The South Manchuria Railway ( ja, 南満州鉄道, translit=Minamimanshū Tetsudō; ), officially , Mantetsu ( ja, 満鉄, translit=Mantetsu) or Mantie () for short, was a large of the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...
whose primary function was the operation of railways on the
Dalian
Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...
–
Fengtian (Mukden)–
Changchun
Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 ...
(called
Xinjing from 1931 to 1945) corridor in northeastern
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, as well as on several branch lines.
In 1905, after Russia's defeat in the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
, this area was taken over by Japan as the
South Manchuria Railway Zone
The South Manchuria Railway Zone ( ja, 南満州鉄道附属地, translit=Minami Manshū Tetsudō Fuzoku-chi; ) or SMR Zone, was the area of Japanese extraterritorial rights in northeast China, in connection with the operation of the South Man ...
. Mantetsu was established in 1906 to operate the railways taken over from the Russians. Subsequently, Mantetsu expanded by building new lines for itself and for Chinese-owned undertakings,
and after the establishment of the
puppet state
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sove ...
of
Manchukuo
Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese ...
in 1932, it was also entrusted with the management of the
Manchukuo National Railway
The Manchukuo National Railway (Traditional Chinese and Japanese kanji: , Japanese romanization: ''Manshū Kokuyū Tetsudō'') was the state-owned national railway company of Manchukuo. Generally called the "國線" ("National Line", ''Kokusen ...
. Between 1917 and 1925, Mantetsu was also responsible for the management of 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), a 1967 novel by Chaim ...
in
Japanese-occupied Korea.
However, it was also involved in nearly every aspect of the economic, cultural and political life of
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...
,
[Kinney, Henry W., ''Manchuria Today'', Dairen, December 1930] from power generation to agricultural research, for which reason it was often referred to as "Japan's
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...
in China".
Nisshō Inoue
was a radical Buddhist preacher of Nichirenism who founded the interwar Japanese far-right militant organization . Contrary to popular belief, he was never an ordained Nichiren priest, but was rather a self-styled preacher whose extremist tenets ...
, the founder of the interwar Japanese far-right militant organization Ketsumeidan (血盟団, League of Blood), was employed by ''Mantestu'' from 1909 to 1920.
In 1945, the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
invaded and overran Manchukuo, and following Japan's defeat in 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 vas ...
, Mantetsu itself was dissolved by order of the
American occupation authorities in
occupied Japan
Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the
Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United State ...
. The railway was operated by the Soviets for a time, and handed over to
China Railway
China State Railway Group Company, Ltd., doing business as China Railway (CR), is the national passenger and freight railroad corporation of the People's Republic of China.
China Railway operates passenger and freight transport throughout C ...
after the establishment of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
in 1949. Fengtian has been called Shenyang since 1945, and the line from there to Dalian is today part of the
Shenda Railway from
Changchun
Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 ...
to Dalian, whilst the Shenyang–Changchun section is now part of the
Jingha Railway Jingha may refer to:
* Jingha Expressway, expressway in China that links Beijing to Harbin
* Jingha railway, railway in China that connects Beijing with Harbin
{{Disambig ...
; the branch lines have also been part of China Railway since then.
History
The main line from Changchun to Port Arthur, as Luishun was called under Russian rule, was built between 1898 and 1903 by the Russians as the southern branch of their
Chinese Eastern Railway
The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...
according to the
1896 secret treaty and the
1898 lease convention between
Qing China
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
and
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...
in the aftermath of the
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the p ...
.
Following the Japanese victory over
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...
in 1905 after the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
and the signing of the
Treaty of Portsmouth
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...
, most of the southern branch (
Harbin
Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest c ...
—
Port Arthur) of the
China Eastern Railway was transferred to Japanese control. The last station remaining in Russian hands was at
Kuanchengzi () in modern-day
Changchun
Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 ...
. The northernmost Japanese-controlled station was the
Changchun railway station
Changchun station () is a railway station of Beijing–Harbin railway, Harbin–Dalian railway, Changchun–Tumen railway, Changchun–Baicheng railway and Changchun–Jilin intercity railway. The station is located in Changchun, in the Jil ...
