2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

The development of Japanese railway industry and international environment ; focus on the railway materials

Research Project

Project/Area Number	20539001
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Economic history
Research Institution	The University of Tokyo
Principal Investigator	NAKAMURA Naofumi The University of Tokyo, 社会科学研究所, 教授 (60262086)
Project Period (FY)	2008 – 2010
Keywords	近代日本 / 鉄道業 / 国際環境 / 鉄道資材 / 国際競争 / 鉄道企業 / 機関車メーカー / 商社
Research Abstract	This research project reexamines the influence of the international environment at the turn of the 20th century on the rapid development of the modern Japanese railway industry. We employ a multi-archival approach, examining primary source materials from Japan, the United States, and England, with a special focus on how railway materials were imported from western countries to Japan. We show that Japanese railways were able to purchase locomotives and other railway materials of high quality, with short delivery dates and low prices, due to severe competition between British, American, and German makers. This was one of the factors behind the high growth of the Japanese railway industry at the turn of the 20th century.