the central highlands and hokuriku regions · (1521–73), the local feudal lord, is said to have...

Japan Railway & Transport Review 35 • July 2003

Railw

a y Operators

Railway Operators

58 Copyright © 2003 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

Railway Operators in Japan 9

The Central Highlands and Hokuriku Regions

JR Lines

Shinkansen lines

Private linesIiyama Line

Hokuriku Hokuriku main linemain lineHokuriku main line

Nagano Electric Railway

YudanakaShinshu Nakano

Joetsu Shinkansen

Shinonoi

Nagano

Naoetsu

Shin'etsu main line

ItoigawaItoigawaItoigawa

Minami Otari

Shinano Omachi

to Toyama

Oito Line

Shinonoi Line

MatsumotoElectric Railway Matsumoto

Shin Shimashima

ToyamaToyamaToyama

Kanazawa

Hokurikumain line

Shioziri Okaya

Lake Suwa

Bessho Onsen

Ueda Ueda TransportTransportUeda Transport

Kobuchizawa

KofuOtsuki

Kawaguchi-ko

Pacific Ocean

KomoroKomoroKomoroKaruizawaKaruizawaKaruizawa

YokokawaSakudaira

Takasaki

Shinano Railway

Ueda

Shin'etsu main lineKoumi Line

Fuji Kyuko

Ina-shi

Komagane

Iida

Iida Line

Minobu Line

Tokaido main lineTokaido main lineTokaido main line

Chuo main line

Nagoya

Chuo main line

Tokyo

Mt Fuji

Hokuriku (Nagano) Hokuriku (Nagano) ShinkansenShinkansenHokuriku (Nagano) Shinkansen

Railway Lines in Central Highlands

Ya m a n a s h i a n d N a g a n o a r emountainous prefectures in the middleof Honshu, the main island of Japan.The region is cal led the CentralHighlands, because there are manypeaks above 2000 m. The populationis generally concentrated in the lowerr e g i o n s , e s p e c i a l l y Z e n k o j i ,Matsumoto, Kofu and Suwa. NaganoCity is the capital of Nagano Prefectureand has a population of about 360,000,while Matsumoto is a regional centreof 210,000. Kofu is the capital ofYamanashi Pre fecture and has ap o p u l a t i o n o f 1 9 0 , 0 0 0 . B o t hMatsumoto and Kofu were flourishingcastle towns and the famous Buddhisttemple of Zenkoji in Nagano Cityattracted many people.The Central Highlands are adjacent to theKanto region, which has been Japan’seconomic centre since the Edo period(1603–1868). However, high mountainpasses at Usui (near Karuizawa) andSasago (near Kofu) were a formidablebarrier to easy passage between Kanto andthe Central Highlands. The Tozando roadwas built through the Central Highlandsmuch earlier in the Nara period (710–794)to link east and west Japan and it was asimportant as the old Tokaido highwayalong the Pacific Ocean coast. In the Edoperiod, the Tozando was upgraded andbecame the Nakasendo, one of Japan’sfive most important highways. It was amajor route for people travelling betweenKyoto and Edo (today’s Tokyo) or going tovisit Zenkoji temple. The Nakasendobegan at Nihombashi in central Edo, rannorth-west through the Kanto Plain andtoday ’s Yamanash i and Naganoprefectures, and then turned south-westto Kyoto and Osaka. The route wasfavoured because travellers did not have

rai lway network in Nagano andYamanashi prefectures.

Rail Network

When the government decided in 1869to build a railway between Tokyo andKobe via Kyoto and Osaka, there were twocandidate routes: parallel to the Tokaidohighway or following the course of theNakasendo highway through the CentralHighlands. Some government officialsargued in favour of the Nakasendo routebecause it would stimulate the economyof the poorer interior, but the Tokaidoroute was chosen because constructionwas easier and it offered a better returnon the initial huge capital investment. Asa consequence, railways did not reachNagano or Yamanashi until much laterwhen the government railway’s Shin’etsu

to cross wide flooding rivers, unlike theTokaido highway.Japan’s famous Mt Fuji (3776 m) is locatedin the region along with many other peaksin the Northern, Central and Southern Alpsreaching up to 3000 m. Due to theregion’s natural beauty, there are manynational parks and reserves that attracthikers in summer and skiers in winter. Theregion’s many hot springs have beenpopular for centuries and Shingen Takeda(1521–73), the local feudal lord, is saidto have visited many springs in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. Stories aboutthese ‘secret spas of Shingen’ are still toldover cups of hot sake rice wine.This rest of this article describes the

1. The Central HighlandsYuichiro Kishi

Japan Railway & Transport Review 35 • July 2003 59Copyright © 2003 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

main line linking Takasaki on the KantoPlain to the port of Naoetsu on the Sea ofJapan, via Karuizawa and Nagano wasopened in 1893. Trains climbed the steepgrade at the Usui Pass using the Abt rack-and-pinion system. This was the first partof government railway network to beelectrified.The route was realigned with new trackin 1963. Although JR East continued usingthe old high-power Japanese NationalRailways (JNR) electric locomotives overthe pass when it took over the line in1987, they were troublesome andexpensive to maintain. Consequently,when the Nagano Shinkansen startedoperations, the Usui pass section wasabandoned cutting the line into twodisconnected sections. JR East finallyhanded ownership of the Karuizawa–Shinonoi section to Shinano Railway (ajoint public–private business) in 1997.The 422.6-km Chuo main line is anotherwell-travelled route running generallyeast–west through Yamanashi Prefectureand southern Nagano Prefecture. Itoriginates in Tokyo, runs almost due west

for 87.8 km to Otsuki and then winds itsway to Kofu in Yamanashi Prefecture andon to Suwa and Shiojiri in southernNagano Prefecture. Although it terminatesat Nagoya City, there is no single train thatcovers the entire distance between Tokyoand Nagano. Nowadays, the line existsmainly to link the metropolises of Tokyoand Nagoya with the Central Highlands.The sections east and west of ShiojiriStation are known as Chuo-tosen (EastChuo Line) and Chuo-saisen (West ChuoLine). The highland part of the West ChuoLine runs through the Kiso district, and isfamous for its steep gradients and twistingturns. The famous poet and novelist TosonShimazaki (1872–1943) said, ‘The Kisotracks are all in the mountains.’In Nagano Prefecture, the Shin’etsuand Chuo main lines are linked by the66.7-km Shinonoi Line running fromthe central to the northern part of theprefecture. Much of the line is steeplygraded s ing le t rack but f requentNagoya–Nagano express services giveit the status of a secondary main line.The Chuo main line and Shinano Railway

are linked by the 78.9-km non-electrifiedKoumi Line, nicknamed the YatsugatakeKogen (plateau) Line because it is thehighest line in the JR group network andruns through areas of great natural beauty.(Shinano Railway operates part of theline.) The Iida and Minobu lines bothbelonging to JR Central are noteworthybecause they run north–south throughriver valleys to connect the CentralHighlands with the Pacific coast. Theywere originally constructed as privatelines and then bought by the governmentrailways in 1934, ultimately becomingpart of the old JNR network. JR West andJR East jointly own the Oito Line while JREast is the sole owner of the Iiyama Line.Both are local lines connecting NaganoPrefecture to the Sea-of-Japan coast. Theywere built by private investors at the turncentury and bought later by thegovernment railways.The ownership of lines in this region iscomplex because they were all JNR linesfrom 1949, but were divided between JREast, JR Central and JR West after the 1987privatization, giving all three operators a