.
["Provisional Convention ... concerning the junction of the Japanese and Russian Railways in Manchuria" – June 13, 1907. ]
Under the authorization of
Emperor Meiji
, also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...
, Japan then established a new semi-privately held company, the South Manchurian Railway Company (a.k.a. ''Mantetsu''), with a
capitalization
Capitalization (American English) or capitalisation (British English) is writing a word with its first letter as a capital letter (uppercase letter) and the remaining letters in lower case, in writing systems with a case distinction. The term ...
of 200 million
yen to operate the railroad and to develop settlements and industries along its route. The organizing committee was headed by General
Kodama Gentarō, and after his death, by General
Terauchi Masatake
Gensui Count Terauchi Masatake ( ja, 寺内 正毅), GCB (5 February 1852 – 3 November 1919), was a Japanese military officer, proconsul and politician. He was a '' Gensui'' (or Marshal) in the Imperial Japanese Army and the Prime Minister o ...
. Count
Gotō Shimpei, formerly the Japanese governor of
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 no ...
, was appointed the first president of the company, and the headquarters was established 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 37.46 ...
before relocated to
Dalian
Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...
in 1907.
[Coox, Nomonhan pp.6]
One of the first tasks of the new company was to change the railway gauge. The rail line was originally built according to the gauge of , during the war it had been
converted
Conversion or convert may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman''
* "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series
* "The Conversion" ...
by the advancing Japanese troops to the Japanese gauge, in order to facilitate the use of rolling stock brought from Japan. But once the new Japanese South Manchuria Railway Company took possession of the line, it had the tracks re-gauged again, now to the gauge of ,
[
Luis Jackson, Industrial Commissioner of the Erie Railroad. "Rambles in Japan and China". I]
Railway and Locomotive Engineering
vol. 26 (March 1913), pp. 91-92 presumably with an eye to connecting the system to other railways of China.
In 1907, an agreement was reached between the Japanese and Russian authorities about connecting the Japanese South Manchuria Railway with the line to the north, which remained in the hands of Russian China Far East Railway. According to the agreement, Russian gauge tracks would continue from the "Russian" Kuanchengzi Station to the "Japanese"
Changchun station, and vice versa, tracks on the "gauge adapted by the South Manchuria Railway" (i.e., the
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...
) would continue from the Changchun Station to the Kuancheng Station.
[
By the end of 1907, the company employed 9,000 Japanese and 4,000 Chinese. By 1910, those numbers had increased to 35,000 and 25,000 respectively.] The railway used a significant amount of U.S.-made rails and signaling equipment, as well as some steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...
s built by the American Locomotive Company
The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...
at Dunkirk, NY
Dunkirk is a city in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. It was settled around 1805 and incorporated in 1880. The population was 12,743 as of the 2020 census. Dunkirk is bordered on the north by Lake Erie. It shares a border with the vil ...
. A visiting executive from the Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake ...
was quite impressed with the arrangement, and described South Manchurian Railway ca. 1913 as "the only railroad in the whole world that is like our American railroads (and they are, fairly speaking, the best)".[
''Mantetsu'' quickly expanded the system inherited from Russia to staggering proportions, building ]coal mine
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
s at Fushun
Fushun (, formerly romanised as ''Fouchouen'', using French spelling, also as Fuxi ()) is a prefecture level city in Liaoning province, China, about east of Shenyang, with a total area of , of which is the city proper. Situated on the Hun Rive ...
and Yantai
Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao on the ...
, and harbor facilities at Andong
Andong () is a city in South Korea, and the capital of North Gyeongsang Province. It is the largest city in the northern part of the province with a population of 167,821 as of October 2010. The Nakdong River flows through the city. Andong is a ...
, Yingkou
Yingkou () is a coastal prefecture-level city of central southern Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, on the northeastern shore of Liaodong Bay. It is the third-smallest city in Liaoning with a total area of , and the ninth most popul ...
, and Dalian
Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...
