, usually abbreviated as Sankyū (参急), was a private railway company that operated in

Nara Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...

and

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

Japan 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 ...

for 14 years from 1927 to 1941, when it merged with its parent company, Ōsaka Electric Railroad (''Daiki''). Sankyū built a single train line which serviced the cities of Sakurai,

Nabari is a Cities of Japan, city located in central Mie Prefecture, Japan, bordering on Nara Prefecture to the west. , the city had an estimated population of 77,022 in 34,658 households and a population density of 590 persons per km². The total are ...

Matsusaka is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 157,235 in 66,018 households and a population density of 250 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is famous for Matsusaka beef. Geography ...

, and

Ujiyamada , formerly called Ujiyamada (宇治山田), is a city in central Mie Prefecture, on the island of Honshū, Japan. Ise is home to Ise Grand Shrine, the most sacred Shintō shrine in Japan. The city has a long-standing title – Shinto (神都) ...

, and the company acquired a second major line as well as a small local line from

Ise Electric Railway , usually abbreviated as Iseden (伊勢電), was a private railway company that operated mostly in Mie Prefecture, Japan, for 25 years from 1911 to 1936, when it was absorbed by Sangū Express Electric Railway. At its height, Iseden operated th ...

(''Iseden''). These lines extended northwards from Matsusaka through cities in Mie Prefecture along the coast of

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie and Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the smaller Mikawa Bay by two channels: th ...

as far as

Kuwana is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 141,045 in 60,301 households and a population density of 1000 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kuwana is located in northern Mie Pr ...

. The infrastructure of Sankyū is now owned by Kintetsu and remains in use today. Sankyū's main goal was to build a portion of a railway to Ujiyamada (now

Ise Ise may refer to: Places * Ise, Mie, a city in Japan **Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie * Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria *Ise, Norway, a village in Norway *Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan * River Ise, a tributary of th ...

) which is home to

Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inn ...

, the holiest

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

shrine in Japan and a common

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

destination. The word "Sangū" is a

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

abbreviation of a phrase in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

that roughly translates to "a pilgrimage to Ise Grand Shrine". Sankyū's line connected with a line originating in Osaka owned by its parent company, Daiki, and together the two offered direct rail service from Osaka to Ujiyamada on a line that was much more direct than that of its main rival,

Kokutetsu 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 ...

. When Sankyū acquired Iseden, it then set its eyes on a direct connection between Osaka and

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

Lines

Sankyū Main Line

Sankyū only built one train line which served as the second half of a railway linking Osaka and Ise Grand Shrine. *Origin: Sakurai Station *Terminus:

Ujiyamada Station is a junction railway station located in the city of Ise, Mie Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private operator Kintetsu. It is the closest station to Ise Grand Shrine and thus has an important role for tourists and pilgrims. The station also ...

Sankyū Ise Line

Sankyū acquired this line from Iseden and performed a major re-routing on part of the line to connect it with its own tracks at

Ise-Nakagawa Station is a major junction station owned and operated by the private Kintetsu railway company in the city of Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture. The station is served by all trains on that company's Yamada Line and most trains on its Nagoya and Osaka Lines. The ...

. *Length: 82.9 km *Origin:

Kuwana Station is an interchange passenger railway station located in the city of Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, Japan. It is jointly operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tōkai), and they private railway operator Kintetsu Railway and its subsidiary Yō ...

*Terminus:

Sankyū Kambe Line

Small local line acquired from Iseden *Length: 4.1 km *Origin:

Ise-Wakamatsu Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Kintetsu. Lines Ise-Wakamatsu Station is a station on the Nagoya Line and is located 40.8 rail kilometers fr ...

*Terminus: Ise-Kambe Station (now

Suzukashi Station is a passenger railway station in located in the city of Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Kintetsu Railway. Lines Suzukashi Station is a station on the Suzuka Line, and is located 4.1 rail kilometers fr ...

)

References

* Wikipedia - Sangū Express Railway {{DEFAULTSORT:Sangu Express Electric Railway Defunct railway companies of Japan Kintetsu Railway Railway companies established in 1927 Railway companies disestablished in 1941 ja:大阪電気軌道#伊勢進出（参宮急行電鉄設立）