Nippon Railway

Nippon Railway

Locale	Japan
Dates of operation	1883–1906
Successor	Japanese Government Railways
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Length	860.8 miles (1906)
Headquarters	Tokyo

Nippon Railway (日本鉄道 Nippon Tetsudō) was the first private railway company in the history of Japan. The company built trunk lines connecting Tokyo with the Tōhoku region to the northeast. Most of its lines came under the control of Japanese Government Railways following nationalization in 1906, and many are now operated by East Japan Railway Company.

Outline

The company was incorporated in 1881 as the first privately funded railway company in Japan, where the railways had been built only by the imperial government since early 1870s. If, however, the definition of "railway" includes horsecars, Nippon Railway is behind Tokyo Bashatetsudō, established in 1880 as the first private railway in Japan.

Major investors to the company were kazoku, led by the highest-class court noble Iwakura Tomomi. The company, incorporated to help expansion of national railway network in line with the national policy, received strong support from the government in both technically and financially.

The first 38 miles (61 km) of the railway, between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Kumagaya Station in Kumagaya, Saitama, opened on July 28, 1883.^[1] The mainline to Aomori was completed in 1891.^[2]

The company expanded the railway by means of both construction and acquisition of other companies. As of 1906, it operated 860.8 miles (1,385.3 km) of railways including the present-day Tōhoku Main Line, Jōban Line, Takasaki Line and Yamanote Line.

On November 1, 1906, the entire operation of the company was purchased by the government of Japan under the Railway Nationalization Act. Consequently, the company was dissolved.

List of lines

Operation of Nippon Railway as of October 31, 1906^[3]

Endpoints	Length (miles)	Line names (designated after nationalization)	Notes
Ueno – Aomori	456.9	Tōhoku Main Line
Nippori – Mikawashima	0.8	Jōban Line
Ōmiya – Maebashi	52.5	Takasaki Line, Ryōmō Line
Oyama – Maebashi	50.9	Ryōmō Line
Oyama – Tomobe	31.4	Mito Line
Tabata – Iwanuma	213.6	Jōban Line
Tabata – Ikebukuro	3.3	Yamanote Line
Shinagawa – Akabane	13.0	Yamanote Line, Akabane Line
Utsunomiya – Nikkō	25.0	Nikkō Line
Iwakiri – Shiogama	4.3	Shiogama Line
Shiriuchi (present-day Hachinohe) – Minato	5.1	Hachinohe Line
Ueno – Akihabara	1.2	Tōhoku Main Line	Freight
Mikawashima – Sumidagawa	2.0	Jōban Line	Freight
Mito – Nakagawa	0.8	Jōban Line	Freight
Total	860.8

Rolling stock

Fleet of Nippon Railway^[4]

Year	Steam locomotives	Passenger cars	Freight cars etc.
			Wagons	Trucks
1890	54	158	763
1900	286	824	1,646	1,957
1905	356	857	2,345	3,386

Notes

1. Ishino, p. 323, vol. I
2. Free, Early Japanese Railways 1853–1914: Engineering Triumphs That Transformed Meiji-era Japan, Tuttle Publishing, 2008 (ISBN 4805310065)
3. Ishino, p. 324, vol. I
4. Wakuda, p. 64

References

• Ishino, Tetsu et al. (eds.) (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR] (in Japanese). {{{1}}}. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. {{{2}}}. ISBN 4533029809.
• Wakuda, Yasuo (1993). Shitetsushi Handobukku (in Japanese). Tokyo: Denkisha Kenkyūkai. ISBN 4-88548-065-5.