Fascinating read! I watched the whole JNR celebration you linked above (shoddy auto-translated subtitles and my own middling Japanese skills aiding my understanding), and I'm glad I did because the tone they set during that show was definitely different than what you present here.
The sudden bailout after the other failures was something I suspected would happen but it being confirmed as I read on felt like... I suppose watching a train coming down the tracks towards you, for lack of a better metaphor.
I appreciate your writing being clear for people, like me, who aren't "econ people", thank you for such an informative and thoughtful piece.
Thank you for reading! Yes, the celebration definitely had a more festive tone with the TV networks fondly (?) remembering back JNR. I think I was drawn into the tension/contradiction of having a memoriam for a train company which more or less has been sent to its deathbed by political force, not because it lived a natural life like a human being, and wrote it as such.
I am also not a econ person myself, and I really, really wanted to make this digestible, if possible, for anyone who wanted to learn more about Japanese rail history in English and explore deeper using my Substack as a diving board.
An interesting time to look back, as JR East has just announced their "first" line closure (without the excuse of a natural disaster) and first general fare increase.
Fascinating read! I watched the whole JNR celebration you linked above (shoddy auto-translated subtitles and my own middling Japanese skills aiding my understanding), and I'm glad I did because the tone they set during that show was definitely different than what you present here.
The sudden bailout after the other failures was something I suspected would happen but it being confirmed as I read on felt like... I suppose watching a train coming down the tracks towards you, for lack of a better metaphor.
I appreciate your writing being clear for people, like me, who aren't "econ people", thank you for such an informative and thoughtful piece.
Thank you for reading! Yes, the celebration definitely had a more festive tone with the TV networks fondly (?) remembering back JNR. I think I was drawn into the tension/contradiction of having a memoriam for a train company which more or less has been sent to its deathbed by political force, not because it lived a natural life like a human being, and wrote it as such.
I am also not a econ person myself, and I really, really wanted to make this digestible, if possible, for anyone who wanted to learn more about Japanese rail history in English and explore deeper using my Substack as a diving board.
An excellent read - thanks!
I often wondered why rail privatisation worked out so well for Japan, but so badly for my country (Britain).
And now I know the answer - massive state intervention!
Yes, and in several ways that is largely hidden from public view -- "a form of stage-management" as one of the headings says!
An interesting time to look back, as JR East has just announced their "first" line closure (without the excuse of a natural disaster) and first general fare increase.
The tunes in some of the video links came back to me when I was reading this article. I hope you enjoy it.
https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g02436/
Thank you!