SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES OF RAILWAY COMPANIES IN JAPAN IN THE XX CENTURY

Abstract

The first Japanese railway began to operate in 1872. The main railway lines were built by the end of the 19‑th century. They were state-owned and private-owned companies. Militarization of Japanese economy led to the fact that property of the most private companies was nationalized. The scope of activities of remaining private companies in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya was limited to the cities and suburbs. The struggle to survive in the face of significant restrictions has led these companies to the need to increase passenger traffic. For this they built residential areas and universities, large stores, hotels, restaurants on company lands. Many cultural and sports institutions were created: theatres, picture galleries, museums, recreation and amusement parks, sport facilities. As a result by the end of the XX century the activities of private companies diversified so much that they can hardly be called railway companies. The functions of these companies related to the transportation of passengers are only a visible part divers activities that are carried out not so much by parent companies as by their branches and subsidiaries. Government railways expanded their socioeconomic and cultural activities in the late 1960‑th — early 1970‑th, when legislation was revised towards the partial removal of restrictions for side activities. But only since privatization «Kokutetsu» in 1986 socioeconomic and cultural activity has gained full scope. Private and privatized companies complement the state in the development of culture, tourism, economy and life of Japanese society. The mutual interest of railway companies and the state in cultural and socio-economic development is revealed.