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Nagano Electric Railway No. of Passengers (1000) 12,483 12,740 12,570 12,193 11,986 12,369 12,348 12,849 11,948 11,288 10,660

Passenger Density1) 4,563 4,638 4,585 4,463 4,368 4,474 4,487 4,641 4,267 4,025 3,813

Ueda Transport Volume 1,651 1,752 1,745 1,746 1,713 1,712 1,772 1,762 1,681 1,519 1,389

Density 2,112 2,240 2,224 2,193 2,155 2,132 2,117 2,186 2,082 1,894 1,755

Matsumoto Electric Railway Volume 1,827 1,840 1,830 1,796 1,758 1,728 1,716 1,659 1,617 1,579 1,532

Density 2,740 2,815 2,828 2,769 2,720 2,669 2,678 2,555 2,428 2,364 2,328

Shinano Railway2) Volume - - - - - - - 6,471 12,351 12,142 11,855

Density - - - - - - - 9,494 8,780 8,522 8,377

Fuji Kyuko Volume 3,946 4,058 3,894 3,816 3,713 3,573 3,614 3,479 3,198 3,079 3,021

Density 4,058 4,238 4,149 4,160 4,105 3,924 4,105 3,946 3,619 3,533 3,519

1) Daily Passenger=Daily passenger-km/route-km2) Shinano Railway started operations from October 1997.Source: Tetsudo tokei nempo (Railway Annual Statistics), Ministry of Transport Railway Bureau, 2000.

Size and Financial Status of Railways in Central Highlands Region

Capital Operating Revenues Operating Expenses Operating Profits/Losses OrdinaryHeadquarters Route-km (¥million) (¥million) (¥million) (¥million) Profits/ Losses

Railway Non-railway Railway Non-railway Railway Non-railway (¥million)

JR East Tokyo 7538.1 200,000 1,841,800 60,200 1,588,000 34,500 253,800 25,700 279,500JR Central Aichi 1977.8 112,000 851,100 18,600 763,200 7,000 87,900 11,600 99,500JR West Osaka 5078.4 100,000 1,120,200 8,300 765,800 5,700 354,400 2,600 357,000Nagano Electric Railway Nagano 57.6 550 280 3,557 3,018 2,675 -221 882 661Ueda Transport Nagano 11.6 160 306 1,247 324 1,077 -18 170 152Matsumoto Electric Railway Nagano 14.4 432 408 7,080 413 6,664 -5 415 410Shinano Railway Nagano 65.1 2,300 2,541 0 3,474 0 -933 0 -933Fuji Kyuko Yamanashi 26.6 9,126 1,276 22,509 1,179 20,209 97 2,300 2,397

Passenger Volume and Density of Non-JR Railway Companies

Sources: 2002 Company directories of each JR companies, Tetsudo tokei nempo (Railway Annual Statistics), Ministry of Transport Railway Bureau, 2000, and Tetsudoyoran (Railway Directory), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 2002


Railway Operators

Copyright © 2003 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

share of the Central Highlands network.There are also private railways operate inthe region that provide Group connectionsto one or another of the JR lines.

Shinkansen and ExpressServices

The 700-km Hokuriku Shinkansen iscurrently under construction from Tokyoto Shin Osaka via Toyama, Kanazawa,Fukui and Obama on the Sea-of-Japancoast. The section between Takasaki inGunma Prefecture and Nagano is

commonly called the Nagano Shinkansen,and was opened in 1997 just before theNagano Winter Olympics. It is served bySeries E2 Asama rolling stock, which hasa maximum speed of 260 km/h. Thefastest direct service from Tokyo toNagano takes 1 hour 19 minutes, muchless than the 2 hours 39 minutes taken bythe former fastest limited express on theconvent ional l ine. The NaganoShinkansen has brought economicbenefits to nearby communities and morethan 60 large corporate buildings havebeen constructed near the new SakudairaStation. It seems that the line is attractingmore passengers and causing a shift awayfrom cars and buses. Two more sectionsare under construction between Naganoand Toyama (about 170 km), andbetween Isurugi and Kanazawa (about25 km). The former section is scheduledto open in about 10 years with tunnelsmaking up more than half the entirelength. Although grades of up to 30‰will limit maximum speeds to 260 km/h,the run between Tokyo and Toyama isexpected to cut more than 1 hour off thecurrent time of 3 hours 7 minutes.R e d u c i n g j o u r n e y t i m e s o nconventional lines has been a constantgoal even from the early JNR days; lineshave been upgraded, new sections have

been built, and tunnels have been cutto shorten routes. For example, the5994-m Enrei Tunnel was opened in1983 a f te r 14 years o f d i f f i cu l tconstruction, cutting about 16 km offthe old winding route on the East ChuoLine between Okaya and Shiojiri. Itreduces the journey time of some Azusalimited-express services between Shinjukuand Matsumoto by 26 minutes.Better rolling stock has also shortenedjourney times. After the West Chuo Linewas electrified in 1972, JNR introducedtilting electric Series 381 Shinano limitedexpresses between Nagoya and Nagano,permitting faster, smoother operationsthrough tight curves. This was the firsttime in the world that tilting trains hadbeen used in commercial operations.Tilting increased the maximum speedthrough curves by 25 km/h, cutting40 minutes off the time taken by olderloco-hauled limited expresses betweenNagoya and Nagano. The success ofelectrification and tilting saw lateradoption of the same technology on thenew Series E351 Super Azusa limitedexpresses on the East Chuo Line. Thesewere JR East’s first tilting units and theyhave a maximum speed of 130 km/hbetween Shinjuku and Matsumoto on theEast Chuo Line, reducing journey times for

JR East’s Koumi Line runs at the foot of theYatsugatake Mountains. It is the highest line in the JRGroup network, and uses Kiha Series 110 railcars.

(JR East)

The Usui Pass was always a hurdle for rail transport on the Shin’etsu main line. Inlater days, JNR coupled two Series EF63 electric locomotives at the back to pushtrains up the grade until the section was abandoned in 1997.

