East Japan Railway Company

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East Japan Railway Company
Native name
東日本旅客鉄道株式会社
Romanized name
Higashi-Nihon Ryokaku Tetsudō kabushiki gaisha
lit. 'East Japan Passenger Railway Share Company'
Company type Public
Industry Rail transport
Predecessor Japanese National Railways (JNR)
Founded1 April 1987;38 years ago (1987-04-01), privatization of JNR
Headquarters
2-2-2 Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo
,
Japan
Area served
 Kanto and Tōhoku regions
Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures
Key people
Tetsuro Tomita (chairman of the board)
Masaki Ogata (vice chairman of the board)
Yuji Fukasawa (president, Representative Director) [1]
Products Suica (a rechargeable contactless smart card)
Services Passenger railways
freight services
bus transportation
other related services [2]
Revenue
  • Increase2.svg ¥2,405,538 million(FY 2023) [3]
  • Increase2.svg ¥1,978,967 million(FY 2022) [4]
  • Increase2.svg ¥2,756,165 million(FY 2015)
  • Decrease2.svg ¥140,629 million(FY 2023) [3]
  • Decrease2.svg ¥153,938 million(FY 2022) [4]
  • Increase2.svg ¥487,821 million(FY 2016) [4]
  • Increase2.svg¥427,522 million(FY 2015)
  • Increase2.svg ¥245,310 million(FY 2016) [4]
  • Decrease2.svg¥180,398 million(FY 2015)
Total assets
  • Increase2.svg ¥7,789,762 million(FY 2016) [4]
  • Increase2.svg¥7,605,690 million(FY 2015)
Total equity
  • Increase2.svg ¥2,442,129 million(FY 2016) [4]
  • Increase2.svg¥2,285,658 million(FY 2015)
Owner JTSB investment trusts (8.21%)
Mizuho Bank (4.07%)
TMTBJ investment trusts (3.97%)
MUFG Bank (2.75%)
Repurchased shares (2.67%)
(as of 30 September 2018)
Number of employees
73,017 (as of 31 March 2013) [1]
Divisions Railway operations [5]
Life-style business [5]
IT & Suica business [5]
Subsidiaries 83 companies, [6] [7]
including Tokyo Monorail and J-TREC
Website www.jreast.co.jp
Footnotes /references
[8] [9]

The East Japan Railway Company [a] is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR East in English, and as JR Higashi-Nihon [b] in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, next to Shinjuku Station. [2] It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange (it formerly had secondary listings in the Nagoya and Osaka stock exchanges), is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and is one of three Japan Railways Group constituents of the Nikkei 225 index, the others being JR Central and JR West.

Contents

History

JR East was incorporated on 1 April 1987 after being spun off from the government-run Japanese National Railways (JNR). [10] The spin-off was nominally "privatization", as the company was actually a wholly owned subsidiary of the government-owned JNR Settlement Corporation for several years, and was not completely sold to the public until 2002.

Following the breakup, JR East ran the operations on former JNR lines in the Greater Tokyo Area, the Tōhoku region, and surrounding areas.

JR Group service regions JR Rail en.svg
JR Group service regions

Lines

Railway lines of JR East primarily serve the Kanto and Tohoku regions, along with adjacent areas in Kōshin'etsu region (Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi) and Shizuoka prefectures. [11]

Shinkansen

JR East operates all of the Shinkansen high-speed rail lines north of Tokyo, with the exception of the Hokkaido Shinkansen which is operated by JR Hokkaido. [12]

The Tokyo–Osaka Tōkaidō Shinkansen is owned and operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), although it stops at several JR East stations. [13]

East Japan Railway Company

Kanto region

These lines have sections inside the Tokyo suburban area (Japanese: 東京近郊区間) designated by JR East. This does not necessarily mean that the lines are fully inside the Greater Tokyo Area.

 East Japan Railway Company

Koshinetsu region

 East Japan Railway Company

Tohoku region

 East Japan Railway Company

Services

Below is the full list of limited express and express train services operated on JR East lines as of 2025.

Shinkansen

Limited express (daytime)

Limited express (overnight)

Cargo transport

JR East operates "Hakobyun", a priority cargo transport service on its Shinkansen lines. The service is intended for high-value, delicate, and time-sensitive goods such as precision equipment and premium fresh seafood, offering faster delivery times and smoother handling than conventional freight trains. Any Shinkansen train can carry up to 40 boxes of commercial cargo using storage areas located between cars. On selected services, one or more cars may be closed to passengers and used for cargo transport, with boxes loaded onto specially designed carts that fit between seats. JR East also operates a converted E3 series trainset with all seating removed for dedicated cargo use. Hakobyun services operate on the Akita, Hokuriku, Hokkaidō, Jōetsu, Tōhoku, and Yamagata Shinkansen lines. Small consignments can be loaded and unloaded at any station along the route, while larger volumes must be handled at designated cargo terminals. [15] [16] [17] [18]

