Japan

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Country Details

Japan: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy, 日本 [Japanese]; Nippon.

Language: Japanese

Currency: Japanese Yen [日本円 Japanese] JPY (¥]

See Wikipedia

National Railway System

UIC code

numeric 42; alpha JP

National Railway Operator

The Japan Railways Group, commonly known as the JR Group, took over the assets of Japanese National Railways (JNR) on 1 April 1987, and consists of seven for profit stock companies. No national rail operator exits now.

The seven JR companies are six geographically based passenger ones plus Japan Freight Railway Company; JR Freight which uses the tracks of the other six.

The passenger operators are, Going east to west;

  • East Japan Railway Company; JR East
  • West Japan Railway Company; JR West

Private Railway Operators

There are considered to be some 21 major and semi-major private railway operators:-

Other Private and Third Sector Railways

Timetable

Information is available at the Man in Seat 61.

Journey Planner

JR journey planners:


See also Some Train Timetable and Route Finder apps and websites

Printed Timetable

  • Timetables [in Japanese] are issued each month by JR and JTB.

The JTB Version also includes most private lines.

Maps

Printed Maps

JTB Mook produce a rail atlas but in Japanese only.

Robert Schwandl Publishing have produced a 3 Volume series Metros and Trams in Japan.

These have short descriptions of the systems [in German and English] with basic, but useful, diagrammatic maps of some complex city/town areas [which can include heavy rail e.g. JR lines] as well as many colour pictures of the rolling stock.

Web-based Maps

Many of the rail operators have diagrammatic maps of their systems but these will often miss out lines of their competitors.

Ticketing

General Ticketing

Standard single journeys on conventional [JR and Private] lines are generally mileage [well km] based with a rate per km reducing for longer journeys. Supplements are paid for Express and Limited Express trains, seat reservation and travel in Green Cars. See Regular tickets for more information. If a ticket for the exact/whole trip cannot be obtained e.g. if it involves JR and private lines, a ticket to a known point can be purchased and an excess fare paid at the destination. It is understood paying excess fares this way caries no penalty as JR and the other private railways etc. recognise longer train trips in Japan can use complex routes.

On Shinkansen lines ticket pricing tends to be demand based like airlines, to compete with them and express bus operations. Prices can be lower if purchased in advance and for weekend travel or holiday periods e.g. as business demand may be lower. However for certain key national holiday periods, like "Golden Week", with four national holidays in succession, domestic demand may be high and cheap fares restricted and reservations limited.

Green Cars

Green cars are the Japanese equivalent of first class, generally with larger seats/spacing and bigger windows, and on conventional lines can be used by paying a "Green Car" supplement on top of a standard ticket fare. The supplement can include a seat reservation or on some lines e.g. radiating from Tokyo a one off supplement can be purchased before boarding or from an assistant in the Green Car. On Shinkansen lines reservation is compulsory to travel in a Green Car and this should be included at the time of ticket purchase. With a Japan Rail Green Pass reservations are generally complementary but must be obtained before travel.

Seishun 18 "Kippu" Ticket

A Seishun 18 ticket allows unlimited basic rate travel on all JR [Non-Shinkansen] conventional lines, for a number of days in a year. It has three defined purchase periods and three defined e.g. holiday time usage periods each year. See Seishun 18 Ticket.

The ticket sheet is valid for 5 days of, not necessarily contiguous, travel by one person or a groups of people e.g. 5 traveling on one day and is aimed at younger people hence the "18" in the title and those who are less in a hurry.

Tokyo Area One Day Passes

A number of one day passes for either train or metro or buses (or combinations of) in the Tokyo Area

Infrastructure

Gauges

  • 1435 mm (4 feet 8½ inches) Standard; JR Shinkansen, some private suburban networks/lines and subways.
  • 1372 mm (4 feet 6 inches) Used mainly for Keiō Line branches and some regional tram systems
  • 1067 mm (3 feet 6 inches) Cape; Used on original passenger and freight lines and some tram systems.
  • 762 mm (2 feet 6 inches) Used on a few electrified regional lines.

Electrification

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 on private lines and tramways. Some private lines use 1,500 V DC.

Frequency of AC power supply is 50 Hz in eastern Japan and 60 Hz in western Japan.

Rule of the road

Left;

Distances

The Kitayama Rail Pages have distances and line lengths indexed by Prefecture or the Railway Name or the Line Name. There are also Wikipedia pages, in English, for most JR and private lines with distances and other basic details.