. At each station, ''Mantetsu'' built hotels for travelers and warehouses for goods. Japanese settlers were encouraged through the construction of schools, libraries, hospitals and public utilities
A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...
. The ''Mantetsu'' Research Wing was the centerpiece of Japan's colonial program, and instigated agricultural research
Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Profession ...
into development of soybean
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses.
Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu ...
farming. Land under cultivation expanded 70% in 20 years.[Coox, Nomonhan pp.21]
From 1916, ''Mantestu'' began to spin off a number of subsidiary companies, including Showa Steel Works, Dalian Ceramics, Dalian Oil & Fat, South Manchurian Glass, as well as flour mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...
s, sugar mills, electrical power plants, shale oil
Shale oil is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale rock fragments by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock ( kerogen) into synthetic oil and gas. The resulting ...
plants and chemical plants.
On 31 July 1917, the management of 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), a 1967 novel by Chaim ...
(''Sentetsu'') in Japanese-occupied Korea was transferred from the Railway Bureau of the Government-General of Korea to Mantetsu, which established the Mantetsu Keijō/Gyeongseong Railway Administration ( ja, 満鉄京城管理局, ; ko, 만철 경성 관리국, ''Mancheol Gyeongseong Gwalliguk''), and under Mantetsu control Korea's railway network was expanded rapidly. On 1 April 1925, management of Sentetsu was returned to the Railway Bureau, though Mantetsu retained control of the line along the Korea–Manchuria border from the port of Najin
Rajin-guyŏk () is a North Korean district on Rason in the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea) in the North Pacific Ocean on the northeast tip of North Korea. It is in the Kwanbuk region and location in the south of Rason. North of it lies the North ...
in Korea to Tumen in Manchuria and to Sangsambong in Korea. Mantetsu called this line the North Chosen Line
The North Chosen Line – specifically, the North Chosen West Line (北鮮西部線, ''Hokusen Seibu-sen''; 북선서부선, ''Bukseon Seobu-seon'') and the North Chosen East Line (北鮮東部線, ''Hokusen Tōbu-sen''; 북선동부선, ''Bukseon ...
, and it remained under Mantetsu control until 1945.
Company assets rose from 163 million yen in 1908 to over a billion yen in 1930. ''Mantetsu'' was by far the largest corporation in Japan, and also its most profitable, averaging rates of return from 25 to 45 percent per year. During the 1920s, Mantetsu provided for over a quarter of the Japanese government's tax revenue
Tax revenue is the income that is collected by governments through taxation. Taxation is the primary source of government revenue. Revenue may be extracted from sources such as individuals, public enterprises, trade, royalties on natural resour ...
s.[Young, Japan's Total Empire, pp 31-32]
Over 75% of ''Mantetsu's'' income was generated by its freight business, with the key to profitability coming from soybean exports, both to Japan proper and to Europe. Soybean production increased exponentially with increasing demand for soy oil, and for soy meal for use in fertilizer
A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
and animal feed
Animal feed is food given to domestic animals, especially livestock, in the course of animal husbandry. There are two basic types: fodder and forage. Used alone, the word ''feed'' more often refers to fodder. Animal feed is an important input to ...
. By 1927, half of the world's supply of soybean was from Manchuria and the efforts by ''Mantetsu'' to expand production and to ship to export ports was a classic example of an extractive colonial economy dependent on a single product.
In 1931, the Mukden Incident
The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
On September 18, 1931, ...
occurred, where the Japanese military faked an attack on the railway by Chinese partisans as a pretext for the Japanese invasion of Manchuria
The Empire of Japan's Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden Incident. At the war's end in February 1932, the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo. Their occupation lasted until the ...
.
''Mantetsu'' was also charged with a government-like role in managing the rail transportation system after the formation of Manchukuo
Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese ...
in 1932, including management of the (theoretically independent) Manchukuo National Railway
The Manchukuo National Railway (Traditional Chinese and Japanese kanji: , Japanese romanization: ''Manshū Kokuyū Tetsudō'') was the state-owned national railway company of Manchukuo. Generally called the "國線" ("National Line", ''Kokusen ...
