# (The first railway in Japan)
# 1872 Oct.15 The first day of operation
Picture of early Japanese railway
# 1874 May.11 Inauguration of service between Osaka and Kobe
# 1877 Feb. 6 Inauguration of service between Kyoto and Osaka
# 1879 Apr.14 Shimbashi Railway Department hired three Japanese as engine drivers
# 1880 Jun.28 Completion of Osakayama tunnel
# 1880 Nov.28 Inauguration of service between Temiya and Sapporo
# (The first railway in Hokkaido area)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 1882 Jun.25 Inauguration of service between Shimbashi and Nihombashi
# (The first horse-drawn railway)
# 1888 Oct.28 Inauguration of Iyo Railway Comp. between Matsuyama-sotogawa and Mitsu
# (The first railway in Shikoku area)
# 1889 Jul. 1 Completion of Tokaido line (Government Railway) between Shimbashi and Kobe
# (Tokyo - Osaka in 20 hours 5 minutes)
# 1889 Dec.11 Inauguration of Kyushu Railway Comp. between Hakata and Chitosegawa
# (The first railway of Kyushu area)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 1891 Jul. 1 Completion of Kyushu Railway Comp. between Moji and Kumamoto
# 1891 Sep. 1 Completion of Nippon Railway Comp. between Ueno and Aomori
# 1893 Jun. 1 The first steam locomotive of Japanese make produced at Kobe works
# 1895 Feb. 1 Opening of Kyoto Electric Railway
# (The first electric railway)
# 1895 Jul.10 Opening of Zuso Man-Power Railway Comp. between Odawara and Yosihama
# (The first man-power tramway)
# 1896 Nov.21 Passenger car interior of Kansei Railway Comp was color-coded by ticket classes, in which an upper was white, a middle was blue and a lower was red
# 1896 Dec. Poters assigned to main stations of San'yo Railway
# (The first "Redcap")
# 1897 Nov. 5 The first sale of platform tickets at main station
# 1898 Jan. Electric lamps lighted up within passenger cars.
# (The first internal electric lighting.)
# 1898 Sep.22 Waiters("Boys") ride on express train of San'yo Railway Comp. as a member of crew
# (The first "Boy" service on the train)
# 1898 Nov.18 Completion of Kansei Railway Comp. between Nagoya and Osaka
Photo of Chigasaki St.(About 1898)
# (Tokyo - Osaka in 15 hours 35 minutes)
# 1899 May.25 First class coach service with buffet started on express trains of San'yo Railway Comp.
# (The first buffet service)
# 1900 Apr. 8 First class coach with berth coupling to express train of San'yo Railway Comp.
# (The first sleeping car)
# 1900 May. 1 "Tetsudo Shoka"(Railway Song) published
# 1900 Jun.12 Ten women staffs were members employed at Government Railway
# (The first women staffs)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 1901 May.27 Completion of San'yo Railway Comp. between Kobe and Shimonoseki
# 1904 Aug.21 Inauguration of Kobu Railway Comp. between Iidamachi and Nakano both electric and steam locomotives
# Automatic signaling installed at the same time
# 1906 Mar.31 National Railways Law promulgated
# 1907 Oct. 1 17 private railways taken over by the government
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reference
Noda, Masaho; Harada, Katsumasa; Aoki, Eiichi; Oikawa, Yoshinobu. "Japanese railway - the establishment and development" Railway History Series 2(In Japanese). Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha. Tokyo
JNR ed. "Japanese National Railways' history -- by photographes"
