“Dawn of Japanese Railways”, Japan Railway

JAPANESE RAILWAY HISTORY

Dawn of Japanese Railways

Eiichi Aoki

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

Railway construction plan and its social background The ruling Tokugawa Shogunate, which had kept Japan in international implemented, foreigners might have Nelson Lay, an Englishman introduced isolation for 260 years, was replaced by won railway rights in Japan. to the Meiji government by Parkes. Lay the Meiji government in 1868. This In 1869, Harry Parkes, the British sold railway bonds in London. He be- marked the beginning of Japan's mod- Minister to Japan, advocated that rail- gan hiring British engineers to design ernization with the new government ways would help modernize Japan in- and build railways in Japan. He also ending feudalism and introducing sisting that the government build them began purchasing the necessary equip- Western ideas. as soon as possible. 1869 was another ment for the Meiji government. Nationwide distribution systems al- poor year for the rice harvest in Tohoku Lay had signed a loan contract with ready existed in the Edo period. Long- and Parkes explained that railways the Japanese government at an annual distance transportation over hundreds could carry rice quickly from other ar- interest rate of 12% and a 10-year term or thousands of kilometers was nothing eas to Tohoku thereby minimizing the of payment. However, he began selling new. People were sending rice from the effects of famine. The Meiji govern- railway bonds in London at an annual Tohoku and Hokuriku regions to Edo ment agreed to build railways for politi- rate of 9% with an issue price of 98% of (now Tokyo) and Osaka. Fish-meal fer- cal reasons, to put an end to feudalism the face value. In other words, Lay in- tilizers were being sent from Hokkaido and centralise power in Japan. tended to earn a 3% margin from every to regions along the Inland Sea. The bond he sold. This led to distrust and main means of transport at that time Tokyo-Yokohama Railway the Japanese government consulted the was shipping. The key routes were head of the Yokohama branch of the formed by navigation along the coast On 7 December 1869, Harry Parkes Oriental Bank (a British bank) with the and rivers. met the heads of the Meiji government result that the government terminated By contrast, road transport was to discuss basic measures for introduc- the contract with Lay, and appointed primitive. Commodities were carried ing railways and telegrams in Japan. the bank as its representative in Lon- by men and horses because there were The Japanese leaders at the discus- don. no carriages. Unlike in the West, there sion included Tomomi Iwakura (Vice It was decided to build the country's was a world of difference between sea Premier), Nobuyoshi Sawa (Minister first railway over the 29-km distance and road transport in Japan. Large riv- of Foreign Affairs), Shigenobu Okuma between Tokyo, Japan's capital, and ers were obstacles to road traffic be- (Vice Minister of Finance), and Yokohama, one of the few ports open for cause there were no bridges. Hirobumi Ito (Assistant Vice Minister international trade at that time. The Construction of railways, particu- of Finance). Okuma and Ito later took preliminary survey work began on 25 larly between Tokyo and Yokohama, charge of building railways. During April 1870. The terminal in Tokyo was and Osaka and Kobe, was suggested the discussion, it was decided to build to be built at Shimbashi and the termi- several times by foreigners and some the first line between Tokyo and Kobe. nal in Yokohama at Noge Kaigan. Japanese prior to the Meiji govern- It was also decided to build a branch These two places were chosen because ment. Their advocators proposed rail- from an appropriate location near they were close to the city sections and ways between ports and large cities but Lake Biwa to Tsuruga, a town on the the foreign settlements. The trains such plans never bore fruit due to the Sea of Japan. were to run on the 3' 6" (1,067 mm) fall of the Shogunate. If they had been Funds were to be procured by Horatio gauge tracks used in many British colo-

1877. The government had to issue enormous amounts of inconvertible notes to quell the riots. This led to in- flation. In 1880, Finance Minister Masayoshi Matsukata took on a curtailment policy and started selling government-run plants and factories to the private sec- tor. Railway construction was slowed for the same reason. He also approved privately-owned railway operations. In 1881, Nippon Railway was autho- rized to run between Tokyo and Tohoku, and the first private service