. By 1938, Mantetsu had 72 subsidiary companies, development projects in 25 urban areas and carried 17,515,000 passengers per year. Between 1930 and 1940, the Japanese population of Manchukuo rose by 800,000 making ethnic Japanese the majority in many of the towns and cities served by ''Mantetsu''. ''Mantetsu'' prided itself on state-of-the-art urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
, with modern sewer systems, public park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...
s, and creative modern architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...
far in advance of what could be found in Japan itself. These things were possible due to ''Mantetsu's'' tremendous profitability, and its political power to seize property and silence opposition and dissent at will through its political connections to the military and totalitarian
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
national leadership.
In 1934, ''Mantetsu'' inaugurated the "Asia Express
The ''Asia Express'' ( ja, アジア号, translit=Ajia-gō, ) was a super express passenger train operated by the South Manchuria Railway (''Mantetsu'') from 1934 until 1943. This limited express, which began operation in November 1934 and was M ...
", a high speed train from Dalian to the Manchukuo capital of Xinjing (Changchun). Reaching a top speed of , the "Asia Express" was the fastest scheduled train in Asia at the time.
Changchun remained the break of gauge
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
point between the Russian and standard gauges in the 1930s, until the Chinese Eastern railway itself was bought by Manchukuo
Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese ...
and converted to the standard gauge in the mid-1930s.
In 1936, the company owned 466 locomotives, 554 coaches and 8134 goods wagons.
In 1945, the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
invaded and overran Manchukuo. Rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles ca ...
and movable equipment was looted and taken back to the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
; some was returned when the Chinese Communist
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
government came into power. ''Mantetsu'' itself was dissolved by order of the American occupation authorities in occupied Japan
Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the
Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United State ...
. The People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
government later merged the northern half of the South Manchuria Railway's mainline (the Renkyō Line) with other railway lines to form the present Beijing–Harbin railway.
Railway dining car service
In conjunction with magazine advertising by Japan Tourist Bureau (JTB), the railway attempted to create a unique food culture in Manchukuo. They offered a variety of special cuisine such as Yamato beef steak, Mongolian barbeque, and sorghum vulgare (kaoliang) confectionery in dining cars along the line and in the railway-operated Yamato Hotel. There was little uptake in the cuisine however after the fall of Manchukuo. [ ]
Network
* Anpō Line: Fengtian Fengtian (; postal: Fengtien; Manchu: ''Abkai imiyangga fu'') is:
* Shenyang, largest city and provincial capital of Liaoning province, which was formerly administered under Fengtian Fu, which was abolished in 1910
* Liaoning, the province formerl ...
–Andong
Andong () is a city in South Korea, and the capital of North Gyeongsang Province. It is the largest city in the northern part of the province with a population of 167,821 as of October 2010. The Nakdong River flows through the city. Andong is a ...
,
* Bushun Line: Sujiatun
Sujiatun District () is one of ten districts of the prefecture-level city of Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province, Northeast China, and forms part of the southern suburbs. The current population of Sujiatun is 430,000 and is located 15&nbs ...
–Fushun
Fushun (, formerly romanised as ''Fouchouen'', using French spelling, also as Fuxi ()) is a prefecture level city in Liaoning province, China, about east of Shenyang, with a total area of , of which is the city proper. Situated on the Hun Rive ...
, , electrified
* Eikō Line: Dashiqiao
Dashiqiao () is a county-level city in south-central Liaoning province, Northeast China. It is under the administration of the prefectural city of Yingkou, the downtown of which is to the west.
Administrative Divisions
There are five subdist ...
–Yingkou
Yingkou () is a coastal prefecture-level city of central southern Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, on the northeastern shore of Liaodong Bay. It is the third-smallest city in Liaoning with a total area of , and the ninth most popul ...
,
* Endai Colliery Line: Yantai
Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao on the ...
– Yantai Colliery, , freight only
* Futō Line: Shahekou
Shahekou District () is one of the seven districts of Dalian, Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, forming part of the urban core. It is located in the western portion of the city. Its area is and its permanent population is 693,140, ma ...
