As of 2005, the consists of only the
Okinawa Urban Monorail
The , also known as , is a monorail line serving the cities of Naha and Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan. Operated by , it opened on 10 August 2003, and is the only public rail system in Okinawa Prefecture. Yui Rail is the first rail line on Okinawa ...
, the only rail line providing rail transportation in
Okinawa Prefecture. In the past,
Okinawa Island had railroad,
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
s, and
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
-drawn streetcar service. Moreover,
Minamidaitōjima and other islands had rail lines to transport
sugarcane and other commodities.
History
Meiji period
The first rail line laid down in Okinawa was during the
Meiji period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
when in 1902, in Minami Daitō, a line opened with
handcar
A handcar (also known as a pump trolley, pump car, rail push trolley, push-trolley, jigger, Kalamazoo, velocipede, or draisine) is a railroad car powered by its passengers, or by people pushing the car from behind. It is mostly used as a railway ...
s. Okinawa Island's first railway opened in 1910, for the transportation of sugar cane.
Taishō period
After many false starts, rail transportation began in earnest during the
Taishō period. The Okinawa Electric Railway (the predecessor of Okinawa
Electric Company), having received exclusive rights to this route in 1910, opened the island's first streetcar line, between Daimon-mae and Shuri (5.7 km, 1067 mm gauge, 500 V). Some months later, as an expansion of service on the sugar-cane line in
Nishihara, the company
introduced person-drawn service between Yonabaru and Konaha (762 mm gauge).
This line would later convert to horse-drawn service. Extensions brought the rails to Awase, part of the present-day city of
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
(17.7 km). Meanwhile, the prefectural government, recognizing the failure of private attempts, was preparing its own line, and opened the
Okinawa Prefectural Railways
was the railway operated by the Okinawa Prefectural Government on Okinawa Island from 1914 to 1945. Locally called the ''Keebin'' (Okinawan pronunciation of ''keiben'', part of ''keiben tetsudō'' or "light railway"), it operated about 48 kilomet ...
line between Naha and Yonabaru in December 1914.
At the end of the Taishō period, the prefecture completed a railway system having three lines radiating from Naha: one to
Kadena, one to
Yonabaru, and one to
Itoman.
Okinawa Electric also extended its routes. A horse-drawn trolley linking Naha and Itoman also began operations. This was the peak of the rail system in Okinawa.
Shōwa Period (pre-war and wartime)
Along with the development of roadways, automobile traffic increased, and railroads experienced competition from buses. Okinawa Electric responded by introducing gasoline cars, but users of their trolleys and the Itoman horse-drawn trolley line declined, and the lines were abandoned. As a result, the only lines still operating on Okinawa Island were the prefectural railway and the Okinawa Railway (the former Okinawa horse-drawn line). Both ceased operations in 1944-1945, and aerial bombardment and the ensuing ground war devastated the rail systems.
Shōwa period (postwar) and Heisei Period
Under the American Occupation, the road system of Okinawa developed markedly, and the prefectural railway and the Okinawa trolley line disappeared. The industrial rail systems disappeared, too, with the exception of the Minami Daito sugar-cane line, which returned to operation and continued to operate until 1983.
After the return of Okinawa to Japanese administration in 1972, the prefecture considered plans to develop rail lines, and opened the Okinawa Monorail in August, 2003.
A
people mover
A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...
operated within the grounds of the
Expo '75, the Okinawa International Maritime Exposition, from July 20, 1975 to January 18, 1976. The 1.4 km line connected North Gate Station and South Gate Station, making an intermediate stop at International Plaza Station.
Lines
Okinawa Electric Railway and Okinawa Electric Company
Saiga Tokichi, operator of Saiga Electric Company of
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 ...
, established Okinawa Electric in 1909. In 1911, he established the Okinawa Electric Railway to link Naha and Shuri with a trolley line. The segment from Daimon-mae to Shuri opened in 1914, and that from Daimon-mae to Tsudo began operation in 1917. However, the line lost passengers to competition from buses, and the line ceased operations in 1933.
Okinawa Railway
Although the original intent was to transport sugar cane by
handcar
A handcar (also known as a pump trolley, pump car, rail push trolley, push-trolley, jigger, Kalamazoo, velocipede, or draisine) is a railroad car powered by its passengers, or by people pushing the car from behind. It is mostly used as a railway ...
to the refinery in Nishihara, the line was unused in the off-season, and the operator set up a separate company to provide passenger service on the line. It opened in November 1914, providing service between Yonabaru and Konaha.
In 1916 it extended its route to Awase. It ceased operations in 1944.
Itoman horse-drawn carriage line
The Itoman line directly connected Naha and Itoman by horse-drawn carriage.
In June 1919 the segment from Kakihana to China opened. In May 1920, the rest of the line opened. Under competition from buses, the line lost ridership, and operations came to an end in 1935. The line formally ended in 1939.
Expo '75
From July 20, 1975 to January 18, 1976, a
people mover
A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...
built by
Kobe Steel
Kobe Steel, Ltd. (株式会社神戸製鋼所, ''Kabushiki gaisha Kōbe Seikō-sho''), is a major Japanese steel manufacturer headquartered in Chūō-ku, Kobe. KOBELCO is the unified brand name of the Kobe Steel Group.
Kobe Steel has the low ...
, operated within the grounds of
Expo '75. It was the first people mover line to operate in Japan.
Minamidaitōjima
The line that operated on
Minamidaitōjima is known by various names; among them are and . The first rails laid down in Okinawa, they included lines that encircled the island and others that relayed traffic to the harbor. The tracks exceeded 30 km in length. In addition to hauling sugar cane, they also conveyed passengers and mails.
In the Meiji period, Minamidaitōjima was uninhabited, but in 1900, Tamaoki Shokai began to develop the island, and started both the sugar refinery and the handcar railway in 1902. In 1917 the commercial rights passed to Toyo Sugar Refining. The railway was converted to a gauge of 762 mm and began seriously hauling sugar cane. In 1927, Toyo merged with Dainippon Sugar Refining.
During World War II, aerial attacks destroyed the railway, but in 1950, Daito Sugar Refining restored it to operation. It served through the 1983 spring season, and thereafter, trucks replaced the railway for the transportation of sugar cane.
The upgrade of the gauge to 762 mm permitted the use of steam locomotives, and in 1956, diesel locomotives were introduced. At present, steam and diesel locomotives, passenger and freight cars have been preserved on Minamidaitōjima.
Naha also has a diesel locomotive from the Prefectural Yohabaru Line.
Other
![Sugar cane tram in Miyako Island](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Sugar_cane_tram_in_Miyako_Island.JPG)
Prior to World War II, railways were in use in various places, but all disappeared after the war. Locations included what are present-day Nishihara, Kadena, and Itoman. The islands of Ishigaki and Miyako also had lines to move sugar cane, and Iriomote had handcar lines for the coal mines. Kita Daito and Oki Daito had similar lines for phosphate mines.
Monorail
The Okinawa Urban Monorail opened in 2003. It was designed to overcome the severe congestion on the island. Construction began in 1996 and it now extends some 17 km in the city of Naha.
The monorail is a venture of the prefecture and private enterprise. There are 19 stations on the line.
References
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External links
沖縄県土木建築部 都市計画・モノレール課沖縄の鉄軌道についての一考察 - 参議院「沖縄鉄軌道計画案づくり」専用ホームページ
Rail transport in Okinawa Prefecture