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The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987.


Network


Railways

As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
() railways in all 46 prefectures of Japan. This figure expanded to in 1981 (excluding Shinkansen), but later reduced to as of March 31, 1987, the last day of JNR. JNR operated both passenger and freight services.


Shinkansen

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...
, the world's first
high-speed railway High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, line ...
was debuted by JNR in 1964. By the end of JNR in 1987, four lines were constructed: ;
Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 1964, ...
: , completed in 1964 ;
Sanyō Shinkansen , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded by ...
: , completed in 1975 ;
Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of , making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main ...
: , as of 1987 ; Jōetsu Shinkansen: , completed in 1982


Buses

JNR operated bus lines as feeders, supplements or substitutions of railways. Unlike railway operation, JNR Bus was not superior to other local bus operators. The
JR Bus JR Bus collectively refers to the bus operations of Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies in Japan. JR Bus is operated by eight regional companies, each owned by a JR railway company. JR Bus companies provide regional, long distance, and ch ...
companies are the successors of the bus operation of JNR.


Ships

JNR operated ferries to connect railway networks separated by sea or to meet other local demands: ;Kanmon Ferry (discontinued in 1964):
Shimonoseki Station is a railway station on the Sanyo Main Line, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan. Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) and Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) services also use this station. The ...
(
Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. With a population of 265,684, it is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the Chūgoku region. It is located at the southwestern tip of Honshu facing the Tsushim ...
) –
Mojikō Station is a railway station on the Kagoshima Main Line in Moji-ku, Kitakyushu, Japan, operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). Lines Mojikō Station is served by the Kagoshima Main Line. The station is located close to Kyushu Railway His ...
(
Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fukuoka. It is one ...
) ; Miyajima Ferry:
Miyajimaguchi Station Miyajimaguchi Station is a railway station on the Sanyō Main Line in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). From the pier near the station there are ferry services for Miyajima (Itsukushima) by JR Miyajima Fe ...
(
Ōno, Hiroshima was a town located in Saeki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 26,363 and a density of 372.62 persons per km². The total area is 70.75 km². On November 3, 2005, Ōno, along with ...
) – Miyajima Station (
Miyajima, Hiroshima was a town located on the island of Itsukushima in Saeki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. As of 2019, the town had an estimated population of 1,564 and a density of 51.46 persons per km2. The total area was 30.39 km2. On Novem ...
) ;Nihori Ferry (discontinued in 1982):
Nigata Station is a JR West Kure Line station located in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. History *1935-11-24: Nigata Station opens *1946-05-01: Nibori Ferry service begins *1976-06-01: Nigata Station ceases handling freight service *1982-07-01: Nibo ...
( Kure, Hiroshima) – Horie Station ( Matsuyama, Ehime) ;Ōshima Ferry (discontinued in 1976): Ōbatake Station (
Yanai, Yamaguchi is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on March 31, 1954. The interchange and the expressway is located in the east. Yanai is bounded by Hikari. As of October 1, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 32, ...
) – Komatsukō Station ( Suō-Ōshima, Yamaguchi) ;Seikan Ferry:
Aomori Station is a railway station in the city of Aomori in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The station has been operating since September 1891, though the most recent station building, which consists of three island platforms connected to the station building by a ...
(
Aomori, Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total are ...
) –
Hakodate Station is a railway station on the Hakodate Main Line in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). Lines *South Hokkaido Railway Company Dōnan Isaribi Tetsudō Line (Normally ends at Goryōkaku, but trains ge ...
(
Hakodate, Hokkaidō is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.83 ...
) ;Ukō Ferry:
Uno Station is a terminal railway station located in Tamano, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The station was formerly the start of a Japan National Railways ferry that went over the Seto Inland Sea to Takamatsu Station before the Great Seto Bridge was built. ...
(
Tamano, Okayama is a city located in southern Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The city was officially founded on August 3, 1940. As of October 1, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 60,101 and a population density of 580 persons per km². The total area i ...
) – Takamatsu Station (
Takamatsu, Kagawa 270px, Takamatsu City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Takamatsu city center 270px, View from Yashima to Takashima port is a city located in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 414,134 in 190120 households and a popu ...
) Out of three routes assigned to JR companies in 1987, only the Miyajima Ferry remains active as of 2010.