(Transportation Museum)

JR East opened the Nagano Shinkansen between Takasaki and Nagano in 1997.The Series E2 rolling stock is unique to the line. (JR East)


the fastest services by more than 10minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes.The obsolete Series 381 was replaced in1994 when JR Central developed theSeries 383. Today, all Shinano limitedexpresses on the West Chuo Line use thefast and comfortable Series 383.The 1973 Basic Plan drawn up as a resulto f t he Na t i onwide Sh inkansenDevelopment Law included a route(p rov i s iona l l y ca l l ed the ChuoShinkansen) through the CentralHighlands from Tokyo to Osaka, via Kofu,Nagoya and Nara. It would run wellinland from the exist ing TokaidoShinkansen, which has almost reachedsaturation point. Some people havecalled for use of a MAGLEV and JR Centraland Japan Railway Construction PublicCorporation ( JRCC) are presentlyexamining the topography and geologyof the area. Research is being conductedat the Yamanashi Test Line in YamanashiPrefecture with a view to developingc o m m e r c i a l M A G L E V s u s i n gsuperconducting electromagnets. Thetechnology is still experimental but couldbe ready in a few years.

Competition with Expressways

Due to the difficult topography, railwaysin the Central Highlands enjoyed a strongcompetitive edge over roads for manyyears because railways were more reliableand faster. Even when there was a roadrunning parallel to a railway line, it was

often an unpaved dirt surface. Other roadsfollowed long sinuous routes and wereoften blocked by heavy snow.But the steady advance of expresswayswith a maximum speed limit of 100 km/hchanged the situation in the 1970s. Atypical example is the Chuo Expresswaytoll road running mostly parallel to theChuo main line. The older nationalhighway is slowed considerably by thewinding route through the Sasago Pass,while the 4.7-km long expresswaytunnel under the pass quickly speedsvehicles to their destinations. As aresult , soon after the expresswayopened, express buses began runningfrom Tokyo to Lake Kawaguchi at thefoot of Mt Fuji and to Kofu.Iida is a regional centre surrounded bysteep mountains to the east and west insouthern Nagano Prefecture. The Iida Lineruns north–south through the valley andwas the city’s only transport route for manyyears. A few bus services running mostlyparallel to the track were introducedaround 1950 but JNR did not see them asrivals. However, construction of the ChuoExpressway through part of the valleyopened it up to road traffic from Nagoyain the west and Tokyo in the east. Fearinga loss of passengers, JNR tried to preventbus operations on the Chuo Expresswaybut one bus route after another was soonoffering direct express services to Tokyoand Nagoya from regional cities like Iida,Komagane and Ina. For example, thereare 17 daily return services between Iidaand Shinjuku, with the first departure from

Iida at 05:00 and the last arrival at 23:50.The travel time of about 4 hours and thesingle fare of ¥4200 are both better thanthe journey by rail. As a result, JNR’s shareof the passenger market has dropped.Express buses are even holding their ownin the Tokyo–Nagano market where theNagano Shinkansen has made rail travelvery convenient. One bus route fromIkebukuro in Tokyo to Nagano offers sixdaily returns during the day. Although thetravel time of about 3 hours 10 minutes isat least 30 minutes longer than by NaganoShinkansen, the buses compete by offeringa fare of ¥4000—almost half the train fare.The bus route between Shinjuku andNagano is so popular that the operatorincreased the number of daily returns runsfrom six to eight in January 2003. Expressbuses also link major cities within NaganoPrefecture, posing a severe challenge torailway operators. For example, buses runat 1-hour intervals between the twobiggest cities of Nagano and Matsumotoand the fare is less than half the fare on JRCentral’s Shinano limited expresses.Although the train is much faster, therailway cannot match the low bus faresand rail ridership between the two citiesis unfortunately suffering.Undoubtedly, expressways will continue toextend their reach and national and prefecturalhighways will continue to be upgraded. In1993, the Joshin’etsu Expressway openedbetween the Fujioka Interchange in GunmaPrefecture and the Saku Interchange just insideNagano Prefecture. Its tunnels and hugebridges made it easy to traverse the

DC EMUs carry many tourists and hikers run on JR East’s South Oito Line.(Y. Kuroda)

JR Central’s two-car driver-only EMU on Iida Line. The line started driver-onlyoperation in Nagano from March 2001. (Author)


Railway Operators


difficult Usui Pass by road, and helpedkill the railway line.

Local Railways

The 12.9-km Kijima Line operated byNagano Electric Railway between ShinshuNakano and Kijima closed on 31 March2002, ending 77 years of operation. Atclosure, the ridership was less than 20%of the peak. The company found thatrationalization, such as reducing servicesand using driver-only trains, wereinsufficient to keep the line in operation.At the end of 2001, Nagano Prefecturehad more than 1.816 million registeredmotor vehicles. This is more than twovehicles per household and is the secondhighest per capita figure in the country.The period before the 1998 NaganoWinter Olympics saw rapid constructionand upgrading of roads. As a result ofthis heavy dependence on motor vehicles,local railways are finding it impossible tostop the drop in passenger numbers andare suffering gravely.Ueda Transport used to run trains onmore than 50 km of tracks in Ueda Cityand to surrounding communities,including Sanada, Soehi and Maruko.Today, the network has been reduced tothe 11.6-km Bessho Line from BesshoOnsen to Ueda, a station on the ShinanoRailway. The Bessho Line runs at a deficitevery year and rolling stock and facilities

have deteriorated greatly. The companyis now appealing to the Ueda municipalgovernment for support in obtaining the¥1 billion needed over 10 years to investin new rolling stock and infrastructure.JR East’s 96.7-km non-electrified IiyamaLine runs through the Iiyama Basinalong the Chikuma River (also calledthe Shinano River). Part of the line runsparallel to the Kijima Line on theopposite side of the river, which wasrecently abandoned by Nagano ElectricRailway. Like its abandoned neighbour,the Iiyama Line is in difficult financialstraits but it is still in operation becauseit serves as a community l i fel inethrough an area that experiences recordwinter snowfal ls (785 cm at onestation). The line is popular with trainenthusiasts because Russell snowplowsmake practice runs before deep wintersets in. The heavy snow-clearing costsand inves tment in snow-re la tedequipment are the main reason why theline is so unprofitable. When JNRowned the line, it announced a closureplan because it was so unprofitable.The Oito Line runs from Matsumotothrough Shinano Omachi to Itoigawa inNiigata Prefecture on the Sea-of-Japancoast. JR East runs operations south ofMinami Otari and JR West handlesoperations to the north. JR East’s southernsection (Oito-nansen or South Oito Line)is electr i f ied, permitt ing throughoperations by Azusa limited expresses that

