Books about Japanese Railroading

[KenS]

Over on the Re: What are you waiting to be delivered to you? thread last night, marknewton suggested starting a thread about what books we had in our libraries about Japanese trains. Although mine is fairly small, I was reading one last night that really impressed me, and since nobody else seems to have taken up his suggestion, I thought I'd start one for both lists of what you have, and recommendations on which are worth getting.

 

My library (Japanese trains only; I have a bookcase of North American and general-purpose books):

 

Early Japanese Railways, 1853-1914, Dan Free, Tuttle Publishing, 2008, HC, 287pp., ISBN: 978-4-8053-1006-9

 

Japanese National Railways, Its Break-up and Privatization, Yoshiyuki Kasai, Global Oriental, 2003, HC, 228pp., ISBN: 1-901903-45-1 (English edition)

 

and one other that's hiding from me right now, I'll update the list when I find it.

 

This missing one is:

 

Japanese Railway Technology Today, RTRI/EJRCF, publisher EJRCF, 2001, SC, 226pp, ISBN: 4-330-67201-4

 

It's available online, but I think I got my copy through Amazon.

 

What impelled me to write this was that last night I sat down to read Kasai's book, and literally couldn't put it down.  It starts out a bit dry, but as he gets into the political and management/union interactions that drove and defined the shape of the breakup and the new JR companies (which he experienced first-hand, and had a role in shaping) it starts to sound like a political thriller.

 

Okay, you probably need to have an interest in the politics that shape public policy and large corporate behavior for it to be that interesting, but along the way he drops lots of little tidbits about the railroads (like why Shinkansen platforms on one line are only covered for the first 12 cars, despite running 16-car trains, while later ones had more; it's not about the planned use or because of customer response, it's because the managers saw the failure coming, and were positioning themselves for jobs in the construction industry by padding their projects, where earlier managers were trying to contain costs).

 

Kasai went on to become the president of JR Central.

 

I put it down "last night" when I noticed the sun coming up.  I expect I'll finish it tonight.

 

Dan Free's book is also interesting reading, if you care about the early days, and it has a lot of old pictures and pictures of Japanese prints of railroad scenes, which alone would be worth the price.

 

The RTRI book has a somewhat random collection of chapters about different technologies used in modern Japanese railroading, originally published as a series in their magazine.  It has a lot of interesting info, but leaves as many questions unanswered as it answers (I was left wanting more).

 

Updated: 14 Mar, to add the missing third book in my collection and a few comments on it.

[TestudoToTetsudo]

I was able to snag a copy of Christopher Hood's book "Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan" (ISBN 0-415-44409-8) direct from the publisher for $39.95 ( http://www.routledge.com/books/Shinkansen-isbn9780415444095 ), vs. its "street value" of over $300 on Amazon, new or used, a couple months ago.

 

GREAT read about the Shinkansen, and a lot of the "whys" and "hows" of the system.  It doesn't get too focused on any one technical aspect, instead Mr. Hood methodically goes through, one by one, every area in which the building and operation of a high speed railroad could impact a country -- political, financial, community relations/NIMBYs, market share, safety, etc. -- and describes the Shinkansen's impact on each.  Lots of very interesting charts in the back too.

 

It was so good I'm re-reading it now.

 

I also was given the book on Japanese Railway Privatization a couple years ago by a college professor.  I probably should read that between now and my next trip to Japan.

[Guest ___]

[bikkuri bahn]

Thanks for starting this topic Ken.  I always find discussions about railway literature and magazines interesting, as the kind of print matter out on the market (or not on the market) tells you alot about the state and direction of interest in railways, both on a societal level, and among enthusiasts.

 

Japanese Railways Today is a good one, there is some similar material on the JRTR website, but with less detail apparently.  I have a copy, it has good diagrams and detail on modern passenger railway operations and practice explained in laymans terms, which is entirely missing in North American publications, if indeed such books exist outside of the obscure technical trade market.

 

Interesting comments about the Kasai book.  The JR Central chairman is very outspoken, I'm not surprised he makes for a interesting author.

As for that shinkansen line "destined for failure", may I venture to guess it was the Joetsu Shinkansen to Niigata??

[bikkuri bahn]

I was able to snag a copy of Christopher Hood's book "Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan" (ISBN 0-415-44409-8) direct from the publisher for $39.95 ( http://www.routledge.com/books/Shinkansen-isbn9780415444095 ), vs. its "street value" of over $300 on Amazon, new or used, a couple months ago.

 

Testudo thanks for the heads up on this book.  A relatively reasonable price on this work-almost 75% cheaper than the HC edition on the publishers website!  I'm glad Routledge has released a more affordable edition of this work, given the dearth of serious scholarly (i.e. not "coffee table" picture books written by contract writers) English language works on HSR, much less the shinkansen.  I wonder if the all the current talk about building HSR lines in the U.S. (though only talk so far, no spikes have been laid yet- we Americans need to litigate first!) might have spurred the publisher to dust off this work from their collection.