Unions

A number of unions represented workers at JNR, including the
National Railway Workers' Union The is a Japanese trade union, which is usually referred to as in Japanese. Historically, Kokurō represented many of the workers who worked for Japanese National Railways (JNR), from which the union derived its name. For several decades in th ...
(Kokuro), the
National Railway Locomotive Engineers' Union The was a Japanese trade union, which was usually referred to as Dōrō (動労) in Japanese. History Foundation to 1980 Dōrō (National Railway Locomotive Engineers' Union) split from the National Railway Workers' Union (Kokuro) in 1951. It w ...
(Doro), and Doro-Chiba, a break-away group from Doro.


History

The term ''Kokuyū Tetsudō'' "state-owned railway" originally referred to a network of railway lines operated by 17 private companies that were
nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...
following the
Railway Nationalization Act The brought many of Japan's private railway lines under national control. The 22nd Diet of Japan passed the bill on March 27, 1906 and Emperor Meiji signed on March 30, 1906. The promulgation of the act on the Official Gazette occurred the next d ...
of 1906 and placed under the control of the Railway Institute. Later, the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications took over control of the network. The ministries used the name
Japanese Government Railways 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 Rai ...
(JGR) to refer their network in English. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, many JGR lines were dismantled to supply steel for the war effort. On June 1, 1949, by a directive of the U.S. General HQ in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, JGR was reorganized into Japanese National Railways, 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 ...
. JNR enjoyed many successes, including the inauguration of high-speed
Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...
service along the
Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 1964, ...
line on October 1, 1964. However, JNR was not a state-run corporation; its accounting was independent from the national budget. Rural sections without enough passengers began to press its management, pulling it further and further into debt. In 1983, JNR started to close its unprofitable 83 local lines (the closure continued three years after the privatization). By 1987, JNR's debt was over ¥27 trillion ($442 billion at 2021 exchange rates) and the company was spending ¥147 ($2.40 in 2021 dollars) for every ¥100 ($1.63 in 2021 dollars) earned. By an act of the
Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...
, on April 1, 1987, JNR was
privatized Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
and divided into seven railway companies, six passenger and one freight, collectively called the
Japan Railways Group The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as the or simply JR, consists of seven for-profit stock companies that took over most of the assets and operations of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. Mo ...
or JR Group. Long-term liabilities of JNR were taken over by the Japanese National Railway Settlement Corporation. That corporation was subsequently disbanded on October 22, 1998, and its remaining debts were transferred to the national budget's general accounting. By this time the debt has risen to ¥30 trillion ($491 billion in 2021 dollars).


JNR dismissal lawsuit

Many lawsuits and labor commission cases were filed over the decades from the privatization in 1987. Kokuro and the
National Railway Locomotive Engineers' Union The was a Japanese trade union, which was usually referred to as Dōrō (動労) in Japanese. History Foundation to 1980 Dōrō (National Railway Locomotive Engineers' Union) split from the National Railway Workers' Union (Kokuro) in 1951. It w ...
(Zendoro), both prominent Japanese railway unions, represented a number of the JNR workers. Lists of workers to be employed by the new organizations were drawn up by JNR and given to the JR companies. There was substantial pressure on union members to leave their unions, and within a year, the membership of the
National Railway Workers' Union The is a Japanese trade union, which is usually referred to as in Japanese. Historically, Kokurō represented many of the workers who worked for Japanese National Railways (JNR), from which the union derived its name. For several decades in th ...
(Kokuro) fell from 200,000 to 44,000. Workers who had supported the privatization, or those who left Kokuro, were hired at substantially higher rates than Kokuro members. There was a government pledge that no one would be "thrown out onto the street",The Japan Time
Top court rules against ex-JNR workers December 23, 2003
Retrieved on August 6, 2012
and so unhired workers were classified as "needing to be employed" and were transferred to the
JNR Settlement Corporation The , or JNRSC, was a temporary holding company created to distribute the assets of the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) after its privatization in the mid-1980s. On October 22, 1998, the JNRSC was disbanded and placed under the Japan Rail ...
, where they could be assigned for up to three years. Around 7,600 workers were transferred in this way, and around 2,000 of them were hired by JR firms, and 3,000 found work elsewhere. Mitomu Yamaguchi, a former JNR employee from Tosu in
Saga prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasak ...
who had been transferred to the JNR Settlement Corporation, later stated that their help in finding work consisted of giving him photocopies of recruitment ads from newspapers. This period ended in April 1990, and 1,047 were dismissed. This included 64 Zendoro members and 966 Kokuro members. Twenty-three years after the original privatization, on June 28, 2010, the Supreme Court settled the dispute between the workers and the
Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, the successor body to the JNR Settlement Corporation. The agency said it would pay 20 billion yen, approximately 22 million yen per worker, to 904 plaintiffs. However, as the workers were not reinstated, it was not a full settlement.