are popular with tourists from the Chuomain line. Some driver-only localoperations use new rolling stock with aVVVF inverter control system. JR West’snorthern section (Oito-hokusen orNorth Oito Line) is not electrified andcrosses a prefectural boundary. As aconsequence, JR West only operates singlediesel railcars for local traffic with verylow ridership levels. Heavy rains washedaway about 20 km of track in 1995 andthere were fears that the line would beabandoned. Although it reopened inNovember 1997 after 26 months of costlyreconstruction, the decline in passengerscould not be stemmed so JR West cut thenumber of trains by 30% and removedstaff from all stations except the terminiin March 2002. When the HokurikuShinkansen opens to points further west,the North Oito Line will be severed fromthe JR West network, and may await asimilar fate to the Hokuriku main line.It is not the only local lines that face adifficult future. JR East sold the 65.1-kmKaruizawa–Shinonoi section of theShin’etsu main line to Shinano Railwaywhen the Nagano Shinkansen beganoperating in the same corridor. Thechange in ownership (which thegovernment approved) was the first caseof a JR transferring ownership of aconventional line after development of anew shinkansen.The new owners realized that theShin’etsu main line would lose its

Stainless-steel Series 7200 operated by Ueda Transport Corporation on BesshoLine. The company has regularly upgraded rolling stock to improve operations butridership continues to drop. (Author)

Some limited-express rolling stock used by Nagano Electric Railway betweenNagano and Yudanaka reminds passengers of the company’s early days.

(S. Takashima)


bread-and-butter express passengers,but the large trackside population gavethem cause for opt imism. Theyassumed that building new stations,increasing services and keeping faresstable would boost r idership andprofitability. The Nagano prefecturalgovernment strongly supported the newv e n t u r e , b e c o m i n g t h e m a i nshareholder and lending the ¥10.3billion needed to buy the assets. Butridership continued to decline by morethan 3% annua l l y and Sh inanoRailway’s debts exceeded its assets byFY2001. The company’s situation isworse than anyone could have possiblyforeseen but the company has beenresolute in cutting costs, improving itsimage and strengthening its business. Fori t s par t , the Nagano prefecturalgovernment established a committee toexamine restructuring and is offeringpub l i c suppor t , i nc lud ing deb tforgiveness. Despite its difficulties,Shinano Railway still seems eager tooperate the Shinonoi–Nagano section ofthe Shin’etsu main line, which it wasunable to acquire when the company wasfounded. It also wants to take over thenorthern section that JR East plans to severfrom its network when the new HokurikuShinkansen line reaches Toyama.

Railways and Tourism

The Nagano Shinkansen opened beforethe 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics intime to carry thousands of spectators, andcontributed greatly to local tourism.Before the Games, local governmentsthroughout the prefecture launchedmassive tourism promotions. The athletes,spectators and tourists from around theworld created an exciting atmosphere thatis still fresh in the minds of many.The Central Highlands are rich in railway-accessible tourist attractions ranging fromhot springs to historic sites to scenic

beauty spots. The region’s railwayoperators have long played a major rolein developing tourism in order to boosttheir ridership and the region has been soimportant as a tourist destination thatsome through services to Yudanaka ranfrom Ueno in Tokyo. For example, thewell-known Shiga Highlands weredeveloped into a famous tourist spot yearsago by Nagano Electric Railway whoseYudanaka Station terminus is the highlandgateway. During the day, the companyruns limited expresses at 1-hour intervalsfrom Nagano to Yudanaka and busesdepart from Yudanaka Station for spas andother destinations in the Shiga Highlands.The company—which was originallycalled Kato Railway—was establishedto link cities on the east side of theChikuma River, an area that has someof Nagano Prefecture’s best hot springsa t Yudanaka , Sh ibu , Anda i andKambayashi where it developed andoperates the famous Kambayashi Hotel.As part of its 1929 promotion plans, therailway invited the famous Norwegianskier Olaf Helset to the area, which hedescribed as the St Moritz of the Orient.Ueda Onsen Denki (now Ueda Transport)promoted skiing and tourism in a similarfashion. In addition to its lines carryingpeople to the Bessho health spa andpilgrims to the temple of the KitamukaiKannon, it laid track to the Sugadaira skiresort, and constructed a hotel there.When it invited the famous Austrian skier,Hannes Schneider, to the slopes, he calledthem Japan’s Black Forest. As part of itsPR campaign, the railway prefixed thename of the line with Sugadaira toemphasize the attraction of the area.Schneider also visited the Nozawa Onsenski resort near a station operated byIiyama Railway (now part of JR East’sIiyama Line) where he demonstrated aformidable ski jump to the locals, creatingsufficient excitement to provide therailway with an opportunity to attractmore skiers to the area.

The private Matsumoto Electric Railwayoperates a 14.4-km line from Matsumototo Shin Shimashima the gateway toKamikochi one of Japan’s most beautifulhighlands. The line was built for hikersand tourists visiting the highlands andpeaks in the Northern Alps. The area isso popular that during high summerMatsumoto Electric trains operate a 03:00run to meet hikers on JR night trains.To protect the natural vegetation andwildlife, automobile traffic is prohibitedfrom some areas year-round. The railwaycompany has introduced hybrid buses inan attempt to promote both rail and bustravel to the highlands, but it has notboosted ridership because many touristsprefer to go by car as far as the restrictedarea, then take a shuttle bus from thereinto the highlands. Matsumoto Electrichas long hoped to build a Swiss-stylemountain railway to higher elevations, butthe construction costs and environmentalimpact will probably stop the project fromever being realized.In Yamanashi Prefecture, Fuji Kyukooperates daily local and limited expressservices over a 26.6-km electrified linefrom Otsuki to Kawaguchi-ko (LakeKawaguchi), one of five lakes at the footof Mt Fuji. Passengers boarding the Fuji-san Tokkyu limited express pay a rapid-service surcharge. The company hasalways been active in many sectors,especially tourism and road transport andits railway income is now less than 10%of all group income. Its non-rail businessventures include amusement parks,hotels, and real-estate developments forsummer cottages. It has also sponsored anumber of speed skaters, including twoOlympic bronze medallists.Over the last few years, Fuji Kyuko haspromoted tourist traffic from the Tokyoarea. For example, it permits JR to operatethrough weekend services to Kawaguchi-ko from Tokyo and Saitama, as well as twodaily commuter return runs with throughservices to Tokyo Station. On the other


Railway Operators


hand, there are no through services fromKawaguchi-ko running west to Kofu, theprefectural capital, because passengers inthat direction are far more likely to useFuji Kyuko buses than trains.Finally, the area has Japan’s only two