– Dalian Quay, , freight only
* Gusai Line: Dalian
Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...
– Wuqi, , freight only
* Kanseishi Line: Nanguangling– Dalian Ganjingzi Quay, , freight only
* Kinjō Line: Jinzhou
Jinzhou (, ), formerly Chinchow, is a coastal prefecture-level city in central-west Liaoning province, China. It is a geographically strategic city located in the Liaoxi Corridor, which connects most of the land transports between North Chin ...
– Chengzitan,
* Kon'yu Connecting Line: Hunhe– Yushutai, , freight only
* North Chosen East Line: Tumen, Manchukuo– Namyang, 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 ...
–Unggi
Sonbong County, formerly called Unggi ( Chosŏn'gŭl: 웅기, Hancha: 雄基), is a subdivision of the North Korean city of Rason. It is located at the northeastern extreme of North Korea, bordering Russia and China. It lies on Unggi Bay, an ext ...
, Korea,
* North Chosen West Line: Sangsambong– Namyang (entirely in Korea)
* Nyūzen Line: Shahekou– Ruchuan Quay, , freight only
* Rashinfutō Line: Najin
Rajin-guyŏk () is a North Korean district on Rason in the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea) in the North Pacific Ocean on the northeast tip of North Korea. It is in the Kwanbuk region and location in the south of Rason. North of it lies the North ...
– Najin Quay, , freight only (entirely in Korea)
* Renkyō Line: Dalian
Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...
– Xinjing,
* Ryojun Line: Zhoushuizi
Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport is the airport serving the city of Dalian in Liaoning Province, China. It is located in Ganjingzi District, about northwest of the city center. In 2018 the airport handled 18,758,171 passengers, making i ...
– Lüshun,
* Ryūshuton Line: Dafangshen– Liushutun,
* Jōhei Line: Donggwan– Seongpyeong, (owned by 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), a 1967 novel by Chaim ...
)
* Tōho Line: Cheongseong– Tongpo, (owned by 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), a 1967 novel by Chaim ...
)
* Yūra Line: Unggi–Najin
Rajin-guyŏk () is a North Korean district on Rason in the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea) in the North Pacific Ocean on the northeast tip of North Korea. It is in the Kwanbuk region and location in the south of Rason. North of it lies the North ...
, (entirely in Korea)
''Mantetsu'' presidents
See also
* Rolling stock of the South Manchuria Railway
* Manchukuo National Railway
The Manchukuo National Railway (Traditional Chinese and Japanese kanji: , Japanese romanization: ''Manshū Kokuyū Tetsudō'') was the state-owned national railway company of Manchukuo. Generally called the "國線" ("National Line", ''Kokusen ...
* Kwantung Leased Territory
The Kwantung Leased Territory ( ja, 關東州, ''Kantō-shū''; ) was a leased territory of the Empire of Japan in the Liaodong Peninsula from 1905 to 1945.
Japan first acquired Kwantung from the Qing Empire in perpetuity in 1895 in the Tr ...
* South Manchuria Railway Zone
The South Manchuria Railway Zone ( ja, 南満州鉄道附属地, translit=Minami Manshū Tetsudō Fuzoku-chi; ) or SMR Zone, was the area of Japanese extraterritorial rights in northeast China, in connection with the operation of the South Man ...
* Yamato Hotels
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
WorldStatesmen- China- foreign colonies
{{Authority control
Railway lines in China
Defunct railway companies of Japan
Rail transport in Jilin
Rail transport in Liaoning
Rail transport in Manchukuo
History of Manchuria
Foreign relations of the Republic of China (1912–1949)
Foreign relations of the Empire of Japan
Kwantung Leased Territory
Russian Empire
Companies in Manchukuo
Defunct companies of Japan
Defunct companies of Russia
Railway companies established in 1906
Railway companies disestablished in 1945
Chinese companies established in 1906
1945 disestablishments in China
1945 disestablishments in the Japanese colonial empire
3 ft 6 in gauge railways in China
Standard gauge railways in China
Defunct railway companies of China