JAPANESE RAILWAY HISTORY

Dawn of Japanese Railways
Eiichi Aoki

■ Shimbashi Station,from a woodprint
Courtesy : Transportation
Museum, Tokyo

Railway construction planand its social background
The ruling Tokugawa Shogunate,
which had kept Japan in international
isolation for 260 years, was replaced by
the Meiji government in 1868. This
marked the beginning of Japan's modernization with the new government
ending feudalism and introducing
Western ideas.
Nationwide distribution systems already existed in the Edo period. Longdistance transportation over hundreds
or thousands of kilometers was nothing
new. People were sending rice from theTohoku and Hokuriku regions to Edo(now Tokyo) and Osaka. Fish-meal fertilizers were being sent from Hokkaido
to regions along the Inland Sea. The
main means of transport at that time
was shipping. The key routes wereformed by navigation along the coastand rivers.
By contrast, road transport wasprimitive. Commodities were carriedby men and horses because there wereno carriages. Unlike in the West, there
was a world of difference between sea
and road transport in Japan. Large rivers were obstacles to road traffic because there were no bridges.
Construction of railways, particularly between Tokyo and Yokohama,and Osaka and Kobe, was suggested
several times by foreigners and someJapanese prior to the Meiji government. Their advocators proposed railways between ports and large cities but
such plans never bore fruit due to thefall of the Shogunate. If they had been

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Japan Railway & Transport Review / March 1994

implemented, foreigners might have
won railway rights in Japan.
In 1869, Harry Parkes, the British
Minister to Japan, advocated that railways would help modernize Japan insisting that the government build themas soon as possible. 1869 was anotherpoor year for the rice harvest in Tohoku
and Parkes explained that railways
could carry rice quickly from other areas to Tohoku thereby minimizing theeffects of famine. The Meiji government agreed to build railways for political reasons, to put an end to feudalism
and centralise power in Japan.

Tokyo-Yokohama Railway
On 7 December 1869, Harry Parkes
met the heads of the Meiji government
to discuss basic measures for introducing railways and telegrams in Japan.
The Japanese leaders at the discussion included Tomomi Iwakura (VicePremier), Nobuyoshi Sawa (Ministerof Foreign Affairs), Shigenobu Okuma(Vice Minister of Finance), andHirobumi Ito (Assistant Vice Ministerof Finance). Okuma and Ito later tookcharge of building railways. During
the discussion, it was decided to build
the first line between Tokyo and Kobe.
It was also decided to build a branchfrom an appropriate location near
Lake Biwa to Tsuruga, a town on theSea of Japan.
Funds were to be procured by Horatio

Nelson Lay, an Englishman introduced
to the Meiji government by Parkes. Laysold railway bonds in London. He began hiring British engineers to design
and build railways in Japan. He alsobegan purchasing the necessary equipment for the Meiji government.
Lay had signed a loan contract withthe Japanese government at an annualinterest rate of 12% and a 10-year termof payment. However, he began selling
railway bonds in London at an annual
rate of 9% with an issue price of 98% of
the face value. In other words, Lay intended to earn a 3% margin from every
bond he sold. This led to distrust andthe Japanese government consulted thehead of the Yokohama branch of theOriental Bank (a British bank) with theresult that the government terminatedthe contract with Lay, and appointed
the bank as its representative in London.
It was decided to build the country's
first railway over the 29-km distance
between Tokyo, Japan's capital, andYokohama, one of the few ports open forinternational trade at that time. The
preliminary survey work began on 25April 1870. The terminal in Tokyo wasto be built at Shimbashi and the terminal in Yokohama at Noge Kaigan.
These two places were chosen because
they were close to the city sections andthe foreign settlements. The trainswere to run on the 3' 6" (1,067 mm)
gauge tracks used in many British coloCopyright © 1994 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

JAPANESE RAILWAY HISTORY

1877. The government had to issue
enormous amounts of inconvertible
notes to quell the riots. This led to inflation.
In 1880, Finance Minister Masayoshi
Matsukata took on a curtailment policy
and started selling government-run
plants and factories to the private sector. Railway construction was slowed
for the same reason. He also approved
privately-owned railway operations.
In 1881, Nippon Railway was authorized to run between Tokyo andTohoku, and the first private service■ A tank locomotive, built by Sharp Stewart & Co., at Shimbashi Station.

nies at that time.
The railway construction was neverentirely free of opposition during thefirst years of the new government. The
major opposition came from the military which put priority on armaments
and isolationism. Isolationism wasquite common among Japanese people
who feared the railway being built byforeign engineers as a strange foreigntool.
The first shipment of ten tank locomotives and 58 two-axle passenger carriages from Britain arrived inYokohama in September 1871. On 12June 1872, two daily train services
started between Shinagawa andYokohama, marking the start of regular passenger trains in Japan. Six daily
services began two days later. The twotrains going in opposite directions
passed on sidetracks at Kawasaki. Services between Shimbashi andShinagawa were delayed until Octoberbecause the military would not allow
tracks on their land facing Tokyo Bay.
The railway advocates had to build a
new embankment for the tracks.
The Meiji Emperor attended theopening ceremony on 14 October 1872
at Shimbashi and Yokohama stations
making a round-trip passenger on thetrain between the two terminals. The
number of daily round-trip services wasincreased to nine the following day.
There were four stations on the line:
Shinagawa, Kawasaki, Tsurumi, andKanagawa. It took 35 minutes from one
terminal to the other. Freight services
started on 15 September 1873.
The original Shimbashi Station wasrenamed Shiodome Station and becamea freight yard when a new terminal (ToCopyright © 1994 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

Courtesy : Transportation Museum, Tokyokyo Central) was opened in 1914 nearthe Imperial Palace. Shiodome wasclosed recently and awaits urban redevelopment. The original Yokohama
Station is now called Sakuragicho; thesurrounding area also awaits redevelopment.
The original railway between
Shimbashi and Yokohama was under
direct management of the government.
In August 1871, it was put under control of the Ministry of Public Works,
whose major role was introducing
Western technology.
Masaru Inoue, the first Director ofRailways in Japan, studied railway andmining at University College, London.