2. Hokuriku RegionMakoto Aoki

Overview

Hokuriku is a small region on the Sea ofJapan near the centre of the Japanesearchipelago. It has three prefectures:Toyama, Ishikawa and Fukui, eachcomprising some 1% of Japan’s area,population and personal income. Thisexplains why Hokuriku is nicknamed ‘the1% market.’JR West operates the generally east–westHokuriku main line while the north–southTakayama Line is operated jointly by JRWest and JR Central. JR West runs localservices on the Toyama-ko, Himi, Johana,Nanao, North Etsumi and Obama lines.Private lines are run by Toyama ChihoRailway, Man’yo Line, Kamioka Railway,Hokuriku Railway, Noto Railway, FukuiRailway, etc.The region can be roughly divided intothree districts as follows:• Toyama Prefecture

The prefectural capital is Toyama City(population 325,700 at October2000) and the other major city isTakaoka (population 172,184 atOctober 2000) in the west. Bothcities are connected to coastalindustrial zones. The Chubu SangakuNational Park in the Japanese Alpsstraddling Toyama, Niigata, Nagano

with winter snowfalls of up to severalmeters in the mountains. Trains in theregion can be delayed by heavy snowfallsand the railways have always investedheavily in snow-clearing.

Rail Development

The first line in the Hokuriku region wasopened on 10 March 1882. It was builtas two separate sections—one fromKanegasaki to the western portal ofYanagase Tunnel and the other fromYanagase to Nagahama. Another sectionfrom Nagahama to Maibara in ShigaPrefecture had opened previously as partof the Tokaido main line. The two ends atthe western portal of Yanagase Tunnel andYanagase were joined on 16 April 1884after completion of the tunnelled section.Railway construction pushed furthernortheast to Fukui (opened on 15 July1896), Kanazawa (1 April 1898), andToyama (20 March 1899). The track wasthen extended as the Toyama Line andtrains began operating to Tomari on 16April 1910.New lines were also built from NiigataPrefecture in the east and the Naoetsu–Nadachi section was opened on 1 July1911. Trains began running all the wayfrom Maibara to Naoetsu after the lastsection between Omi and Itoigawa wasopened on 1 April 1913.Construction of track known today as theTakayama Line only began in the mid-1920s. The first section from Toyama toEtchu Yatsuo was opened on 1 September1927. The line was gradually extended,and services along the entire routebetween Toyama and Gifu started on 25October 1934.The first local line in Hokuriku wasopened by the private Chuetsu Railwaybetween Fukumitsu and Kuroda inToyama Prefecture on 4 May 1897. (Thestation at Kuroda no longer exists but waslocated near today’s Takaoka Station.) The

trolley bus services as one part of theTa teyama Kurobe A lp ine Rou teconnecting Nagano with Toyama in theHokuriku region. They are described indetail in the second part of this articlebelow. �

and Gifu prefectures is known for itsnatural beauty.

• The Kaga and Noto districts ofIshikawa PrefectureThe Kaga (southern part of Ishikawa)has the region’s major cities includingthe prefectural capital of Kanazawa.Kanazawa is also a business andcultural centre, and is the largest cityin Hokuriku (population 456,438, at 1October 2000).The Noto district is hilly with mostbusiness centred on forestry andfishing. It has a lower standard ofliving than in Kaga, and is becomingvery depopulated.

• Fukui PrefectureFukui Prefecture in south-westHokuriku is divided into two parts,Reihoku (north-east) and Reinan (South-west). Reihoku is characterized by theFukui Plain where the prefecturalcapital is located and the Ono Basin.The Sabae, regional city in Fukui Plain,is responsible for some 75% of Japan’sproduction of eyeglass frames.South-western Fukui (Reinan) isbasically uplands dropping suddenlyinto Wakasa Bay. The isolatedcoastline has suited construction ofseveral nuclear power stations.

The Hokuriku climate is hot in summer


Hokuriku and Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.Rail travel patterns from Hokuriku toTokyo are basically twofold. To minimizetravel time, passengers embarking east ofKanazawa prefer to take the Hokurikumain line and connections east to EchigoYuzawa and then transfer to a southboundJoetsu Shinkansen. Those west ofKanazawa prefer to take the Hokurikumain line south towards Maibara with atransfer either at Maibara or Nagoya toan eastbound Tokaido Shinkansen.From Kanazawa, limited expresses offer17 daily return journeys to either EchigoYuzawa or Nagaoka on the JoetsuShinkansen. The fastest services (11 eachday) are on the Hakutaka limited express.The shortest time between Kanazawa andTokyo stations using the Hakutaka andJoetsu Shinkansen is 3 hours 43 minutes.The fastest travel time from Kanazawa toTokyo via Maibara and the TokaidoShinkansen is 4 hours 26 minutes.Airlines are the strongest competitor in theHokuriku–Tokyo travel market andHokuriku has two airports—KomatsuAirport in Komatsu, about 30 km south-

company opened the line northward asfar as Himi on 19 September 1912,permitting made passage between Himithrough Fukumitsu to Johana.Nanao Railway opened a line betweenTsubata and Nanao on the Noto Peninsulaon 24 April 1898. Both the Nanao andChuetsu railway companies were boughtby the government in September 1907and September 1920, respectively, and thelines are now known as the Nanao, Johanaand Himi lines operated by JR West.The Obama Line along Wakasa Bay wasopened between Tsuruga and ShinMaizuru (now called Higashi Maizuru) on20 December 1922. It is operated todayby JR West and links the Hokuriku andSan’in main lines.Several pr ivate companies wereestablished in Hokuriku from the 1910swith later mergers between differentgroups. This trend accelerated in the1940s and today each of the mergedbusinesses basically serves a singledistrict—Toyama Chiho Railway inToyama Prefecture; Hokuriku Railway inIshikawa Prefecture; and Fukui Railwayand Keifuku Electric Railway in FukuiPrefecture.After WWII, JNR constructed various locallines—the Noto Line (61.0-km extensionfrom Anamizu to Takojima, opened 21September 1964); the 20.3-km KamiokaLine from Inotani to Kamioka (opened 6October 1966 and Kamioka Railwayrenamed Oku Hida Onsen-guchi inOctober 1984); and the 52.5-km Etsumi-hokusen (North Etsumi Line) from EchizenHanando to Kuzuryuko (opened 15December 1972).

