The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) was the national

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

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 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 () railways in all 46 pref ...

and the later

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 ...

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 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 ...

in 1945, the Japanese Government Railways operated on the main Japanese islands of Honshū,

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,

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

and

Karafuto Karafuto Prefecture ( ja, 樺太庁, ''Karafuto-chō''; russian: Префектура Карафуто, Prefektura Karafuto), commonly known as South Sakhalin, was a prefecture of Japan located in Sakhalin from 1907 to 1949. Karafuto became ter ...

. The railways in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

were operated by the local Governor-General Offices - the Taiwan Government-General Railway and the

Chosen Government Railway Chosen or The Chosen may refer to: The chosen ones *Chosen people, people who believe they have been chosen by a higher power to do a certain thing including **Jews as the chosen people Books *The Chosen (Potok novel), ''The Chosen'' (Potok novel ...

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 Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

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 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 ...

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

Timeline

* June 12, 1872 - Provisional opening of

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 ...

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 ...

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 is a major interchange railway station in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It is the busiest station in Kanagawa Prefecture and the fifth-busiest in the world as of 2013, serving 760 million passengers a year. Lines Yokohama Station is served by the ...

) * October 14, 1872 - Formal opening of Tokyo-Yokohama railway (ceremony at

Shimbashi , sometimes transliterated Shimbashi, is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Name Read literally, the characters in Shinbashi mean "new bridge". History The area was the site of a bridge built across the Shiodome River in 1604. The river was l ...

and Yokohama Stations) * October 1, 1907 - Completion of nationalization of 17 private railways under 1906

* December 20, 1914 - Opening of

Tokyo Station Tokyo Station ( ja, 東京駅, ) is a railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is ...

* 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 The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-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 An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

( ja, 内務省, links=no, ) , rowspan=2, 鉄道庁 () , - , 1892-07-21 , rowspan=4,

Ministry of Communications A Communications Ministry or Department of Communications is a ministry or other government agency charged with communication. Communications responsibilities includes regulating telecommunications, postal services, broadcasting and print media. T ...

( 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 A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...

( 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 __NOTOC__ Kin usually refers to kinship and family. Kin or KIN may also refer to: Culture and religion *Otherkin, people who identify as not entirely human *Kinism, a white supremacist religious movement * Kinh, the majority ethnic group of V ...

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 - Head of the government railways between 1871 and 1893 *

Hirai Seijirō was a Japanese railroad engineer. Biography Hirai was born in Kanazawa, Japan. He was chosen by Japan to be one of the first to study abroad and he attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon frate ...

- Head of the government railways between 1904 and 1908 *

Gotō Shinpei Count was a Medical Doctor with Doctor of Medicine, a Japanese politician and cabinet minister of the Taishō and early Shōwa period Empire of Japan. He served as the head of civilian affairs of Taiwan under Japanese rule, the first direc ...

- Head of the government railways between 1908 and 1911 *

Takejirō Tokonami Takejirō, Takejiro or Takejirou (written: 竹二郎 or 武次郎) is a masculine Japanese given name in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name, in that order. Nevertheless, when a Japanese name is written in ...

- Head of government railways in 1920s and early 1930s *

Eisaku Satō was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister from 1964 to 1972. He is the third-longest serving Prime Minister, and ranks second in longest uninterrupted service as Prime Minister. Satō entered the National Diet in 1949 as a membe ...

(Prime Minister of Japan in 1960s) - served as a railway official between 1924 and 1948 *

Hideo Shima was a Japanese engineer and the driving force behind the building of the first bullet train (Shinkansen). Shima was born in Osaka in 1901, and educated at the Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied Mechanical Engineering. His father was p ...

- Chief Engineer of

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 ...

Project

Notes

{{Authority control Government Railways

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

Railway companies disestablished in 1949 Railways ministries