Books Japanese Railways

Can anyone recommend any books on the history of Railways and Rail Equipment in Japan ?

Prefer English

Building of Railways
Steam Power
Rolling Stock
Engineering Standards
Electrification
etc.

Cactus Jack,

The only publications I am aware of in English are history books that only have a minor discussion on the development of the railways in Japan. Nothing too in-depth.

I'll do some digging around in the next couple days and see what I can come up with.

Jack,

If you have any specific questions on any of those topics, someone here might know the answer. Also, maybe Komachi or I could look around for you.

Well I was looking to try to understand the railway system during the Meiji Period up to WWII in particular. How it was developed, traffic base, equipment, shops, operational procedures, engineering etc.

CJ,

Hey, life got a little busy for me there, but here's a site I think you might find useful. It's the Japan Railway & Transport Review. I believe most everything you want to know about Japanese trains and railways is available on that site.

About the best I can do at the moment. I'll see if I can come across anything else.


The link...
http://www.jrtr.net/

Thanks !

That looks like a great site !

Hi, Jack,

The Japanese photographer Naotaka Hirota published two books in English:

The Lure of Japan's Railways
Steam Locomotives of Japan

I've not seen the former, but I recently obtained a copy of the latter. Though mostly a photography book, an appendix at the rear contains some history of Japanese railways and technological developments. And the photography itself is wonderful.

Hope this helps,

Scott Lothes
Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan

Ooooooooooooohhhhh,


I know what's going on my Christmas list this year!!!!!!

Erik,

There are a few used copies of the steam book on Amazon right now for around $20US. Lure seems a bit harder to find, but I acquired my copy (in excellent condition) for under $40US. It just took a little searching. Both were published around 1970 and are out-of-print.

Happy hunting!

Scott