Japan Railway
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Approximate_JR_Areas.jpg
Approximate_JR_Areas.jpg
Approximate areas that the JR Hokkaido, JR East, JR Central, JR West, JR Shikoku, and JR Kyushu Companies cover.
Japan Railway, more commonly called JR, is a collective term for the privatized successors to the former Japanese National Railways, formed when JNR was divided into seven parts on April 1, 1987. These companies now collectively form the Japan Rail Group [1] (http://www.japanrail.com/jrgroup.php).
In Japan, a strong distinction is still made between JR and "genuine" private railways.
The seven JR companies are:
- JR Hokkaido or Hokkaido Railway Company (北海道旅客鉄道 or JR北海道)
- JR East or East Japan Railway Company (東日本旅客鉄道 or JR東日本)
- JR Central or Central Japan Railway Company (東海旅客鉄道 or JR東海)
- JR West or West Japan Railway Company (西日本旅客鉄道 or JR西日本)
- JR Shikoku or Shikoku Railway Company (四国旅客鉄道 or JR四国)
- JR Kyushu or Kyushu Railway Company (九州旅客鉄道 or JR九州)
- JR Freight or Japan Freight Railway Company (日本貨物鉄道 or JR貨物)
In addition, there is JR Soken (JR総研), a research institution.