Development of Large Cities and Progress in Railway Transportation Shinichi Kato

Japanese Railwa Japanese Railway History 7

The Japanese economy achieved sharp Among such operators were Keihin Elec- private railway companies were generally growth in its heavy and chemical indus- tric Express Railway (started services be- lower than those of the national railway, tries after WWI. Tokyo, Osaka and other tween Shinagawa and Yokohama in 1905 so the latter played a vital role in the trans- big cities saw a marked concentration of and is now Keihin Electric Express Rail- portation market. wealth and population, leading to rapid way Co.), Keisei Electric Tramways (started In Osaka, although the national railway expansion of urban areas. By the mid- operation in 1912 and is now Keisei Elec- formed the backbone of railway transpor- 1920s, the population of the Tokyo met- tric Railway Co.) and Keio Electric Tram- tation from the initial stages, the transpor- ropolitan area had already topped 4.1 ways (started operation in 1913 and is tation market of cities such as Kobe (30 million. It was against such a backdrop now Keio Teito Electric Railway Co.). km from Osaka), and Kyoto (45 km from that railways in cities underwent both There were newcomers as well. Meguro Osaka) was different structurally from To- qualitative development as a means of Kamata Electric Railways (currently Tokyu kyo. Private railway operators were al- urban transportation and rapid expansion Corporation) started business in 1923 and ready developing interurban type transit of networks between the 1920s and early developed its network in the southwest systems. Such companies included 1930s. part of Tokyo partly by merging with Hanshin Electric Railway (opened a route The trunk line network of the national rail- neighbouring operators. Odawara Ex- between Osaka and Kobe in 1905), way constituted the basic framework of press Railway (currently Odakyu Electric Keihan Electric Railway Co. (started ser- the railway transportation in Tokyo. The Railway) opened the entire 82.5-km route vices between Osaka and Kyoto in 1910), Tokyo municipal government operated between Tokyo (Shinjuku) and Odawara Osaka Electric Tramways (began business trams running inside the city of Tokyo, in 1927. Another 94.5 kilometers from in 1914 and is now Kinki Nippon Rail- while private railway operators comple- Tokyo to Nikko was opened by Tobu Rail- way Co.) and Hanshin Electric Express mented the national railway by develop- way Co. Of the new networks, the part Railway (started services between Osaka ing their routes from the edge of down- within a 30-km radius of Tokyo station can and Kobe in 1920 and is now Hankyu town areas to suburbs. Development in be considered Tokyo urban transportation. Corporation). Nankai Railway (now urban transportation functions of the na- The standards of facilities owned by the Nankai Electric Railway Co.) had used tional railway has already been touched upon in the previous article in this series. National railway urban train routes con- tinued to be extended and played a cen- y tral role in encouraging the development of railway transportation in Tokyo. Among private railway operators, considerable Histor progress was seen in those companies building new routes to the suburbs. Op- erators still using steam locomotives adopted electric trains, strongly influ- enced by expanding electrification of the national railways. These private opera- Due to copyright issues, the original photo cannot be shown. tors included Tobu Railway Co. (started business in 1899, and electrified in 1924) and Musashino Railway (began operation in 1915, electrified in 1922, and is currently Seibu Railway Co.). The electric railways were originally laid out based on tram specifications and ran along roads to suburbs. They developed into a rapid transit system with improve- ments in rails, enlargement of numbers of rolling stock as well as use of elevated or Shinkeihan Railway Series D100 (Hankyu Corporation)

y underground lines near the termini.

