Features History of Amusement Park Construction by Private Railway Companies in Japan

Features Railways and Tourism History of Amusement Park Construction by Private Railway Companies in Japan Isao Ogawa followed suit. Edo (present-day Tokyo) by gardeners, etc. Introduction Recently, a new style of tourist business, in the Kyoho Era (1716–36), (3) Privately- or theme park, has become popular in Ja- managed zoological gardens (travelling A characteristic of private railway com- pan. New theme parks are being con- shows of live animals, such as deer and panies in Japan is their participation in structed nationwide, and those already in peacocks which started in Osaka in the diverse non-railway business areas, in- existence attract many visitors. This ar- Edo Era and spread to Edo, (4) Show tents/ cluding amusement parks, real estate, ticle reviews the management history of sightseeing towers, for example, the department stores, professional baseball amusement parks—the forerunner of Chobokaku garden opened in Osaka in teams, and movies. Such diversification theme parks—by private railway compa- 1878, featuring an artificial hill and pond, was already apparent long before WWII. nies and the starting point of their diversi- well-kept vegetation, hot spring, teahouse, For example, in a 1928 survey, nearly half fication. It also clarifies why the private and chrysanthemum doll show, (5) Hot- of the private railway companies were railway companies, especially those in the spring businesses, such as the Aimoto Hot- either supplying electricity for commer- Kansai area, started building amusement Spring Company in Toyama Prefecture(a), cial use or managing amusement parks parks at the turn of the 20th century. (6) Pseudo-hot springs, including mineral and athletic facilities. Most of the private baths and hot seawater baths, such as railway companies before the war were Early Privately-managed Suwayama Hot Spring in Kobe, discov- involved in tourist and amusement facili- Recreational Facilities ered in 1870 and initially developed by ties in some manner whether by direct Onogumi, a major trading firm, and management, via a subsidiary, through Japan has long had a good number of pri- Ikegami Hot Spring in Tokyo, introduced joint investment, tie-up, commission, or vately-managed recreational facilities, al- by Chamberlain in his A Handbook for lease. For example, they managed bath- though modest in scale, since the Edo Era Travellers in Japan (3rd edition) as one of ing resorts, and summer evening cool (1603–1867) well before the advent of the holiday resorts popular with the com- spots, real estate, etc. The 1928 survey general amusement parks managed by mon people, (7) Bathing resorts, such as showed that railway companies operat- private railway companies; a good ex- Japan’s first resort opened at Oiso by ing in big urban areas with large markets, ample is the Takarazuka Amusement Park. Ryojun Matsumoto, Surgeon Major Gen- especially in the Kansai area (area of west- They can be classified into eight types: eral, who preached the benefits of sea ern Honshu encompassing Osaka, Kobe, (1) Gardens of stately private residences bathing, and (8) Parks opened to the pub- Nara and Kyoto), were more diversified open to the public not for profit, for ex- lic for profit such as Warakuen at Cape than those operating in local towns or cit- ample, Nirakuso, the villa of Kozui Otani Wada, Kobe, opened in 1890 by Hyogo ies. The six private railways companies (Abbot of Higashi-Honganji Temple), with Kyosai Ltd., with an area of 20 or 30 acres formed by privatization of Japanese Na- a western-style flower garden, Japanese- for cultivation of sea bream and other sea tional Railways (JNR) in 1987 noted the style garden, greenhouses, etc., (2) Pri- fish(b). successful and long-term diversification of vately-managed botanical gardens, for existing private railway companies, and example, Shiba Peony Garden, opened in Bathing at Hamadera with temporary beach tents in early 1900s (Author) 28 Japan Railway & Transport Review • March 1998 Copyright © 1998 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Management of bathing resorts Kansai area soon followed suit with spe- company incurred. Against this back- by private railway companies cial excursion trains during each season ground, the managements probably did Of the eight early types of amusement fa- for moon viewing, bathing, and mush- not dare propose changing the business cilities, probably bathing resorts were the room gathering. In addition, they set up purpose to enter into new business with first to be taken up as a new business area temporary resting places, shops, show uncertain profitability. by private railway companies. It is be- tents, etc., at the destinations. Moreover, the trunk-line railway compa- lieved that Iyo Railway in Shikoku—the