Courtesy : Transportation Museum, Tokyo

Edmund Morel (1841-1871)

Expansion of railway network
On 25 August 1870, just 4 months after surveying began for the Shimbashi
to Yokohama section, surveying work
began between Osaka and Kobe. Regular service started on 11 May 1874. The
first wrought-iron bridge and tunnel inJapan (running under a raised-bedriver) were built in this section. Theline was later extended to Kyoto in 1876
and to Otsu in 1880. This section included the Osakayama Tunnel (646mlong), Japan's first mountain tunnel
and the first tunnel to be designed andbuilt by Japanese engineers.
The Japanese government was suffering from a financial crisis at thetime. The major cause was rapid introduction of Western technologies (construction of government-run plants andfactories) and compensation for people
deprived of feudal privileges. Riots
started by former samurai occurred inWestern Japan between 1874 andAfter studying civil engineering at King's College,London, Edmund Morel was engaged in railway
construction in many countries including New
Zealand and Australia. In April 1870, he was hiredby the Japanese government as first Engineer-inChief. His role included guiding and supervisingrailway construction as well as screening
engineers and providing advice about inspectionof foreign equipment and instruments arriving inJapan.
Morel's most important contribution during his
short assignment in Japan was making significant
proposals to the Japanese government regarding
engineering administration and education. The
government established the Ministry of Public
Works in December 1870 on his advice. The newministry's function was integrating introduction offoreign technologies and their application. The
Engineering College (predecessor of Tokyo
Imperial Technical University) was established in
April of the following year to educate key
engineers.
Morel was later taken ill and the Japanesegovernment suggested transferring him to India tocure his tuberculosis. But his physical condition
prevented him from making the long journey andhe died on 5 November 1871. His Japanese wife
was also infected by tuberculosis while caring forher dying husband She died just half a day afterhim. Their tombs in Yokohama are designated anational railway memorial.

Japan Railway & Transport Review / March 1994

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JAPANESE RAILWAY HISTORY

Railway Network in Japan, on 1 January 1890

began in 1883 between Ueno (on thenorth side of Tokyo) and Kumagaya.
By 1891, the company had completedits line between Ueno and Aomori
through northeastern Honshu.
Another railway was completed in1882 in Hokkaido. Its primary objective
was shipping coal from the Horonai coalmine to the port of Otaru (Temiya Station). This railway was designed andbuilt under the guidance of American
engineers. The locomotives and mostother equipment were imported fromthe United States.
A mining railway was completed in1880 to transport iron ore to theKamaishi Iron Mill on 2' 9" (838 mm)
narrow-gauge tracks.

Contributions by foreign
engineers
A large number of British engineers
were hired by the Japanese government in the early stage of Japanese
railways. Their specialities ranged
from civil engineering and machinery
for manufacturing and repairing rolling stock, to scheduling train services
and operations. Nearly 300 foreigners
in total (mostly British) were also
hired for various posts. Their jobs in-cluded directors, engineers-in-chief,
locomotive superintendents, traffic
managers and other key posts, as wellas mechanics, masons, plasterers, carpenters, engine drivers, track maintenance and other field workers. They
were excellent teachers and skilledworkers and were essential to the railway construction and management.
Hiring of foreigners for railways began in 1870. The number rose to 119 inJune 1874, but fell afterwards especially when the curtailment policy wasput into effect in 1881. During thoseyears, foreign engineers taught basictechniques and valuable know-how totheir Japanese counterparts. They also
made special efforts to educate key railway engineers in Japan.
In May 1877, the Engineer Training
College was opened at Osaka Station.
Young Japanese who passed the entrance examination were admitted tolearn civil engineering and otherskills. A British Engineer-in-Chief, T.
R. Shervinton was appointed masterinstructor. Twenty-four students had
graduated by the time the school
closed in 1882. These graduates wereengaged in building the railway between Kyoto and Otsu beginning in
1878. When the work was completed,they assumed key posts in designingand building new railways in otherparts of the country.
By 1880, there were enough capable
Japanese engineers to replace foreigners in most key posts except in designing steam locomotives and bridges
where foreigners continued the design
work until the 1890s. They included
Richard Francis Trevithick and his
brother Francis Henry Trevithick,grandsons of Richard Trevithick theinventor of the steam engine. They
were both locomotive engineers, andwere hired by the Japanese government from 1888 to 1904 and from 1876
to 1897, respectively. They made alarge contribution by guiding and supervising the design and manufactureof locomotives.
Many of the British engineers in thekey posts were devoted to learning andvery dedicated to their duties. They
wrote many articles about Japanese
railways in technical periodicals inBritain.
■Eiichi Aoki
After graduating from the Faculty of Science at Chiba University in 1957, Mr. Aoki received adoctorate in science from the Tokyo University of Education (now called Tsukuba University). After
serving at Tsuru City University and Tokyo Gakugei University as an assistant professor, he became a professor at Tokyo Gakugei University in 1978. He specialises in transportation geography
and is also a leading Japanese scholar of the history of railways and marine transportation. Mr.
Aoki is now president of the Japan Railway History Society. His publications include World Historyof Sea Power and Japanese Railway—Its Rise and Development.

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Japan Railway & Transport Review / March 1994

Copyright © 1994 EJRCF. All rights reserved.