44 Japan Railway & Transport Review • September 1996 Copyright © 1996 EJRCF. All rights reserved. steam locomotives since its establishment expanded and improved, shops increased. in 1885, but electrified in 1907. These In 1929, the company eventually started private companies, which competed with operating Hankyu Department Store. All rather than complemented the national these developments, which served as a railway, maintained high standards from role model for diversification of private the start. But as they were actively en- railway business management, were led gaged in promoting higher-speed electric by Ichizo Kobayashi, who had headed the trains, they consequently enjoyed much company since its establishment. In To- higher standards than their counterparts kyo, Keita Goto, the president of Meguro in Tokyo. Osaka, like Tokyo, also saw Kamata Electric Railways (currently Tokyu some newcomers in the railway business, Corporation), learned directly from including Shinkeihan Railway (established Kobayashi about management methods in 1928 and later merged with Hanshin and implemented them in his own Electric Express Railway), Hanwa Electric company’s diversification. One of the (Transportation Museum) Railway (opened in 1930 and later nation- most characteristic aspects of Goto’s ap- alized) and Sangu Electric Express Rail- proach was how the company attracted Ichizo Kobayashi (1873-1957) way (opened in 1931 and now Kinki universities and other educational insti- Ichizo Kobayashi was the founder of the Nippon Railway). They operated high- tutions originally located in the urban present Hankyu Corporation and was one speed trains incorporating state-of-the-art centres to areas along its railway routes. of the leading executives of the private technologies for the time. Some even However, for a majority of operators, the railway industry in Japan. As an ener- outperformed the national railway. railway business was still the mainstay of getic innovative president, Kobayashi total revenues. It was only after WWII contributed to the progress of railway management as a service industry dur- Formation of Urban that the pattern of so-called Japanese-type urban private railways featuring diversi- ing the period when the urban private Private Railway Management railways were taking shape after main- fied management took shape. line railways came under ownership of Private railway companies operating on Most significant among the different busi- the national government. As described the outskirts of Tokyo and Osaka at- nesses of the private railway operators in the main text, he promoted land de- tempted to diversify their management in were department-store operations and velopment, department store operation, order to stimulate passenger transporta- residential land development. It is com- tourist site development, etc., in relation tion demand. They looked at business mon practice for urban private railway to the mainstay railway business, thereby areas closely related to urban life, such companies to construct buildings accom- creating a management style for Japa- as development and sale of residential modating station facilities as well as de- nese urban private railways. His talent land along their lines, construction and partment stores or retail shops in the up- for writing (he once wished to be a nov- operation of department stores and devel- per floors. This pattern has been sustained elist) as well as his skills in public rela- opment of tourist sites along the routes as into modern times, and owning a depart- tions and advertising, helped his appeal well as inducement of passengers to those ment store is something like a status sym- to the public. Among the variety of com- sites. A typical example of systematic di- bol for urban private railway companies. pany businesses, a girls’ opera troupe, versification was seen in the approach The mainstream Japanese department which attracted spectators along the rail- taken by Osaka’s Hanshin Electric Express stores at that time had always been affili- way lines, is uniquely recognized world- Railway (now Hankyu Corporation). The ated with major commercial business dat- wide and still enjoys nationwide popu- company initially developed and sold resi- ing back to the Edo Period (1603 to 1868) larity. The company’s film and theatre dential areas in the suburbs of Osaka with and mainly catered to upscale markets. division, which evolved from the opera the aim of securing passengers for its first But the newcomers associated with pri- troupe, is a major player in the industry railway route. Then, it began running vate railway companies targeted the gen- in Japan. Kobayashi’s competence in zoos, sports arenas, theatres and other eral mass market and came to constitute corporate management brought him the amusement facilities. Furthermore, a busi- a second force in the industry, still main- position of president of Tokyo Electric ness that started with a small-scale res- taining that position today. Private rail- Light Company, Japan’s largest electric utility, before WWII. He was also a gov- taurant in its station building at Osaka, way companies also played a large role ernment minister in 1940 and 1945. later grew, and, as station buildings were in development of residential land in Ja-

Transportation inside Tokyo

In late 1880s, when building of electric railways in Tokyo was planned, heated discussion took place as to whether the railways should be public or private. The private sector won the debate and three private operators, which initially took up Due to copyright issues, the original photo cannot be shown. the task, merged into a single organiza- tion in 1906. But this, in turn, was ac- quired by the municipal government of Tokyo in 1911 and came under public management. The total length of tram routes operated commercially by the To- kyo city government reached 140 km in the 1920s and peaked in the 1930s at 210 km. The maximum number of tramcars Hankyu Umeda Railway Terminal before WWII (Hankyu Corporation) was 1,400 during the peak, and the aver- age number of passengers each day pan. While many of the specialized residential land development business passed 1.3 million. Thus, the electric dential land developers were extremely boomed in the suburbs of big cities after trams in Tokyo were among the largest small, urban private railway operators WWII, the role of private railway opera- scale in the world. But the facilities were were outstanding in both business scale tors as land developers inevitably in- poor quality. Consequently, the trams and social trust they enjoyed. As the resi- creased. went through management hardships dur-