[KenS]

As for that shinkansen line "destined for failure", may I venture to guess it was the Joetsu Shinkansen to Niigata??

 

I probably stated that badly. What he said (pgs 37-38) was that during the construction of the first Shinkansen line (Tokaido Shinkansen, in 1963) cost-containment was important, with, for example, platforms roofs at major stations being limited to 12 cars, and at minor stations to just 8 cars. But as conditions continued to degrade, "by 1969, when the First Reorganization Plan was launched, losing money was regarded as a matter of course" and "By the time the construction of the Tohoku Shinkansen Line started, the notion of profitability and cost control in the construction process had lost all meaning."

 

He goes on to compare cost-per-kilometer of several lines, with Tokaido at $5M/km, the Sanyo at $11M/km at $15M depending on the section, the Tohoku at $45M/km (!!) and the Joetsu at $50M/km, despite the projected revenue of each being lower than the one before.

 

Somewhere else (I can't find the page just now) he ascribes the rising costs to managers who were trying to steer extra business to the contractors, in return for lucrative post-JNR careers with those companies. And he suggests this was because they could see that JNR itself was destined for failure, so hastening its fall with poor management wasn't a problem anyone cared about.

 

Of course elsewhere he suggests that most management thought that JNR couldn't fail, as the government would be forced to prop it up no matter what happened. While the end result is the same, the two statements do seem to contradict each other.

[bikkuri bahn]

Thank you for the clarification.  I find the details of the building of the Tokaido Shinkansen fascinating, so ahead of its time.  

 

Somewhere else (I can't find the page just now) he ascribes the rising costs to managers who were trying to steer extra business to the contractors, in return for lucrative post-JNR careers with those companies.

 

Ah yes, amakudari...

 

Though more biographical and geared towards the general reader, I found the book Old Man Thunder, about the "father of the bullet train", Sogo Shinji, a decent read.  You may be able to find a copy at a local library, or pick up a cheap secondhand copy for the price of a burger and fries.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Man-Thunder-Father-Bullet/dp/0965958000

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I barely have any books on Japanese railways, however I do have 'High Speed in Japan' by Peter Semmens. It is quite a authoritive read, pulished by Platform 5 - a well known publisher, mainly centring on rolling stock guides and light rail transit.

 

Some UK readers may recognise Peter Semmens' name from Railway Magazine, he has been an author on Practive and Performance, taking over, I believe, from O S Nock.

 

There is a lot of technical detail both on the trains and lines themselves, but also performance data - not suprising really in view of his RM column. There are plenty of pictures, from the camera of Mikio Miura, and the previously mentioned Yoshiyuki Kasai provides the foreword.

[SONIC883_de]

I like this ones

 

GAKKEN - Rekishi Gunzo - Rail Mook

http://rekigun.net/published/railway.html

[bikkuri bahn]

I like this ones

 

GAKKEN - Rekishi Gunzo - Rail Mook

http://rekigun.net/published/railway.html

 

Yes, Sonic, I like those too.  Good topical focus and they go beyond the usual railway books and describe the operations and infrastructure in detail, "behind the scenes".  Too bad they are Japanese language only.  If similar books were published in English (dream on...), they probably would win awards, haha.

[westfalen]

 

I like this ones

 

GAKKEN - Rekishi Gunzo - Rail Mook

http://rekigun.net/published/railway.html

 

Yes, Sonic, I like those too.  Good topical focus and they go beyond the usual railway books and describe the operations and infrastructure in detail, "behind the scenes".  Too bad they are Japanese language only.  If similar books were published in English (dream on...), they probably would win awards, haha.

 

Every time I go into a book shop in Japan and see more railway books in one place than I've ever seen in every book shop in Australia, including a couple of specialist railway ones, I think to myself, "one day I've really got to learn to read this language".

 

I'm glad most of them have nice pictures.

[marknewton]

...marknewton suggested starting a thread about what books we had in our libraries about Japanese trains. Although mine is fairly small, I was reading one last night that really impressed me, and since nobody else seems to have taken up his suggestion, I thought I'd start one for both lists of what you have, and recommendations on which are worth getting.

 

Sorry Ken, things have been a bit hectic at my house these last few days, and I haven't had a chance to post anything on this topic. I will remedy that soon, however! 

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

My library of Japanese railway books and magazines is constantly growing. In this photo you can see it takes up all of the top shelf, and is starting to encroach on the one below.