I A tank locomotive, built by Sharp Stewart & Co., at Shimbashi Station. Courtesy : Transportation Museum, Tokyo nies at that time. kyo Central) was opened in 1914 near The railway construction was never the Imperial Palace. Shiodome was entirely free of opposition during the closed recently and awaits urban rede- first years of the new government. The velopment. The original Yokohama major opposition came from the mili- Station is now called Sakuragicho; the tary which put priority on armaments surrounding area also awaits redevel- and isolationism. Isolationism was opment. quite common among Japanese people The original railway between who feared the railway being built by Shimbashi and Yokohama was under foreign engineers as a strange foreign direct management of the government. tool. In August 1871, it was put under con- The first shipment of ten tank loco- trol of the Ministry of Public Works, motives and 58 two-axle passenger car- whose major role was introducing riages from Britain arrived in Western technology. Yokohama in September 1871. On 12 Masaru Inoue, the first Director of June 1872, two daily train services Railways in Japan, studied railway and started between Shinagawa and mining at University College, London. Courtesy: Transportation Museum, Tokyo Yokohama, marking the start of regu- Edmund Morel (1841-1871) lar passenger trains in Japan. Six daily Expansion of railway network After studying civil engineering at King's College, services began two days later. The two London, Edmund Morel was engaged in railway trains going in opposite directions On 25 August 1870, just 4 months af- construction in many countries including New passed on sidetracks at Kawasaki. Ser- ter surveying began for the Shimbashi Zealand and Australia. In April 1870, he was hired to Yokohama section, surveying work by the Japanese government as first Engineer-in- vices between Shimbashi and Chief. His role included guiding and supervising Shinagawa were delayed until October began between Osaka and Kobe. Regu- railway construction as well as screening because the military would not allow lar service started on 11 May 1874. The engineers and providing advice about inspection tracks on their land facing Tokyo Bay. first wrought-iron bridge and tunnel in of foreign equipment and instruments arriving in Japan. The railway advocates had to build a Japan (running under a raised-bed Morel's most important contribution during his new embankment for the tracks. river) were built in this section. The short assignment in Japan was making significant The Meiji Emperor attended the line was later extended to Kyoto in 1876 proposals to the Japanese government regarding and to Otsu in 1880. This section in- engineering administration and education. The opening ceremony on 14 October 1872 government established the Ministry of Public at Shimbashi and Yokohama stations cluded the Osakayama Tunnel (646m Works in December 1870 on his advice. The new making a round-trip passenger on the long), Japan's first mountain tunnel ministry's function was integrating introduction of train between the two terminals. The and the first tunnel to be designed and foreign technologies and their application. The Engineering College (predecessor of Tokyo number of daily round-trip services was built by Japanese engineers. Imperial Technical University) was established in increased to nine the following day. The Japanese government was suf- April of the following year to educate key There were four stations on the line: fering from a financial crisis at the engineers. time. The major cause was rapid intro- Morel was later taken ill and the Japanese Shinagawa, Kawasaki, Tsurumi, and government suggested transferring him to India to Kanagawa. It took 35 minutes from one duction of Western technologies (con- cure his tuberculosis. But his physical condition terminal to the other. Freight services struction of government-run plants and prevented him from making the long journey and factories) and compensation for people he died on 5 November 1871. His Japanese wife started on 15 September 1873. was also infected by tuberculosis while caring for The original Shimbashi Station was deprived of feudal privileges. Riots her dying husband She died just half a day after renamed Shiodome Station and became started by former samurai occurred in him. Their tombs in Yokohama are designated a a freight yard when a new terminal (To- Western Japan between 1874 and national railway memorial.

learn civil engineering and other Railway Network in Japan, on 1 January 1890 skills. A British Engineer-in-Chief, T. R. Shervinton was appointed master instructor. Twenty-four students had graduated by the time the school closed in 1882. These graduates were engaged in building the railway between Kyoto and Otsu beginning in 1878. When the work was completed, they assumed key posts in designing and building new railways in other parts 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 the inventor of the steam engine. They were both locomotive engineers, and were hired by the Japanese government from 1888 to 1904 and from 1876 to 1897, respectively. They made a began in 1883 between Ueno (on the cluded directors, engineers-in-chief, large contribution by guiding and su- north side of Tokyo) and Kumagaya. locomotive superintendents, traffic pervising the design and manufacture By 1891, the company had completed managers and other key posts, as well of locomotives. its line between Ueno and Aomori as mechanics, masons, plasterers, car- Many of the British engineers in the through northeastern Honshu. penters, engine drivers, track mainte- key posts were devoted to learning and Another railway was completed in nance and other field workers. They very dedicated to their duties. They 1882 in Hokkaido. Its primary objective were excellent teachers and skilled wrote many articles about Japanese was shipping coal from the Horonai coal workers and were essential to the rail- railways in technical periodicals in mine to the port of Otaru (Temiya Sta- way construction and management. Britain. I tion). This railway was designed and Hiring of foreigners for railways be- built under the guidance of American gan in 1870. The number rose to 119 in engineers. The locomotives and most June 1874, but fell afterwards espe- other equipment were imported from cially when the curtailment policy was the United States. put into effect in 1881. During those A mining railway was completed in years, foreign engineers taught basic 1880 to transport iron ore to the techniques and valuable know-how to Kamaishi Iron Mill on 2' 9" (838 mm) their Japanese counterparts. They also narrow-gauge tracks. made special efforts to educate key railway engineers in Japan. Contributions by foreign In May 1877, the Engineer Training College was opened at Osaka Station. engineers Young Japanese who passed the en- A large number of British engineers trance examination were admitted to were hired by the Japanese government in the early stage of Japanese railways. Their specialities ranged Eiichi Aoki from civil engineering and machinery for manufacturing and repairing roll- After graduating from the Faculty of Science at Chiba University in 1957, Mr. Aoki received a doctorate in science from the Tokyo University of Education (now called Tsukuba University). After ing stock, to scheduling train services serving at Tsuru City University and Tokyo Gakugei University as an assistant professor, he be- and operations. Nearly 300 foreigners came a professor at Tokyo Gakugei University in 1978. He specialises in transportation geography in total (mostly British) were also and is also a leading Japanese scholar of the history of railways and marine transportation. Mr. hired for various posts. Their jobs in- Aoki is now president of the Japan Railway History Society. His publications include World History of Sea Power and Japanese Railway—Its Rise and Development.