Tourist Lines

Kurobe Gorge Railway.

Oigawa Railway - The upper Ōigawa Railway Ikawa Line includes the only section of rack line in Japan.

Kitakyushu Bank Retro-line. Main site is in Japanese with some English links Retro Line.

The Sagano Scenic Railway runs on a section of bypassed former JR main line.

The Rail Mountain Bike [MTB] Gattan Go runs on a section of the abandoned Kamioka Railway line.

Shuzenji Romney Railway Leaflet.

Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has complied a set of scenic rail journeys.

Metros

Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kobe, Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka Metro, Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo - Toei Subway, Tokyo Metro, Yokohama.

Links also from the Japanese Subway Association page.

Metros in Japan

Trams/LRT Systems

See Wikipeida List

Trams in Japan

and

Town Tramway Systems in Japan

Recent and Future Changes

Recent Changes

JR East; the 124 km extension of the standard gauge Hokuriku Shinkansen high-speed line, from Kanazawa southwest via Fukui to Tsuruga, opened on 16 March 2024.

JR West have indicated, on 15 March 2024, that some revision of operations on the the 1067 mm (3 foot 6 inch) gauge Nanao Line, following the 1 January 2024 Sea of Japan earthquake, is expected to continue until 5 April 2024. Resumption of services over the 5 km between Nanao and Wakuraonsen is expected from 6 April 2024 when Noto Railway services fully resume over this section.

Operations on the the 1067 mm (3 foot 6 inch) gauge, third sector, Noto Railway, suspended after the 1 January 2024 Sea of Japan earthquake , resumed between Nanao and Noto Nakajima on 15 February 2024 with a bus service provided between Noto Nakajima and Anamizu. Resumption of services over the whole line has been announced for 6 April 2024.

The 1067 mm (3 foot 6 inch) gauge Utsunomiya Light Rail line opened on 26 August 2023.

The 1067 mm (3 foot 6 inch) JR Khyshu Kyūdai Main Line was reopened throughout on 20 July 2023 afterr rainfall damage in two places earlier in the month.

The 1067 mm (3 foot 6 inch) Minamiaso Railway line fully reopened on 15 July 2023, after damage during an earthquake in April 2013 was repaired. Quake-wrecked Kumamoto railway back in service.

Substitute buses are running on the 1067 mm (3 foot 6 inch) JR West Mine and Sanin Lines from 7 July 2023 after recent rainfall damage. JR West Substitute Buses.

The 1.6 km extension of the standard gauge Fukola City Subway, Nanakuma Line, from Tenjin-Minami to Hakata Station via Kushida Shrine Station, began operation on 27 March 2023.

The 1067 mm (3 foot 6 inch), ~6 km, Sōtetsu–Tōkyū Link Line of the Eastern Kanagawa Rail Link opened on 18 March 2023. This has allowed the Tōkyū Shin-yokohama Line and the Sōtetsu Shin-yokohama Line to commence operation and so facilitating through running between Sōtetsu, Tobu, Tōkyū, Tokyo Metro and JR East lines.

A section of the 1067 mm (3 foot 6 inch) Oigawa Railway Main Line between Ieyama and Senzu is closed due to Typhon damage in December 2022, with bus replacement. Steam SL trains and local service operate as far as Ieyama. Government funding has been agreed to assist the restoration. The upper Ōigawa Railway Ikawa Line is unaffected.

JR-Khyshu opened the 66 km standard gauge Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen mini-shinkansen, between Nagasaki and Takeo-Onsen, on 23 September 2022. The route to connect it to the rest of the Kyushu Shinkansen, at Hakata Station, has yet to be decided. Gauge convertible trains have been suggested to enable the connection.

Future Changes

The standard gauge Nose Electric Railway is to terminate its standard gauge Myoken no Mori Mt. Myoken funicular railway operation from June 2024.

Longer Closures

The JR-East Rikuu West Line was "temporarily" suspended 14 May 2022 to facilitate construction of a tunnel for the Shinjo Sakata Road of National Route 47. This will last until at least 2024-2025.

The JR-Kyushu Hisatsu Line is suspended, for the 87 km between Yatsushiro and Yoshimatsu, since flood damage in July 2020. No date for resumption of services has been announced.

The JR-East Yonesaka Line is partially suspended, between Imaizumi Station and Sakamachi Station, due to rainstorm damage in August 2022. Full restoration could take several years while financing is sorted out.

Obscure and Sparse Passenger Services

See PSUL: World Beyond Europe

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