Railway Stations and Local Communities in Japan Kuniaki Ito and Masatsugu Chiba
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Feature New Stations Railway Stations and Local Communities in Japan Kuniaki Ito and Masatsugu Chiba Evolving Relationships the cities began developing housing Tokyo to Aomori, the northern tip of the between Station Buildings and projects to meet the growing demand for Honshu main island, and a line from Kobe Local Communities suburban homes. to Bakan (present-day Shimonoseki, the The suburbs became a new type of local western tip of Honshu) as well as trunk When Japan’s first railway was opened community and the relationship they lines in Kyushu and Hokkaido. in 1872 between Tokyo and Yokohama, formed with the railways was entirely The location of early stations suggests the nation was keen to absorb the culture different from the previous relationship how local communities reacted to the and civilization of the West. between traditional communities and expanding railways. Years before the Westernization was also seen as a way railways. The identity of the new suburbs 1906–07 nationalization, when the to ensure that Japan was treated as an was a class identity—a class of people private Nippon Railway was laying track equal among nations. At that time, East whom the railway companies expected toward Sendai (northern Honshu), Asia was in a period of instability with as their ideal customers. For suburban influential merchants asked the company the Western powers eager to secure a dwellers, the station was not a place to build a station close to the existing toehold in the region. The new Meiji extolling the advantages of business district and succeeded in government knew that Japan had to Westernization, but a building that gave changing the company’s initial plan to quickly achieve its own industrial them their identity as a community. It locate the station elsewhere1. In old post revolution and prepare its defenses. was an interface promoting towns along the Tokaido highway, some Railways carrying large volumes of freight communication from the new suburban innkeepers encouraged the railway to and passengers soon became essential to community to the outside world. build a nearby station, while others tried the development of the nation. They Stations are an interface between to keep them away, depending on how became a symbol of modernization communities and railway companies (or they thought trains would affect their promoted by a government that exerted the government). When one or both sides businesses. Some regions did not want centralized control over the country. experience a change, the relationship rail service because they disliked the More than roads could ever show, changes too. By examining the changes central government dominated by railways demonstrated that the regions in the architectural styles and functions powerful people from southern Kyushu were tied to the centre. The locomotives of stations, we can better understand the and western Honshu2—a political were powerful technological tools, evolution of relationship between alliance that overthrew the Shogunate inspiring awe, excitement, and communities and railways. and promoted Westernization. Many sometimes disapproval. people objected to the steam locomotives Stations, too, became symbols and agents Railways Receive Mixed because of the smoke and sparks. of the nation’s modernization. In the Welcome But it did not take long for these negative early days there were no newspapers or feelings to give way to the realization that radio, so stations became a conduit for Japan’s railway quickly grew into an the train offered a very convenient way information and news. The trains and extensive network across the country. The to travel. As people became accustomed stations showed people the advantages government built the first few lines, but to the new technology, they came to of a society based on technology and due to the lack of funds, private accept the train, just as they were coming Westernization. Stations served as an companies were soon allowed to build to accept other Meiji government policies. interface between the central government and operate main-line railways, receiving and local communities. varying degrees of favourable treatment Station Design and Local Modernization led to growth in from the government. Some high-ranking Communities at Westernization secondary and tertiary industries and new government officials resigned their posts (1872–early 1900s) ideas of freedom and democracy. By the to take important positions in private 1910s, members of the lower middle railways. The favourable business climate Opened in 1872 as the terminus in Tokyo classes were quite common in large for railway construction saw the network for Japan’s first railway, Shimbashi Station urban areas, and some began moving grow, and at nationalization in 1906 and (also known as Shiodome Station) was from overcrowded cities to the 1907, the government purchased 4540 designed by the American architect R. P. surrounding suburbs. This outward km of 17 private railways to increase the Bridgens. From contemporary pictures, migration