明治二〇年代における鉄道網形成の諸要因 : 甲武鉄道の出願をめぐって

The aim of this paper is to clarify the decision-making process concerning the choice of railway routes in the Mid-Meiji period. In Japan, the way in which decisions concerning railway construction were made differs from both Britain and Belgium, and rather resembles the case of France. Neither private entreprenneurs nor governments could act alone: private entreprenneurs must apply to the authority with detailed documents of their plan, then the government will grant a license only after severe examination of the plans and of the applicants themselves (i.e. their social position, property etc.). So we must analyse the interrelationship between the private entreprenneurs and the government. Furthermore, we must note that neither government nor private entreprenneurs are homogeneous groups. They are divided into many subgroups according to various factors. In this paper, I shall examine socio-geographical factors, i.e. the central-provincial dichotomy Thus, there are four sub-groups: A. The Central Government, B. The Local Governments, C. Entreprenneurs who lived in the city of TOKYO or OSAKA, D. Entreprenneurs who lived in other area. These four groups have different motives for the construction of railways. We can summerise them as follows: A. bureaucrats of the central government has a broad guideline, according to which each railway must have a starting point in TOKYO, because they regard it as essential to improve the economic and military power of the capital. B. bureaucrats of the local government (i.e. do, fu, ken) want, for effective administration, railway networks to connect the main towns with the city in which the prefectural office is located. They also see the railways as one of the most effective means to attract people from group D onto their side. C. great men of property live in TOKYO or OSAKA. They are profit maximizers. And they invest in any plan wherever that route proves to be profitable. They get the imformation about regional economies from group D. D. regional enterprenneurs are usually local notables. Almost all of them were village officers under the Tokugawa Shogunate, and were retained the power of organizing common people in their region/area. They plan railways from the viewpoint of promoting industries in their region/area. But because their property is too small to accomplish their plans independently, they have to present their plans to the group C and try to introduce the funds of group C to their regions. I shall test the applicability of this framework by taking up the case of the KOBU line, (from SHINJUKU to HACHIOJI, about 27 miles), started in 1889 and nationalized in 1907.