This boom in excursion trains was exclu- nies were also engaged in the natural smallest of the four main islands of Japan sive to the Kansai area—the commercial extensions of the railway business such with a warmer climate—was the first pri- centre of Japan at that time, but not to rail- as catering, souvenir sales, and provision vate railway company to involve itself in way companies in Tokyo—the political of hotel lodgings, as well as in shipping development of bathing resorts. From the centre. and warehousing to monopolize the vari- 1890s, the Iyo Railway offered generous ous transport operations. But this was fare reductions during the summer sea- a passive business diversification that sim- son because it considered summer bath- Unambitious Diversification ply followed the example of American and ers to be its most valuable customers. The European railways. company formed the Baishinji Bathing As- As described above, in the early 20th cen- sociation in June 1899, developed a new tury, private railway companies were con- Changing articles of association bathing resort, opened a summer station, tent with operating excursion trains and Generally speaking, large railway com- and started operating special trains for building temporary facilities for panies linking big cities and their suburbs bathers. In July 1901, it built temporary bathing, viewing the moon, etc., on leased have five fundamental management re- beach huts for bathers. Finally going on publicly-owned land, such as beaches and sources: to provide related facilities, including hot riversides. This was probably because de- • Large market due to population concen- baths and inns—the ‘mere’ bathing resort mand was seasonal and not large, so the tration was gradually expanded into a permanent companies confined themselves to tem- • Surplus transport capacity amusement facility. porary facilities to minimize capital ex- • High fund-raising ability due to high penditure and risk. Since they had little credit based on public nature of busi- Private railway excursions entertainment business knowhow, they ness in Kansai area only provided the facility structure and • Surplus land, space and personnel The Kansai area encompasses Kyoto and contracted outside entertainers to give the • Extra management capacity Nara, which are famed for temples and performance. This means that once a railway company shrines. The railway companies in this This unambitious diversification was due is opened and gets on the right track, it area had long emphasized transport of partly to the railway companies’ articles can diversify because the normal com- tourists during the spring and autumn of association, which limited their busi- pany operations are mostly routine. sightseeing seasons. In August 1901, ness operations to railway transport. Ex- However, trunk-line railway companies Kyoto Railway (the present JR Sagano cept for a few railway companies, such engaged in long-distance transportation Line) operated a special evening train as Hokkaido Tanko Railway and Hoshu and which did not obtain revenue from modelled after the observation cars popu- Railway (in Kyushu, later nationalized), urban transport, had to continually invest lar in the USA and Europe. It ran to which were both originally established for management resources in extending lines. Arashiyama, one of Japan’s most famous the dual purposes of railway transport and In the case of local railway companies, scenic spots, to catch cool breezes and colliery mining, and Tamagawa Electric the market was too small to allow diver- view the full harvest moon. The passen- Railway, which was originally founded for sification. As a matter of fact, the large gers were delighted by various attractions, both railway transport and gravel haulage, shareholders of local railway companies such as set piece firework displays, cool most were running long-distance services were mainly interested in their own lo- resting places, and on-board perfor- on trunk lines. Consequently, their articles cality and did not make their investment mances of court music and popular en- of association prevented them entering purely for profit. Therefore, the rate of tertainment. Excursion trains became a any other business area. return demanded by these investors was fashion after the success of the Kyoto Rail- Furthermore, general shareholders in the not necessarily higher than that of large way. companies were very active and held urban railway companies. Other private railway companies in the management responsible for any losses a By comparison, the private electric rail- Copyright © 1998 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review • March 1998 29 Railways and Tourism way companies that appeared first in the Change in amusement parks were able to attract people living along Kansai

Load more