The government refrains from interfering in management matters as much as possible, allowing the JR companies to operate in fact as private companies. However, at present, all stock in the JR companies other than JR East is held by the JNRSC. The ideal is to place all stock on the market as early as possible, leaving the monitoring of JR operations to the stockholders.
In October 1993, the stock in JR East, the most profitable company of the JR Group, was placed on the market. Since then, JR West applied to list its stock in June 1996 and these stocks will be placed on the market in October. The stock of other JR companies will be placed on the market as soon as possible.
Long-term debts of the JNRSC amounted to \27,600 billion as of April, 1996. The repayment of these debts, which is the major remaining problem to be solved, must be carried out as quickly as possible through the sale of stock and land.
