opening of Tokyo-Yokohama railway (ceremony at Shimbashi and Yokohama Stations) * October 1, 1907 - Completion of nationalization of 17 private railways under 1906 Railway Nationalization Act * December 20, 1914 - Opening of Tokyo Station * November 1, 1925 - Inauguration of the Yamanote Loop Line * April 1, 1943 - Inclusion of Karafuto prefectural lines into national system * February 1, 1946 - Official exclusion of Soviet-occupied Karafuto lines from national system * June 1, 1949 - Establishment of Japanese National Railways, i.e. end of Japanese Government Railways * April 1, 1987 - Privatization of JNR, establishment of seven JR companies

Historical operators of JGR

Before the establishment of the Japanese National Railways as a public corporation on June 1, 1949, the Japanese Government Railways were operated by the governmental agencies. The table below shows the historical operators of the JGR. Translated names of ministries may not be official. Names of the operating department generally mean "department (or office, section, agency) of railways" or like. }, ) , rowspan=3, 鉄道係 () , rowspan=3, in charge of construction only , - , 1870-08-06 , Civil Ministry( ja, 民部省, links=no, ) , - , 1870-12-12 , rowspan=3, Ministry of Industry( ja, 工部省, links=no, ) , - , 1871-09-28 , 鉄道寮 () , First railway opened in 1872. , - , 1877-01-11 , rowspan=2, 鉄道局 () , - , 1885-12-22 ,

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

( ja, 内閣, links=no, ) , - , 1890-09-06 , Home Ministry( ja, 内務省, links=no, ) , rowspan=2, 鉄道庁 () , - , 1892-07-21 , rowspan=4, Ministry of Communications( ja, 逓信省, links=no, ) , - , 1893-11-10 , 鉄道局 , - , 1897-08-18 , 鉄道作業局 () , rowspan=2, ''Tetsudō-kyoku'' survived as an administrative body for private railways till 1908. , - , 1907-04-01 , 帝国鉄道庁 () , - , 1908-12-05 , Cabinet , 鉄道院 () , Government Railways were commonly called In-sen( ja, 院線, links=no). , - , 1920-05-15 , colspan=2, Ministry of Railways( ja, 鉄道省, links=no, ) , rowspan=3, Government Railways were commonly called Shō-sen( ja, 省線, links=no). , - , 1943-11-01 , Ministry of Transport and Communications( ja, 運輸通信省, links=no, ) , rowspan=2, 鉄道総局 () , - , 1945-05-19 , Ministry of Transport( ja, 運輸省, links=no, ) , -

Fare system

Since opening in 1872, the railway set fares for passengers in three classes. The transportation of freight was charged based on weight and class of goods. In 1872, passengers could choose from Upper, Middle and Lower classes, which were later renamed as First, Second and Third classes. Freight was shipped using one of five rates based on 100 kin of product. A 1923 review of the shipping tariffs further explained that goods are divided into three shipping classes (according to the ways in which they are to be handled by the railway): ''koguchi atsukai'' (goods in small lots), ''kashikini atsukai'' (goods for a reserved freight car) and ''tokushu atsukai'' (goods requiring special treatment). It was also possible to ship them via ''futsubin'' (regularly-scheduled trains) and ''kyukobin'' (express trains). "It may, therefore, be fairly said that the freight rates of the State-owned railways in Japan are of absolute uniformity." As Japan is an island nation, it was noted that ocean-going vessels are a major source of competition for the freight business of the railway.

Technical details

The railway invested heavily in methods to reduce coal consumption in steam locomotives; between 1920 and 1936, coal consumption per kilometer traveled was reduced by about a quarter. The government mandated the use of automatic couplers on all cars on the system in July 1925. The system was transitioning from vacuum brakes to air brakes at this time, with most freight cars equipped with air brakes by April 1927.

Tourism promotion

One of the roles of the Japanese Government Railways was to attract foreign tourists to Japan. In 1930, the government created the as a section of the Japanese Government Railways (Ministry of Railways). The Board printed and distributed picture posters and English guidebooks overseas and encouraged development of resort hotels at home. The Board was dissolved in 1942, following the outbreak of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

in 1941.

Notable people

Inoue Masaru Masaru Inoue may refer to: * Masaru Inoue (astronomer), an astronomer * Inoue Masaru (bureaucrat) Viscount was the first Director of Railways in Japan and is known as the "father of the Japanese railways". Biography He was born into the C ...

- Head of the government railways between 1871 and 1893 * Hirai Seijirō - Head of the government railways between 1904 and 1908 * Gotō Shinpei - Head of the government railways between 1908 and 1911 * Takejirō Tokonami - Head of government railways in 1920s and early 1930s * Eisaku Satō (Prime Minister of Japan in 1960s) - served as a railway official between 1924 and 1948 * Hideo Shima - Chief Engineer of Shinkansen Project

Notes

{{Authority control Government Railways Railways Railway companies disestablished in 1949 Railways ministries