Suburban Tokyo Rail Network in 1934 (Ministry of Railways Official Timetable)

46 Japan Railway & Transport Review • September 1996 Copyright © 1996 EJRCF. All rights reserved. ing the 1920s. The first reason was the enormous demand for transportation in the city, causing difficulties in meeting demand. The tram railway was always preoccupied with increasing and reinforc- ing facilities aimed at securing quantity rather than quality. Second, since the municipally-operated transport business was limited to inside Tokyo due to admin- istrative zoning, it could not keep pace with the changes taking place in the market structure as the Tokyo metropolitan area expanded to include neighbouring regions. The national railway in Tokyo also dealt a blow to trams because it was beginning to take on the functions of city transport. The third reason was that in- tervention by politicians forced the Tokyo municipal government to pay a high price Trams in Nihonbashi in 1935 (Transportation Museum) to acquire the private railway company originally operating the tram railway. As mous damage in the Great Kanto Earth- Because the transport programmes oper- a result, capital costs burdened its man- quake of 1923. No subsidies or loans ated by the Tokyo municipal government agement. Further pressure on the city were then extended by the national gov- were in such difficulties, the government trams was caused by costs incurred to re- ernment for transport run by local gov- could not take the initiative in improving pair the tram railway, which suffered enor- ernment. and operating the urban transport system

Suburban Rail Network around Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and Nagoya in 1934 (Ministry of Railways Official Timetable)

as a whole in Tokyo. In the 1930s, when discussion emerged about unification of the transit system under public management modelled after experiences in Eu- rope, Tokyo city ran an active campaign to gain control, but conditions did not al- low it.

Arrival of Subways

The first application for approval to build an urban underground railway was sub- mitted in 1917 by Tokuji Hayakawa, a pioneer in this field. After researching actual systems in London, Paris and New York, Hayakawa advocated subway construction in Tokyo. He succeeded in or-

ganizing a private company called Tokyo Early Subway at Ueno Station (Transportation Museum) Underground Railway Company and opened initial services of 2.2-km in 1927. routes in Tokyo fell under the responsibil- In Osaka, a 7.4-km underground railway By 1934, the company extended the line ity of the municipal government. How- was built by the municipal government to 8.0 km connecting Asakusa and ever, the problem was that constraints in before WWII, becoming Japan’s first pub- Shimbashi through the busiest commer- procuring funds hindered it from working lic subway. The relatively healthy finan- cial district of Tokyo at that time. In a on the plan, causing construction delays. cial structure of the transport business in separate move, another company set up As a second best option, private compa- the city contributed to its success. The in 1934, called Tokyo Rapid Transit Com- nies were given exceptional permission project was characterized by its method pany opened a 6.3-km route between to build subways, but no subsidies or as- of financing construction, whereby ben- Shibuya and Shimbashi. Both were oper- sistance programs were available for ur- eficiaries were asked to bear costs. ated practically as a single line, forming ban transportation before WWII. As a re- the only subway route in Tokyo before sult, Tokyo ended up with subways built WWII. Tunnel structure, the third-rail only on those routes with a potential for method, and other technical specifications high profits. The two private companies were modelled after the New York Sub- that opened subway services constructed way System. and ran the businesses with no public as- The task facing the Tokyo city subway plan sistance at all. The master plan formu- was to develop a high-speed railway net- lated in 1920 survived until the 1960s and work within the city comparable to the 1970s and route development was con- one forming between the city and the sub- ducted based on the plan. urbs, and thus to complete a rapid transit system in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The obvious limits to the potential of the Shinichi Kato tram railway stimulated the government to respond to the activities of Hayakawa Mr Kato graduated in economics from Tokyo University in 1973, and, after joining the Ministry of Finance where his responsibilities included research into fiscal policy and railway history, he became and others. Finally, in 1920 a master plan Professor of Finance Study in the Department of Economics at Teikyo University in June 1996. for developing subways lines totalling 80 He is the author of Fiscal and Monetary Policies During the Reconstruction and High-Growth Period, km in length was adopted as part of the and Bibliography of Japanese Private Railways and Bus History. He is currently a board member of Tokyo Metropolitan City Plan. Generally the Railway History Society. speaking, the development of subway