Stations

During Japanese fiscal year 2024, the busiest stations in the JR East network by average daily passenger count were: [19]

  1. Shinjuku (666,809)
  2. Ikebukuro (499,128)
  3. Tokyo (434,564)
  4. Yokohama (373,010)
  5. Shibuya (324,414)
  6. Shinagawa (287,939)
  7. Ōmiya (254,220)
  8. Shimbashi (231,628)
  9. Akihabara (221,421)
  10. Kita-Senju (198,732)

Subsidiaries

JR East headquarters (JRDong Ri Ben Ben She biru), located near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo JR-East-HQ-Building-00.jpg
JR East headquarters (JR東日本本社ビル), located near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo

Sponsorship

JR East co-sponsors the JEF United Chiba J-League football club [ citation needed ], which was formed by a merger between the JR East and Furukawa Electric company teams.

Carbon emission plan

JR East aims to reduce its carbon emissions by half, as measured over the period 1990–2030. This would be achieved by increasing the efficiency of trains and company-owned thermal power stations and by developing hybrid trains. [21]

Alleged revolutionary front

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has stated that JR East's official union is a front for a revolutionary political organization called the Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist Faction). An investigation of this is ongoing.[ when? ] [22]

Culture foundation

The East Japan Railway Culture Foundation is a non-profit organization established by JR East for the purpose of developing a "richer railway culture". [23] The Railway Museum in Saitama is operated by the foundation.

Bids outside Japan

JR East held a 15% shareholding in West Midlands Trains with Abellio and Mitsui that commenced operating the West Midlands franchise in England in December 2017. [24] [25] JR East sold their stake to Abellio in September 2021. [26] The same consortium were also listed to be bidding for the South Eastern franchise. [27] [28]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: 東日本旅客鉄道株式会社, Hepburn: Higashi-Nihon Ryokaku Tetsudō kabushiki gaisha
  2. ↑ JR東日本, Jeiāru Higashi-Nihon; lit. 'JR East Japan'

References

  1. 1 2 "JR East 2013 Annual Business Report (Japanese)" (PDF). East Japan Railway Company. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 "JR East Corporate Data". East Japan Railway Company. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 East Japan Railway Company. "Financial Report 2023" (PDF). p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 East Japan Railway Company. "Financial Highlights - East Japan Railway Company and Subsidiaries" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "Organization". East Japan Railway Company. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  6. ↑ East Japan Railway Company. グループ会社一覧 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  7. ↑ 会社要覧2008 (PDF) (in Japanese). East Japan Railway Company. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  8. ↑ "Consolidated Results of Fiscal 2011 (Year Ended 31 March 2011)" (PDF). East Japan Railway Company. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  9. ↑ "JR East 2012 Annual Report" (PDF). East Japan Railway Company. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "JR East: Our Origins and Long-Term Goals" (PDF). jreast.co.jp. 2006. pp. 89–91. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  11. ↑ "JR East Japan Railway Company x Savour BlackBookAsia". 28 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "Hokkaido Shinkansen". 16 March 2025.
  13. ↑ "About the Shinkansen".
  14. ↑ Lambe, Michael. "The Sunrise Seto & Sunrise Izumo – Overnight Sleeper Trains from Osaka to Tokyo". Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  15. ↑ "Bullet trains haul freight as fruit, seafood ticketed for fast delivery | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 1 August 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  16. ↑ "JR East to develop E10 series shinkansen train". The Japan Times. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  17. ↑ "JR東、荷物輸送用の新幹線投入を発表 「つばさ」用車両が改造で転身". 鉄道コム (in Japanese). 4 March 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  18. ↑ "はこビュン｜サービス｜ジェイアール東日本物流". ジェイアール東日本物流 (in Japanese). Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  19. ↑ "各駅の乗車人員 2024年度 ベスト100：Jr東日本" [Number of passengers at each station in fiscal year 2024]. Retrieved 15 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ↑ HighBeam [ dead link ]
  21. ↑ "JR East Efforts to Prevent Global Warming". Japan Railway & Transport Review (51): 22–27. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  22. ↑ "第174回国会 430 革マル派によるＪＲ総連及びＪＲ東労組への浸透に関する質問主意書". Government of Japan. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  23. ↑ "For a Richer Railway Culture". East Japan Railway Culture Foundation. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
  24. ↑ "More seats for rail passengers as nearly £1 billion is invested in Midlands services" (Press release). Department for Transport. 10 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  25. ↑ "West Midlands Trains announced as winning bidder for West Midlands franchise" (PDF) (Press release). Abellio. 10 August 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2017.
  26. ↑ "West Midlands Holdings Limited Financial Accounts 2020/21". Companies House. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  27. ↑ "West Coast Partnership and South Eastern rail franchise bidders". Department for Transport. 22 June 2017. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  28. ↑ "South Eastern franchise bidders announced". Railway Gazette International . 22 June 2017. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017.
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