 

 

 

I'm interested in older trains and private railways, so I don't have any books exclusively about Shinkansen or post-1987 JR. Among the most useful English language books I own are these:

 

 

ISBN 0-900433-95-7

 

ISBN 0-948106-02-6

 

ISBN 0-948106-20-4

 

ISBN 0-9611538-0-6

 

ISBN 0-916374-33-5

 

ISBN 1-872166-46-6

 

No ISBN

 

More books to follow.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[Lawrence]

I was able to snag a copy of Christopher Hood's book "Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan" (ISBN 0-415-44409-8) direct from the publisher for $39.95 ( http://www.routledge.com/books/Shinkansen-isbn9780415444095 ), vs. its "street value" of over $300 on Amazon, new or used, a couple months ago.

 

Available at http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=0415444098&sts=t&x=16&y=12, good used condition at just over £18, thought about it, but bullet trains aint my thing!

[bikkuri bahn]

Mark, I see you have Charles S. Small's 1965 Rails to the Rising Sun on your shelf.  Another good one typical of Golden West's better issues, with a now historical perspective on (mainly) smaller private railways and lines in Japan in the nineteen fifties. Lots of atmospheric period photos of railways, very useful for scenery hints for modelers focused on mid century to early 70's Japanese railways.

 

Also, J. Wally Higgins' series of hardcover photo albums of Japanese railways from the 50-60's (mainly emus and streetcars, but also one volume covering JNR) are recommended.  Published by JTB (yes, the travel agency and timetable publisher), they are pricey though.  I'm fortunate that my local public library has them. Apparently Wally doesn't take pictures much anymore, except the occasional shinkansen.

 

http://www.rurubu.com/book/recomm/1580/803050/index3.aspx

[marknewton]

Mark, I see you have Charles S. Small's 1965 Rails to the Rising Sun on your shelf...

 

BB, it's one of my favourite railway books. Apart from all the useful information it contains, I really enjoy Mr Small's writing style. I find him very witty and entertaining. I also have two of his other books, Far Wheels and Far Wheels II, both of which feature narrow gauge lines in Japan.

 

Also, J. Wally Higgins' series of hardcover photo albums of Japanese railways from the 50-60's (mainly emus and streetcars, but also one volume covering JNR) are recommended.

 

Absolutely. Agreed, they're not cheap, but they are beautifully produced volumes that even impress non-railfans with their quality. There's four I know of, the two featuring private railways, the JNR volume and one on trams. All are worth having.

[marknewton]

If you're going to get a copy of Rails To the Rising Sun, the edition with this cover seems to have better photo reproduction than other editions I've seen.

 

No ISBN. LOCCC 65-21340

 

Also worth getting is Far Wheels II, which features the Kiso Forest Railway, Kusukaru Electric Railway, the Japan Sulphur Company and the Kosaka Copper Company railways. Like all his books, the text is informative and witty, a good read.

 

ISBN 0-912113-31-6

 

The standard English language history text is this book. No-one seriously interested in Japanese railways should be without it.

 

ISBN 4-330-67901-9

 

If like me you're interested in modelling Showa 30s-era railways, this book is worth a look. Published in 1969, it features wonderfully evocative B&W images of all Japanese railways - JNR, private, Shinkansen and steam. It even shows a horse-drawn village railway. A small colour section at the front has more artistic views.

 

No ISBN LOCCC 7294927

 

Saving the best till last for this post, here's what I regard as the most impressive railway history book I own, on any subject. It's scholarly, well researched, beautiful to look at, and immensely satisfying to read. I can't recommend this book enough if you're interested in the origins of the railway in Japan. (Even if I wasn't fascinated by Japanese railways I think I would want a copy of this book!)

 

ISBN 978-4-8053-1006-9

 

More books to come,

 

Mark.

[bikkuri bahn]

If you're going to get a copy of Rails To the Rising Sun, the edition with this cover seems to have better photo reproduction than other editions I've seen.

 

Thanks.  I got the one with the Mt. Fuji painting.  Does your copy have better quality (glossy) paper?  Mine is matte.  I see the same chop socky fonts are used though- hey everyone, lets go to the far east cafe for some chop suey and egg foo yung (cue the gong...)

[marknewton]

Mine has glossy pages. I know what you mean about the chop socky fonts, although I 've never heard them described as such. I like it though, enough to use it myself in future.

 

(Properly attributed, of course!  )

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[dmustu]

Thanks for starting this topic, I had no idea that there were this many english language books about japanese railways. Suffice to say my wallet is now several pounds lighter, so maybe I should not be so thankful after all!

[marknewton]

You won't thank me at all after I post the next batch of English-language books! 

 

Seriously, I'm glad you're finding this topic useful. It's good to have a reference library, but it's so much better when you can share the information around.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[cteno4]

Just saw a great new Japanese train book tonight at the club dinner. New book by Dan Free called Early Japanese Railways 1853-1914: Engineering Triumphs That Transformed Meiji-era Japan. Really packed full of info and great Picts. $21 on amazon, just ordered a copy.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4805312904/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Cheers

 

Jeff