Intercity Rail Transport

Intercity tracks serve local traffic betweencities in Hokuriku, as well as long-distancetraffic from Hokuriku to Tokyo, Osaka andNagoya.Hokuriku is about 400 km from Tokyo and

200 to 300 km from Nagoya and Osaka.In earlier times, Hokuriku gravitatedtowards Osaka because it is closer thanTo k y o . H o w e v e r, t h e m o d e r nconcentration of socio-economicfunctions in Tokyo has boosted Hokuriku–Tokyo traffic. This is especially true forToyama Prefecture in the east. Conversely,Fukui Prefecture in the west still has strongties to Osaka and Nagoya.The Hokuriku main line links all threeprefectural capitals of Toyama, Ishikawaand Fukui. Each city has satellites withpopulations ranging from 50,000 to100,000 acting as regional centres.Passenger volumes between these cities arequite high with demand mainly fromcommuters, students, and business people,most of whom travel on local trains. Thereare also limited-express services running atintervals of about 30 minutes.High car ownership throughout the regionpresents railways with an uphill struggletrying to lure people out of their cars forlocal trips.However, trains still play an important rolein long-distance transport between

Railway Lines in Hokuriku Region

to Niigatato Niigatato Niigata NagaokaNagaokaNagaoka

KashiwazakiKashiwazakiKashiwazaki

SaigataSaigataSaigata

NaoetsuNadachiNadachiNadachi Muika-machiMuika-machiMuika-machi

Echigo Yuzawa

to Tokyo

Nagano

to TakasakiOku Hida Onsen-guchi

Inotani

ShinanoOmachi

to Matsumoto

TateyamaEtchu Yatsuo

OmiItoigawaTomariTomariTomari

Uozu

ToyamaToyamaToyama

Koshino Koshino katakataKoshino kata

Himi

TakaokaTakaokaTakaoka

FukumitsuFukumitsuFukumitsuJohana

TsubataTsubataTsubata

Nomachi

KanazawaKanazawaKanazawa

Kaga-onsenKaga-onsenKaga-onsen

Awara Onsen

Fukui

KuzuryukoTakefu

Tsuruga

LakeBiwa

Higashi Maizuru

Nishi Maizuru

Kyoto

to Osaka

Maibara

Nagahama Gifu

Nagoya

to Tokyo

EchizenEchizenHanandoHanandoEchizenHanando

UchinadaUchinadaUchinada

Sea of Japan

Wakasa Bay

NanaoNanaoNanaoWakura OnsenWakura OnsenWakura Onsen

AnamizuAnamizuAnamizu

Wajima

TakojimaTakojimaTakojima

KagaIchinomiya

Unazauki Onsen

KeyakidairaKeyakidairaKeyakidaira

JR Lines

Shinkansen lines

Private lines

L

K

MC

9

8

7

7

F E

4

6

1

2

3

3

5

G

D

D

D

J

H

I

B

N

A

JR LinesAAAAA Joetsu ShinkansenBBBBB Hokuriku (Nagano)

ShinkansenCCCCC Tokaido ShinkansenDDDDD Hokuriku main lineEEEEE Himi LineFFFFF Nanao LineGGGGG Toyama-ko LineHHHHH Johana LineIIIII Takayama LineJJJJJ Etsumi-hokusenKKKKK San’in main lineLLLLL Obama LineMMMMM Kosei LineNNNNN Oito Line

Private lines11111 Hokuetsu Express22222 Kurobe Gorge Railway33333 Toyama Chiho Railway44444 Man’yo Line55555 Kamioka Railway66666 Noto Railway77777 Hokuriku Railway88888 Keifuku Electric Railway99999 Fukui Rilway


Railway Operators


1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Kaetsuno Railway No. of Passengers (1000) 1,452 1,371 1,446 1,371 1,403 1,385 1,222 1,157 1,084 1,033

Passenger Density1) 1,682 1,603 1,699 1,637 1,655 1,644 1,446 1,363 1,264 1,205

Kamioka Railway Volume 87 89 86 84 79 69 61 46 46 44

Density 166 171 165 161 151 132 121 88 88 83

Toyama Chiho Railway Volume 16,454 15,975 15,316 14,442 13,981 13,448 12,228 11,356 10,586 10,060

Density 4,010 3,836 3,624 3,356 3,019 3,020 2,744 2,506 2,301 2,177

Kurobe Gorge Railway Volume 1,569 1,641 1,570 1,733 1,074 1,565 1,613 1,457 1,509 1,560

Density 6,072 6,364 6,471 6,906 2,735 5,760 6,124 5,384 5,541 5,665

Hokuriku Railway Volume 3,957 3,893 3,819 3,708 3,718 3,734 3,679 3,461 3,297 3,117

Density 3,073 3,003 2,920 2,845 2,840 2,890 2,829 2,675 2,483 2,354

Fukui Railway Volume 2,745 2,615 2,605 2,477 2,402 2,204 2,042 1,952 1,917 1,834

Density 3,508 3,301 3,264 3,099 2,975 2,736 2,573 2,475 2,437 2,329

Noto Railway Volume 2,946 3,670 3,491 3,343 3,258 3,088 2,922 2,755 2,599 2,469

Density 1,390 1,440 1,367 1,290 1,285 1,210 1,102 1,037 974 919

Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc.2) Volume 1,698 1,546 1,480 1,604 1,205 1,324 1,333 1,137 1,073 1,164

Density 7,719 7,029 6,819 7,289 5,550 6,051 6,005 5,145 4,833 5,172

1) Daily Passenger=Daily passenger-km/route-km2) Kansai Electric Power operates between April to November (approx. 220 days) each year

Size and Financial Status of Railways in Hokuriku Region

Passenger Volume and Density by Railway Company

*Kaetsuno Railway transferred its operation to Man'yo Line in April 2002Source: Tetsudo tokei nempo (Railway Annual Statistics), Ministry of Transport Railway Bureau, 2000,

No. of No. of No. of Capital Operating Revenues Operating Expenses Operating Profits/Losses OrdinaryRoute-km Employees Stations Rolling (¥million) (¥million) (¥million) (¥million) Profits/ Losses

Stock Railway Non-railway Railway Non-railway Railway Non-railway (¥million)

Kaetsuno Railway* 12.8 28 25 11 100 208 2,908 276 2,769 -67 139 -123Kamioka Railway 19.9 14 8 5 200 90 357 122 350 -32 7 -19Toyama Chiho Railway 99.6 251 83 75 1,558 2,671 5,637 2,793 5,808 -122 -172 -25Kurobe Gorge Railway 20.1 205 10 367 250 2,434 1,314 2,449 1,156 -15 158 77Hokuriku Railway 22.7 46 30 28 1,815 651 11,641 677 11,686 -26 -45 57Fukui Railway 21.4 62 23 30 370 443 2,508 483 2,733 -40 -225 -120Noto Railway 114.5 101 30 25 450 688 69 940 65 -252 3 811Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. 6.1 489,320 1,236 2,580,216 1,436 2,243,938 -200 336,278 336,078

incentive for both players to offerattractive pricing and services. JR Westintroduced Series 681 rolling stock forsome Haku taka l im i t ed -exp re s sserv ices , increas ing speeds to amaximum of 160 km/h. In addition,return-ticket holders can make use offree or cheap parking at their departurestation and free travel between TokyoStation and any final destination inTokyo’s 23 central wards.Trave l t imes were cons ide rab lyshortened when the 59.5-km HokuHoku Line belonging to HokuetsuExpress was opened in 1997 betweenSaigata and Muika-machi in NiigataPrefecture, creating a shorter route toTokyo by connecting with the JoetsuShinkansen at Echigo Yuzawa. JNRactually started the construction inAugust 1968 but it was suspended inDecember 1980 as part of the JNRrestructuring. Local communities along

west of Kanazawa, and Toyama Airportin the outskirts of Toyama City. Thefrequent direct flights to Tokyo’s HanedaAirport take little more than 1 hour, soflying to Tokyo is somewhat faster thanthe train even factoring in airport accesstimes. As a result, about 75% of

passengers between Kanazawa and Tokyotravel by air. On the other hand, sincetravel by rail from Toyama (in easternHokuriku) to Tokyo takes only 3 hours 12minutes, rail has 50.9% of this marketversus 43.7% for air.Stiff rail–air competition provides an

