| Japanese National Railways | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Japan, nationwide |
| Dates of operation | 1949–1987 |
| Predecessor | Japanese Government Railways |
| Successor | Japan Railways Group |
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in), 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
| Length | 21,421.1 km (13,310.5 mi) (at peak, 1981) |
| Headquarters | Tokyo |
Japanese National Railways (日本国有鉄道 Nippon Kokuyū Tetsudō), abbreviated Kokutetsu (国鉄) or "JNR", was the national railway network of Japan from 1949 to 1987.
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The term Kokuyū Tetsudō "state-owned railway" originally referred to a network of railway lines operated by nationalized companies under the control of the Railway Institute following the nationalization in 1906 and 1907. 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 (JGR) to refer their network in English. During World War II, many JGR lines were dismantled to supply steel for the war effort.
In 1949, JGR was reorganized into a state-owned public corporation by a directive of the U.S. General HQ in Tokyo. The new corporation enjoyed many successes, including the 1964 inauguration of high-speed Shinkansen service. However, the network's rapid expansion also pulled it further and further into debt as it took out huge loans to fund new capital projects.
By 1987, JNR's debt was over ¥27 trillion ($280 billion at 2009 exchange rates) and the company was spending ¥147 for every ¥100 earned.[1] That year, the network was privatized by an act of the Diet of Japan, and divided into several companies collectively called the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). Contemporary offspring of JNR include the East Japan Railway Company, West Japan Railway Company, and Central Japan Railway Company.
As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated 19,756.8 km (12,276.3 mi) of narrow gauge (1,067 mm/3 ft 6 in) railways in all 46 prefectures of Japan (Okinawa, the 47th prefecture, returned to the Japanese administration in 1972 but no JNR line existed in Okinawa). This figure expanded to 21,421.1 km (13,310.5 mi) in 1981 (excluding Shinkansen), but later reduced to 19,633.6 km (12,199.8 mi) as of March 31st, 1987, the last day of JNR.[3]
JNR operated both passenger and freight services.
Shinkansen, the world-first high-speed railway was debuted by JNR in 1964. By the end of JNR in 1987, four lines were constructed:
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 companies are the successors of the bus operation of JNR.
JNR operated ferries to connect railway networks separated by sea or to meet other local demands:
Out of three routes assigned to JR companies in 1987, only the Miyajima Ferry remains active as of 2010.
JNR as a public corporation (from 1949 to 1987) experienced five major accidents (including two shipwrecks of railway ferries) with casualties more than 100:
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 by the communists, doubts have been raised as to the validity of this conclusion.
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.[4][5] They criticized JNR's collaboration in the Vietnam War 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.[6]
As such, the relationship with labor unions was always a difficult problem for JNR. Since public workers were prohibited to strike, 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 of angered passengers at Ageo Station in Saitama Prefecture (Ageo incident).[7] 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.[8]
Between 1950 and 1965, JNR indirectly owned a professional baseball team named Kokutetsu Swallows (国鉄スワローズ Kokutetsu Suwarōzu). Swallow was a symbol of JNR as it is the English equivalent of Japanese Tsubame, the name of a deluxe train of JNR in 1950s.
Kokutetsu Swallows are the predecessors of present-day Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Japanese_National_Railways Japanese National Railways] at Wikimedia Commons
| past: Japanese Government Railways | Japanese National Railways | JNR Settlement Corporation | ||||||
| Passenger Railway Companies | JR Hokkaido | JR East | JR Central | JR West | JR Shikoku | JR Kyushu |
| JR Bus Companies | JR Bus Hokkaido | JR Bus Tohoku | JR Tokai Bus | West JR Bus | JR Shikoku Bus | JR Kyushu Bus |
| JR Bus Kanto | Chugoku JR Bus | |||||
| JR bustech | ||||||
| Smart cards | Kitaca | Suica | TOICA | ICOCA | To be introduced in 2014 | SUGOCA |
| Others | JR Freight | RTRI | JR Systems | |||
| Description companies | JRTT | |||||
| See also | Shinkansen - Railway Museum - Modern Transportation Museum - SCMaglev and Railway Park - SoftBank Telecom | |||||