This week, we’re starting off a look at the history of rail in Japan by exploring how this revolutionary technology was introduced to the country. And once it was, how would a government obsessed with strategic infrastructure like rail manage the complexities of funding and constructing something so jaw-droppingly expensive?
Sources
Ike, Nobutaka. “The Pattern of Railway Development in Japan.” The Far Eastern Quarterly 14, No 2 (Feb, 1955).
Ericson, Steven J. The Sound of the Whistle: Railroads and the State in Meiji Japan.
Wells, Samuel Williams. A Journal of the Perry Expedition to Japan. Available digitized by Hathi Trust.
Hawks, Francis L. Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan.
Images
![](https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/400px-EnseiKiki1-273x300.jpg)
![](https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/18_156_AmericanGifts-300x203.jpg)
![](https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/30_034h_train_225H_s-300x228.jpg)
![](https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/40_005_train_detail_s-300x173.jpg)
![](https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/1920px-JGR_class_150_steam_locomotive_at_the_Railway_Museum-300x225.jpg)
![](https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/View_of_Ueno-Nakasendo_railway_from_Ueno_station-300x147.jpg)
My understanding is that this is also the period of the intracity rail systems as well, I think the origins of the Yamanote line in Tokyo dates to this time. While I’m guessing that the history of Japanese urban mass transit systems is the topic for *another* series of podcasts; to what extent did the Meiji government put on intra-city/ short distance passenger heavy rail?
When you said a miniature train, I wasn’t expecting something that big! That seems dangerous!
My mind was blown when you tied the railway to nationalism. You’re absolutely right. I never thought of how centralized government is one of the most important things for nationalism.