JR West Rail Passengers in Three Hokuriku Prefectures (FY 1999)

Fukui Prefecture

8,770.2

(6,307.9)

Ishikawa Prefecture

17,822.3

(12,890.5)

Toyama Prefecture

21,153.6

1,285.1 (500.4)

167.0 (7.2)

3,282.9 (1,857.6)

(15,398.0)

(1000 passengers)

Note: Numbers in parentheses () indicate passengers travelling with a commuter pass.Source: Survey of Local Passenger Traffic


the proposed route joined forces withthe private sector to establish HokuetsuExpress Corporation, which restartedconstruction. JNR’s original plan wasupgraded in January 1989 to permithigher speeds. Due to its priority as ahigh-speed main line linking Tokyowith Hokuriku via the Joetsu district ofNiigata Prefecture, the track waselectrified and constructed to supportoperations at 130 km/h. Today, theHoku Hoku Line supports about 19daily return local and rapid services(some trains do not cover the entired i s tance , bu t many o f fe r d i rec tconnections beyond the line end to JREast’s Echigo Yuzawa and Naoetsustations), as well as 11 daily returnl imited-express services betweenHokuriku and Echigo Yuzawa Stationon the Joetsu Shinkansen. (Somelimited expresses do not stop at anystations on the Hoku Hoku Line.)The most important rail project now beingplanned for the region is the HokurikuShinkansen described in the first part ofthis article. However, construction isproceeding at a snail’s pace because ofdeclining economic growth and thegovernment ’s worsening financialsituation. Since the Takasaki–Naganosection opened in time for the 1998Nagano Winter Olympics, the plan hasrun into one obstacle after another. InDecember 2000, the government agreedthat the Nagano–Toyama section shouldbe built to full shinkansen standard andcompleted within about 10 years.

Although the new line would cut traveltimes to Tokyo and might contribute toregional development, there are manyproblems about how the construction willbe financed and possible closure ofconventional parallel lines.Trains from Hokuriku provide a vital linkto Osaka. There are 25 daily return runsby the Thunderbird limited expressbetween Toyama (or Uozu) and Osaka witha fastest travel time of 3 hours 9 minutes.The Raicho limited express links Kanazawato Osaka with 24 daily return runs.Limited expresses also link Hokuriku andNagoya. The Shirasagi offers eight dailyreturn services between Toyama andNagoya via the Hokuriku main line, whilethe Kaetsu (seven daily returns) fromKanazawa offers passengers a transfer atMaibara to the Tokaido Shinkansen. TheHida limited express has four daily returnservices between Toyama and Nagoya onthe Takayama Line.

Struggling Local Lines

The high car ownership in Hokuriku is amajor cause of low use of public transport.The situation is critical for local railwaylines in areas with declining populationand some private local lines wereabandoned and replaced by bus servicesin the 1970s and early 1980s.As part of JNR’s restructuring effort in the1980s, some local lines with averagetransport densities of less than 4000passengers were abandoned and replacedby bus services. A few were turned over topublic–private joint ventures.In Hokuriku, the Kamioka Line was turnedover to Kamioka Railway in October 1984,which now operates the 19.9-km line fromInotani on the Takayama Line to OkuHida Onsen-guchi. In another case, the61.0-km section of the Noto Linebetween Anamizu and Takojima wastransferred to Noto Railway in March

The Series 681 Hakutaka connects with the Joetsu Shinkansen at Echigo Yuzawa tolink Hokuriku with Tokyo. (Author)

Construction of elevated section of Hokuriku Shinkansen in Toyama Prefecture duefor completion in 2012 (Author)

Toyama–Tokyo Kanazawa–Tokyo Fukui–Tokyo

Rail: via Echigo Yuzawa Rail: via Echigo Yuzawa Rail: via Maibara

Air: from Toyama Airport Air: from Komatsu Airport Air: from Komatsu Airport

Rail Travel time 3 hours 12 minutes 3 hours 43 minutes 3 hours 7minutes

Number of trains daily 17 17 15

Air Travel time 1 hour 5 minutes 1 hour 5 minutes 1hour 5 minutes

Number of flights daily 8 11 11

Percentage share (rail : air) 49.5: 42.6 20.3: 73.8 –

Transportation Modes between Hokuriku and Tokyo

Notes: Data valid as of December 2002 except for percentage shares, which are based on fiscal 1999 data.Percentage shares do not add up to 100% because motor vehicle transportation is not listed. Sharepercentages indicate rail passengers travelling from stations in Hokuriku to Tokyo, and air passengerstravelling from Hokuriku airports to Haneda Airport (Tokyo). Air travel times do not include groundtransportation to airport.


Railway Operators


1988. When JR West subsequentlyelectrified the Tsubata–Wakura Onsensection of the Nanao Line, Noto Railwaytook over the northern 53.5-km Nanao–Wajima section. JR West and NotoRailway both operate trains on theelectrified Nanao–Wakura Onsen section(5.1 km).Noto Railway’s track is located in thenorthern part of the depopulated NotoPeninsula. Falling passenger levelscaused the company to abandon the20.4-km section from Anamizu toWajima on 1 April 2001 and replace itwith a bus service. The prefecturalgovernment and local municipalitieshave suppor ted Noto Ra i lway ’soperations by subsidizing its variousdiscount ticket schemes.In Toyama Prefecture, one year aftersuffering an operating loss of ¥64 millionin 2001, Kaetsuno Railway transferred the12.8-km Man’yo Line from Takaoka to