Baseball team

Between 1950 and 1965, JNR indirectly owned 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...
team named .
Swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...
was a symbol of JNR as it is the English equivalent of the Japanese '' Tsubame'', the name of a deluxe train operated by JNR in the 1950s. JNR sold the team to the
Sankei Shinbun The (short for ) is a daily newspaper in Japan published by the It has the seventh-highest circulation for regional newspapers in Japan. Among Japanese newspapers, the circulation is second only to ''Yomiuri Shimbun'', Seikyo Shimbun, ''Asah ...
in 1965, and called the Atoms from 1966 to 1973; the team is now the
Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the ...
and has been owned by the
Yakult is a Japanese sweetened probiotic milk beverage fermented with the bacteria strain '' Lacticaseibacillus casei'' Shirota. It is sold by Yakult Honsha, based in Tokyo. It is distributed through convenience stores and supermarkets in single-servin ...
company since 1970.


Accidents and criminal incidents


Accidents

JNR as a public corporation (from 1949 to 1987) experienced five major accidents (including two shipwrecks of railway ferries) with casualties more than 100: ; ''Sakuragichō'' train fire: A train fire at
Sakuragichō Station is an interchange passenger railway station located in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the Yokohama Municipal Subway. Lines Sakuragichō Station is served by the Negishi Line from to in Kanagawa ...
in
Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
on April 24, 1951, killed 106. ; ''Tōya Maru'' disaster: A Seikan ferryboat sank off
Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...
killing 1,155 in a
typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
storm on September 26, 1954. ; ''Shiun Maru'' disaster: An Ukō ferryboat collided with a fellow boat in a dense fog and sank killing 168 on May 11, 1955. ; ''Mikawashima'' train crash: A three-train collision near
Mikawashima Station is a railway station on the Jōban Line in Arakawa, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Mikawashima Station is served by the Jōban Line. Station layout The station consists of a single island platform servi ...
in Tokyo on May 3, 1962, killed 160. ; ''Tsurumi'' rail accident: A three-train collision near
Tsurumi Station is a railway station in Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Tsurumi Station is an interchange between the Keihin-Tōhoku Line and the Tsurumi Line (of which it is a terminus ...
in Yokohama on November 9, 1963, killed 161.


Criminal incidents

In its very early days as a public corporation, JNR experienced a series of mysterious incidents as follows. Although the police at that time treated them as
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
by the
communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
, doubts have been raised as to the validity of this conclusion. ; ''Shimoyama'' incident : The dismembered body of JNR President Sadanori Shimoyama was found on a railway track on July 5, 1949. The possibility of non-criminal suicide has not been ruled out. ; ''Mitaka'' incident : A train running without crew crashed into passengers and killed six people on July 15, 1949. ; ''Matsukawa'' derailment : A train was derailed because of destroyed track and three crew were killed on August 17, 1949. In later years, JNR was a target of radical leftists. On October 21, 1968, groups of extremist students celebrating "International Antiwar Day" occupied and vandalized Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. They criticized JNR's collaboration in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
by operating freight trains carrying jet fuel for U.S. military use. On November 29, 1985, militants supporting a radical sect of JNR's labor union objecting to the privatization of JNR damaged signal cables at 33 points around Tokyo and Osaka to halt thousands of commuter trains and then set fire to Asakusabashi Station in Tokyo. As such, relationships with labor unions were always a difficult problem for JNR. Since public workers were prohibited to
strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
, they carried out "work-to-rule protests" that caused trains to be delayed. On March 13, 1973, train delays caused by such protests resulted in a
riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...
of angered passengers at Ageo Station in Saitama Prefecture. From November 26, 1975, to December 3, 1975, major labor unions of JNR conducted an eight-day-long illegal "strike for the right to strike", which resulted in a total defeat of the unions.


See also

*
Japan Railways locomotive numbering and classification This page explains the numbering and classification schemes for locomotives employed by the Japanese Government Railways, the Japanese National Railways and the Japan Railways Group. Steam locomotives Pre-nationalization Prior to the natio ...
* SoftBank Telecom – former Japan Telecom, an affiliated company of JNR established in 1984


Notes


References


External links


Japan Railways Technical Research Institute: Brief history of Japanese railways
{{Authority control Defunct railway companies of Japan Government-owned railway companies Railway companies established in 1949 Railway companies disestablished in 1987 Privatized companies of Japan