日本財団 図書館


 

Improvement of Management and Japanese Experience of Privatization

−The Reform of Japanese National Railways−

 

1 Characteristics of Railways in Japan

 

(1)◇About 80% of Japan is mountainous, with plains constituting only 20% of the land mass. A large portion of the total population (about 125 million) lives in these narrow plains areas, resulting in a very high population density.
◇Most of the population living in plains areas occupies the belt area facing the Pacific Ocean containing the cities of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka (often called "the Pacific Ocean belt"). In this belt, major cities are lined up along the coast in a formation perfectly suited for the railways.

 

 

◇ Passenger traffic shares in Japan

 

 

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(2) There are more than 100 private rail companies in Japan today, most of which are operating in the black.

 

2 The History of JNR

 

(1) Prior to World War II, the nationwide railway network in Japan was operated by the Ministry of Railways. After the war, the occupation forces introduced an American- style system called the "public corporation" to the railway network in order to achieve the efficiency of private enterprise and promote the public interest. Thus, the Japanese National Railways (JNR) was born in 1949.

 

 

 

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