Koshinokata (in Shin Minato City) to theMan’yo Line Corporation, a new public–private business financed by localmunicipalities and corporations.In Fukui Prefecture, Keifuku ElectricRailway faced a similarly deterioratingsituation for many years on its 59.2 km oftracks from Fukui to Mikuni-minato, andfrom Fukui to the Katsuyama district inthe Ono Basin. More seriously, twoseparate fatal train crashes in 2000 and2001 caused the then Ministry of Transportto order the company to raise its safetystandards. The company responded bysuspending operations, and subsequentlynotified the government that it wasabandoning its rail operations. Theprefectural government and localmunicipalities spearheaded establishmentof Echizen Railway, a new public–privatecompany and services are scheduled torestart in July 2003.Toyama Chiho Railway operates 93.2 kmof lines to famous tourist spots, such ashot spr ings a t Unazuki and themountainous region of Tateyama. Evenso, ridership is declining and thecompany’s financial situation is poor. Thishas prompted the company to introducedriver-only local trains and otherrationalization schemes.Fukui Railway operates a 21.4-km line fromFukui to Takefu. It is trying to boostridership and has involved localmunicipalities in the formation of a councilto discuss ways to revitalize business.JR Wes t ’s loca l l ines have a l soexperienced a rapid decline in passengernumbers over the last few years. Thecompany has responded by usingunstaffed stations, driver-only trains, andreduced timetables in non-peak hours.For example, in daytime hours, theToyama-ko Line, which had been operatedby three-car EMU train sets, introduceddriver-only one- or two-car diesel train setson March 2001. The number of trains indaytime hours was also reduced from twotrains per hour to one train.

Against this backdrop, Advisory Councilsfor Rail Revitalization have beenestablished in different parts of the regionto act as a forum for local communities andrailway companies. In addition, therailways have begun organizing events,constructing parking lots at stations for Parkand Ride, building new stations, and takingother steps to boost passenger levels.The 84.3-km Obama Line from Tsurugato Higashi Maizuru began electrifiedservices on 15 March 2003 and it is hopedthat this will encourage more residents totravel by train.Another plan calls for a change from ACto DC locomotive operations on theHokuriku main line as far north as Tsuruga.This project is expected to encourageworkers and students to commute over awider area and attract more tourists,thereby boosting ridership.

Urban Transit

Despite still having tramways, the threeregional main cities of Toyama, Takaokaand Fukui face an urgent need to reduceurban rush hour congestion. As anexperiment to reduce road traffic andincrease access for urban transit, inOctober and November 2001, Fukuiconducted a Transit Mall Trial by reservingsome streets in the city centre forpedestrians and public transport only.Toyama has announced a Light Rail Transit(LRT) corridor concept that is an extensionof the existing city tramway, connectingthe tramway and JR West’s Toyama-koLine to operate through services.In another development, HokurikuRailway has recently upgraded serviceson its 6.8-km Asanogawa Line fromHokutetsu Kanazawa to Uchinada, andon its 15.9-km Ishikawa Line fromN o m a c h i t o K a g a I c h i n o m i y a .Improvements include more frequent trainservices at intervals of 30 minutes duringthe day, new rolling stock, and better

Transportation Modes in Toyama &Takaoka, and Kanazawa Urban Areas

Source: Person Trip Survey

20.1

13.6

59.2

5.1

13.5

10.1

72.2

1.4100

80

60

40

20

0

2.8

(%)

2.0

Toyama + Takaoka (1999)

Kanazawa (1995)

Walking Bicycle/motorcycleAutomobile Bus, tram Railway


equipment. To facilitate bus–traintransfers for better access to centralKanazawa, the company opened a newjunction terminal at Nomachi Station onthe Ishikawa Line in November 1987. InMarch 2001, it completed relocation ofHokutetsu Kanazawa Station on theAsanogawa Line to an underground site.A study is now being conducted with aview to developing a new transit systemfor central Kanazawa.

Railways and Tourism

Japan has many hot springs and a popularleisure activity is visiting a spring withfamily members, friends and co-workers.Hokuriku has many spa towns includingAw a r a , Ya m a n a k a , Ya m a s h i r o ,Katayamazu, Wakura and Unazuki,which are visited by people from as faraway as Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.Many limited expresses stop close to thespas. For example, about 35 limitedexpresses stop each day at Kaga OnsenStation on the Hokuriku main line.

Toyama Chiho Railway runs limitedexpresses mainly on weekends andholidays to Unazuki Onsen.The Tateyama range of mountains ineastern Toyama Prefecture is one ofJapan’s most popular highland touristareas. Tateyama Kaihatsu Railway wasestablished in April 1952 as a joint ventureby Toyama Chiho Railway, Kansai ElectricPower and Hokuriku Electric Power todevelop tourism. However, the steepterrain and heavy winter snowfalls slowedconstruction and infighting between thedifferent management groups created oneobstacle after another. The line was finallyopened as the Tateyama Kurobe AlpineRoute in June 1971 as a link betweenToyama and Omachi in NaganoPrefecture. The high-elevation routeinvolves transfers from one mode toanother, including cable car, bus, ropewayand trolley bus. It offers an excellentopportunity for people to see ptarmigansnow grouse, alpine flowers, andstupendous panoramic views. Becauseof heavy winter snows, the route is onlyopen from mid-April to late November.

Series 8800 of Hokuriku Railway on Asanogawa Line in a Kanagawa suburb.Services are being upgraded with used rolling stock purchased from large privaterailways. (Author)

The area attracts hordes of tourists andthere were over 1 million visitors in 1999.The only trolley bus services in Japan arelocated here. One is a 6.1-km route fromOgisawa to Kurobe Dam, the other isthrough a 3.7-km road tunnel under theTateyama mountains from Murodo toDaikanbo stations. The routes areoperated by Kansai Electric Power andTateyama Kurobe Kanko, respectively.The electric power company laid its owntrack through the gorge to facilitateconstruction of the dam and power plant.Although the line was only for company,the natural beauty of the Kurobe Gorgeattracted a growing number of tourists andlocal communities requested that the linebe opened to the public. Today, thepassenger rolling stock resembling freightwagons is hauled up the 20.1-km trackfrom Unazuki to Keyakidaira, taking 80minutes one way. The service is operatedfrom mid-April to November by KurobeGorge Railway, a subsidiary of KansaiElectric Power. In fiscal 2000, 1.56million passengers made the journey. �

Yuichiro Kishi

Mr Kishi is Curator of the Transportation Museum, Tokyo. He obtained

a Masters degree in 2000 from Tokyo Gakugei University. His main

research interests are the management history of local private

railways and the history of museum development. He is co-author

of Zenkoku torokko ressha (Trolley Trains in Japan) published by the

JTB.

Makoto Aoki

Mr Aoki is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business

Administration at Tokyo Keizai University. He has published articles

on management of private railways and transportation policy in local

cities and holds a Master’s degree in business and commerce from

Keio University.

The 80-minute ride on the Kurobe Gorge Railway is part of a popular summer daytrip for tourists. (Author)

the central highlands and hokuriku regions · (1521–73), the local feudal lord, is said to have...

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