Economic Policy of Japanese Railway Industry in the Inter-War Period

日本铁路工业的历史研究主要是以日本铁路国有化前（1906-07）的大型铁路为例，山阳铁道九州旅客铁道北海道煤矿铁道公司政府铁路。然而，私有铁路在国有化后继续发展。1919年，全国铁路（包括私人电车和市政电车）的营业里程已达5000多公里。本研究的目的是探讨日本铁路产业在1910年代至1930年代间的各种问题，也就是所谓的两次大战之间的时期。通过研究，我发现了许多关于铁路企业的资料和记录，如Ome铁路公司，南部铁道鹤见临幸铁道以及其他铁路和电车公司。根据这些资料和记录，我展示了两次世界大战期间铁路工业的实际情况。结合一战后工业化和城市化的影响，对这些铁路公司的绩效进行了梳理，并试图进行全面的分析.另外，在这一时期的铁路政策中，还发现了许多重要的问题，如铁路建设的自由裁量权、铁路公司的融资制度、票价制度等。

The historical research of Japanese railway industry has developed in the case study of large railway before the nationalization (1906-07), such as Nippon Railway Co., San'yo Railway Co., Kyushu Railway Co., Hokkaido Coalmine and Railway Co., and the Government Railways. However, the private railways continued and developed after nationalization. In 1919, the operating kilometers of the private railways (including private and municipal tramways) has reached more than 5, 000 kilometers. The purpose of this research is to investigate various problems of Japanese railway industry from 1910's to 1930's, what is called interwar period.The feature of this research is as follows.1. As the result of this research, I found many materials and records on railway enterprises, like Ome Railway Co., Nambu Railway Co., Tsurumi Rinko Railway Co., and other railway and tramway companies. Based on those materials and records, I showed the actual conditions of railway industry in the inter-war period.2. I clarified the performances of these railway companies referring to the influence of industrialization and urbanization after World War I, and tried to the comprehensive analyses.3. In addition, about the railway policy in this period, I found out many important problems, for instance, discretionary rules for railway construction, systems for the financing of railway company, regulations of fare, and so on.