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Railway transport in Japan

Rail transport in Japan is a major means of passenger transport, especially for mass and high speed travel between major cities and for commuter transport in urban areas. It is used relatively little for freight transport, accounting for just 0.84% of goods movement. The privatised network is highly efficient, requiring few subsidies and running with extreme punctuality, though since privatisation several unprofitable but socially valuable lines have been closed by private operators.

Railways are the most important means of passenger transportation in Japan, maintaining this status since the late nineteenth century. Government policy promoted railways as an efficient transportation system for a country that lacks fossil fuels and is nearly completely dependent on imports. Rural land near large cities was acquired cheaply by private railway companies from the late nineteenth century, which then built lines that became the backbone of urban transport between the suburbs and cities formed around the railway lines radiating out from metropolitan areas, similar to suburban growth around railways in other nations. Despite this efficiency, growing affluence and associated car ownership led to road transportation usage increasing to the detriment of rail from the 1960s. The relative share of railways in total passenger kilometers fell from 66.7 percent in 1965 to 42 percent in 1978, and 29.8 percent in 1990, although this still accounted for the largest percentage of the OECD member countries. The figure is 43.5% (as of 2001) in the largest metropolitan areas in Japan: Tokyo (including Chiba, Saitama, Tokyo, and Kanagawa Prefectures), Osaka (including Kyoto, Osaka, and Hyōgo Prefectures), and Nagoya. Private automobiles in Greater Tokyo account for less than 20% of daily trips as car ownership is restricted to those with a dedicated parking space.

The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as JR Group, is a group of successors of the government owned Japanese National Railways (JNR). The JR Group lies at the heart of Japan's railway network, operating almost all intercity rail services and a large proportion of commuter rail services. The six passenger operating companies of the JR Group are separated by region, but many operate long distance train services beyond their regional boundaries. The six companies are: Hokkaido Railway Company, East Japan Railway Company, Central Japan Railway Company, West Japan Railway Company, Shikoku Railway Company, and Kyushu Railway Company. Freight service belongs to Japan Freight Railway Company or JR Freight which operates all freight network previously owned by JNR.

In the legal sense, there are two types (with several subcategories) of rail transportation systems in Japan: railway (鉄道) and tramway (軌道). Every public rail transportation system under government regulation in Japan is classified either as railway or tramway. In principle, tramways can have sections shared with road traffic while railways cannot, but the choice may seem rather arbitrary in certain cases. For example, Osaka Metro is a tram system while subways in other cities are railways. Railways and trams are respectively regulated by the Railway Business Act (鉄道事業法) and the Tram Act (軌道法).

Excluding the Shinkansen, even with Automatic Train Control cab signalling, most Japanese trains are limited to a maximum speed of , which restricts the viability of longer distance routes. This is due to legislation restricting emergency stopping distances of trains to on a railway with grade crossings. Grade separated railways, without grade crossings, are not subject to such legislation. Both the Keisei Narita Airport Line, and formerly the Hokuhoku Line, being grade separated, currently operate or operated at a posted speed limit of , the latter being the fastest narrow gauge line in Japan. Due to the tight and twisty nature of Japanese narrow gauge railways, many intercity/limited express services also extensively utilise tilting trains, which shorten travel time by enabling a train to corner faster. Kamome (883 series and 885 series), Azusa (E353 series), Shinano (383 series) and Ōzora (261 and KiHa 283 series) are some examples of limited express services ran by tilting trains.

Electrification systems used by the JR Group are 1,500 V DC and 20 kV AC for conventional lines, and 25 kV AC for Shinkansen. Electrification with 600 V DC and 750 V DC are also seen in private lines. Frequency of AC power supply is 50 Hz in eastern Japan and 60 Hz in western Japan.

Japanese national network operated by Japan Railways Group employs narrow gauge 1067 and has maximum width of and maximum height of ; however, a number JR lines were constructed as private railways prior to nationalisation in the early 20th century, and feature loading gauges smaller than the standard. These include the Chūō Main Line west of Takao, the Minobu Line, and the Yosan Main Line west of Kan'onji ( height). Nevertheless, advances in pantograph technology have largely eliminated the need for separate rolling stock in these areas. There are many private railway companies in Japan and the loading gauge is different for each company.

Russia: proposed fixed link, break of gauge 1435/1520 (with 25 kV 50 Hz AC) in the northern Hokkaido. (see Sakhalin Hokkaido Tunnel)
China: proposed trainferries from Hakata to Shanghai, and from Shimonoseki to Dalian. (both with 1435 on board)
United States: proposed trainferry from Kushiro to Seattle. (with 1435 on board)
Canada: proposed trainferry from Kushiro to Vancouver. (with 1435 on board)
South Korea: proposed trainferry from Sasebo to Busan. (with 1435 on board)

Suburban or intercity railway lines usually set several types of trains (列車種別) with different stop patterns. A train that stops at every station is called a local train (普通列車/各駅停車). Only a fare ticket is required to ride local trains. Trains that stop at fewer stations and are therefore faster than local trains are classified as Rapid (快速), Express train (Express), Limited express (Limited Express), etc. and may require surcharges depending on company policies. Railways with many types of trains use prefixes like "semi ", "rapid ", "section ", or "commuter ". For example, the Tōbu Isesaki Line has Local, Section Semi Express, Semi Express, Section Express, Express, Rapid, Section Rapid, and Limited Express. Train operators usually name long distance trains (Kintetsu is a rare exception of this practice). The process of ticket reservation utilizes the train names instead of the train numbers. Train numbers are almost exclusively for professional use.