was similar to the trend in system from 2500 to 7150 km. Important we know that the station was a neo- Britain. Private railways radiating from nationalized lines included a line from Renaissance design with two pavilions 4 Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001 Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved. joined by a central arcade. Unlike or lower rank depending on such factors with a French flavour. The exterior walls European stations, Shimbashi Station did as the number of users and whether the of Nagasaki Station also used half- not have the clock tower, but even so the local community wielded influence with timbering techniques. The Osaka Station design was distinctively European and the central government. The design of was a government railways building with must have seemed very impressive. We small stations probably depended only a solid, serious air to it, while the others can easily imagine people’s fascination on the number of users. Ranking stations, were all owned by private railways with at both the steam locomotives and the and therefore their communities as well, a freer design philosophy. station architecture. In 1873, trains by this top-down approach shows that The Bakan Station was renamed running between Shimbashi and local communities were expected to Shimonoseki Station when the name of Yokohama carried about 1.4 million follow the will of the state, and gives an the city was changed to Shimonoseki in passengers3 but that was just the idea of the relationship between citizens 1902, one year after the station opened. beginning. The influence of far-off and the government in those days. At this time, the first San’yo Hotel was Western nations spread from Tokyo along Major stations built in 1897 and soon opened as a two-story, wooden structure. the railway lines, bringing the technology after include: Bakan (Shimonoseki) The extant second hotel dates from 1924 and architecture of 19th century Europe Station, constructed in 1901 by San’yo and was designed by the architectural to the entire country. Railway; the second Fukushima Station firm of Tatsuno & Kasai. Its four floors The Meiji government had to promote (1903, Nippon Railway); the second (including one basement) of reinforced modernization in many different fields at Nagasaki Station (1905, Kyushu Railway); concrete covered an area of 2858 m2 and the same time. The first step to achieving the second Osaka Station (1899, it had 30 guest rooms for 38 people, a a modern industrial and military base was government railways); and the second restaurant and a salon where people to build railways. Due to a lack of funds, Nijo Station (1904, Kyoto Railway). waited for trains and ferries5. These most stations were built in wood and Someway unusually, Nijo Station was figures show it was a large hotel with big given a non-Japanese touch through built in a traditional Japanese temple style guest rooms. simple details, such as a Western-style because it was used by the Emperor when The hotel’s claim to fame is that it was gable or hipped roof, and arches and travelling from Kyoto to the San’in region, the first hotel in Japan to be constructed knee braces at entrances. In exceptional and also because it is in Kyoto, which is as part of a station. San’yo Railway ran cases, imposing Western structures were known for its traditional architecture. On ferries across the Kammon Strait to erected. These included important the other hand, Bakan Station followed Kyushu, as well as four steamer services stations in large cities where foreigners the German half-timbered style, and the to ports in the Seto Inland Sea, and it also often boarded trains—for example, other three stations had Mansard roofs began ferry services to Pusan in Korea in Shimbashi and Yokohama stations, and two brick stations with imposing clocks: the first Osaka Station (1874) and the first Kyoto Station (1877). After the Sino–Japanese War (1894–95), the increasing ridership made it necessary to rebuild stations in large cities. This time, Japanese architects designed the stations, even major ones. In 1898, the government railways adopted a classification system of five ranks for smaller stations and established design standards for each rank. These standards are set out in a publication called Tetsudo Koji Sekkei Sanko Zumen—Teishajo no Zu (Reference Plans for Station Design)4. The plans for all station ranks called for at least some Western design elements. Presumably stations were given a higher Bakan (Shimonoseki) Station built in 1909 by San’yo Railway (Transportation Museum) Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001 5 New Stations 1905. Shimonoseki was a hub for Alongside the 1906–07 nationalization, (1908, Genjiro Furukawa); the second passengers travelling by rail and sea, and which the Japanese military supported, the Hakata Station (1909, Tatsutaro the San’yo Hotel was a bustling stopover South Manchuria Railway Company was Nakamura (1860– 1942)); and for members of the Imperial Family, founded in 1906, and Japan proceeded Mansebashi Station (1911, Tatsuno & government officials, film stars and to colonize northeastern China.