All the railway and tram lines in Japan are named by the operators. In principle (with some exceptions), a section of railway has only one name. Line names are shown on a ticket to indicate the route of the ticket. Passengers refer the railway by the name of line (e. g. "Tōyoko Line") or the name of operator (e. g. "Hanshin"). The line names may come from a name of destination or a city along the line (e. g. the "Takasaki Line" goes to Takasaki, Gunma); a name of region (e. g. the "Tōhoku Main Line" goes through the Tōhoku region); an abbreviation of provinces or cities (e. g. the "Gonō Line" connects Goshogawara and Noshiro); or a course of the line (e. g. the "Tōzai Line" means the East West Line). Line names were used as a basis for the restructuring of JNR in the 1980s. The railway business was evaluated line by line in order to identify significantly unprofitable lines for closure. This left some unnamed branch lines, which would have been closed if they had line names, unaffected by the restructure. In some cases the current route of a railway has changed but the historic line name has not reflected the change, in which case the operational name will be different from the original line name. Examples include the Keihin Tōhoku Line and the Shōnan Shinjuku Line.

In addition to its extensive railway network, Japan has a large number of subway systems. The largest is the Tokyo subway, where the network in 1989 consisted of 211 kilometers of track serving 205 stations. Two subway systems serve the capital: one run by the Tokyo Metro (named Teito Rapid Transit Authority until 2004), with nine lines (the oldest, Ginza line was built in 1927), and the other operated by the Tokyo metropolitan government's Transportation Bureau (Toei), with four lines. Outlying and suburban areas are served by seven private railway companies, whose lines intersect at major stations with the subway system. More than sixty additional kilometers of subway were under construction in 1990 by the two companies. There are a number of other metro systems in other Japanese cities, including the Fukuoka City Subway, Kobe Municipal Subway, Kyoto Municipal Subway, Osaka Metro, Nagoya Subway, Sapporo Subway, Sendai Subway and Yokohama Subway. While metro systems in Japanese cities are usually operated by the city government and therefore tend to limit their networks within the city border, there are many cases of through services using subway trains on suburban railway lines and vice versa. One of the reasons for this situation was the sharp increase of ridership on the railways in the rapid growth of the postwar economy that could not be handled by small original railway terminals in the city center. Automated guideway transit (rubber tired motor cars running on concrete guideways) has also developed in Japan. Cities with such intermediate capacity transit systems include Hiroshima, Kobe, Osaka, Saitama and Tokyo. Some cities operate streetcar systems, including Hiroshima, Matsuyama, Nagasaki, Tokyo (one line only) and Toyohashi. All of these cities are also well served by public and private railroads; also, there are private tramways not included above.

Japanese railways are among the most punctual in the world. The average delay on the Tokaido Shinkansen in fiscal 2018 was 0.7 minutes. When trains are delayed for five minutes, the conductor makes an announcement apologizing for the delay and the railway company may provide a "delay certificate" (遅延証明書). Japanese passengers rely heavily on rail transit and take it for granted that trains operate on time. When trains are delayed for an hour or more, it may even appear in the newspaper. However, some argue that railway staff are under too much pressure from the public.

One of the most widely publicized crimes committed on trains is chikan or groping, taking advantage of overcrowded cars and a reluctance for people to ask for help, or to jump to the aid of another. A recent trend for railway companies to promote their lines is to service female only cars on some trains (typically during morning rush hours and late night trains, and often the front or back car) and is quickly becoming a standard practice, especially among Tokyo's busy commuter lines. The Japanese language has a number of expressions for fare evasion. One is Satsuma no kami. It is a reference to Taira Satsuma no kami Tadanori, a member of the Taira clan who is mentioned in the Tale of the Heike. His name, Tadanori, is pronounced the same as words meaning "riding for free". Another expression is kiseru jōsha. This refers to a kiseru, a smoking pipe that has a long hollow section made of bamboo between the bowl (where the smoke enters) and the mouthpiece (where it leaves) made of metal. Based on an association of metal and money, kiseru jōsha is the practice of using one ticket to enter the train system and a different ticket to exit, with a long unpaid segment in the middle – purchasing two separate tickets, covering just the initial and final segments of the journey (corresponding to the bowl and mouthpiece), rather than one ticket for the whole length. Other notable crimes staged in railway facilities in Japan include the assassination of the Prime Minister Hara Takashi in Tokyo Station in 1921, the deliberate train wreck at Mitaka Station in 1949 and the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.

Trains are also used as a means to commit suicide. Its relative popularity is partly due to its practical ease, and to avoid causing a nuisance to one's family, although families are often charged or sued by the railway companies to compensate for the trouble caused by the accident. Suicides often cause delays on the lines on which they occur. The deceased's family may be charged damages on the order of approximately 1 million yen by railway operating companies. Railroad operators have taken steps to discourage and prevent suicides. This includes use of blue LED lights in stations, which officials hope will calm potential jumpers. Platform edge doors are also being installed at numerous stations in an effort to keep people contained on the platform until the train arrives.

An important aspect of the romance of the rails in Japan is the ekiben, the station bento lunchbox. The first pre packed station lunchboxes originated at Utsunomiya Station in 1885 and became an instant success. Many stations (eki) around the country soon began to make special bento featuring local specialties such as seafood, meat or vegetables. Including generous portions of rice, the ekiben was a complete meal. It was often served in a wooden box; nowadays cardboard and plastics have become popular, although wooden chopsticks still accompany the ekiben. The Central Committee of the Japanese Association of Railroad Station Concessionaires (社団法人日本鉄道構内営業中央会) is a prominent trade organization promoting ekiben.

Japanese books and television feature rail transport in various contexts. Examples include travelogues visiting rustic routes or unusual trains, such as the popular Sci Fi franchise Galaxy Express 999 or murder mysteries on sleeper trains. A major television series based on rail transport, Ressha Sentai ToQger, was broadcast on TV Asahi from 2014 to 2015. Densha de Go! is a series of Japanese train simulators.