The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven

Japan Railways Group The Japan Railways Group, commonly known as the or simply JR, is a network of railway companies in Japan formed after the Corporate spin-off, division and privatization of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. ...

companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in

Yoyogi is a neighbourhood in the northern part of Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Geography The area encompassed by Yoyogi is typically defined two ways: * Only the five Yoyogi . * The former , corresponding roughly to the area south of Japan National Route ...

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, next to

Shinjuku Station is a major railway station in Tokyo, Japan, that serves as the main connecting hub for rail traffic between central/eastern Tokyo (the Special wards of Tokyo, special wards) and Western Tokyo on the inter-city rail, commuter rail, and rapid tr ...

. It is listed in the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. The exchange is owned by Japan Exchange Group (JPX), a holding company that it also lists (), and operated by Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., a wholly owned sub ...

(it formerly had secondary listings in the

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

and

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

stock exchanges), is a constituent of the

TOPIX The , commonly known as the TOPIX, is an important stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Japan, along with the Nikkei 225. The TOPIX tracks the entire market of domestic companies and covers most stocks in the Tokyo Stock Exc ...

Large70 index, and is one of three Japan Railways Group constituents of the

Nikkei 225 The Nikkei 225, or , more commonly called the ''Nikkei'' or the ''Nikkei index'' (), is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). It is a price-weighted index, operating in the Japanese yen, Japanese Yen (JP¥), and its compone ...

index, the others being

JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and occasionally as JR Tokai (). The term ''Tōkai'' refers to the southern portion of Central Japan, ...

and

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

History

JR East was incorporated on 1 April 1987 after being spun off from the government-run

Japanese National Railways The , abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

(JNR). The spin-off was nominally "privatization", as the company was actually a wholly owned subsidiary of the government-owned

JNR Settlement Corporation The , or JNRSC, was a temporary holding company created to distribute the assets of the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) after its privatization in the mid-1980s. On October 22, 1998, the JNRSC was disbanded and placed under the Japan Rail ...

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 Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefecture, Gunma, Ibaraki Prefecture, ...

, the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

, and surrounding areas. JR Rail en

Lines

Railway lines of JR East primarily serve the Kanto and Tohoku regions, along with adjacent areas in

Kōshin'etsu region is a subregion of the Chūbu region in Japan consisting of Yamanashi, Nagano, and Niigata prefectures. The name Kōshin'etsu is a composite formed from the names of old provinces which are adjacent to each other — Kai (now Yamanashi) ...

( Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi) and Shizuoka

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

Shinkansen

Kanto region

These lines have sections inside the Tokyo suburban area () designated by JR East. This does not necessarily mean that the lines are fully inside the

Koshinetsu region

Tohoku region

Services

Below is the full list of

limited express A limited express is a type of express train or express bus service that stops at fewer locations compared to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a common translation of the Japanese ...

and

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes few or no stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, providing faster service than local trains that stop at many or all of the stations along their ...

services operated on JR East lines as of 2022.

Shinkansen

*'' Asama'' *''

Hakutaka The is a high-speed ''shinkansen'' train service jointly operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West) between and on the Hokuriku Shinkansen line in Japan. The shinkansen service was introduced o ...

'' *''

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. ''Hayabusa'', formerly known as MUSES-C ...

'' *'' Hayate'' *'' Kagayaki'' *'' Komachi'' *''

Nasuno The is a train service operated on the Tōhoku Shinkansen by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It serves all stations between and , a medium-sized city approximately 225 km north of Tokyo.JR Timetable, December 2008 Origin ...

'' *'' Tanigawa'' *'' Toki'' *'' Tsubasa'' *''

Yamabiko The is a high-speed Shinkansen train service operated on the Tōhoku Shinkansen between and by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. Name The word ''yamabiko'' is usually translated as 'echo', particularly one which is heard in th ...

Limited express (daytime)

*'' Kusatsu'' *'' Akagi'' *''

Azusa AZUSA refers to a ground-based radar tracking system installed at Cape Canaveral, Florida and the NASA Kennedy Space Center. AZUSA was named after the southern California town Azusa, California where the system was devised in the early 1950s. ...

'' *'' Fuji Excursion'' *''

Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

'' and '' Tokiwa'' *''

Inaho The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), which runs from to and .JR Timetable, March 2012 issue, p.101/1003 The train runs along the Uetsu Main Line with views on the coast and Dewa Mo ...

'' *'' Kaiji/View Kaiji'' *'' Kusatsu'' *''

Narita Express The , abbreviated as N'EX, is a limited express train service operated in Japan since 1991 by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), serving Narita International Airport from various Greater Tokyo Area stations. Services run approximately hal ...

'' *''

Nikkō is a Cities of Japan, city in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city's population was 80,239, in 36,531 households. The population density was 55 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Nikkō is a popular destination for Japanese and ...

and Kinugawa'' *'' Saphir Odoriko/Odoriko'' *'' Sazanami'' * ''Shirayuki'' *'' Shiosai'' * ''Shōnan'' *'' Tsugaru'' *'' Wakashio''

Limited express (overnight)

*''

Sunrise Izumo The is an overnight sleeping car train service in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West) since July 1998. Operations The ''Sunrise Izumo' ...

''/''

Sunrise Seto The is an overnight sleeping car train service in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), West Japan Railway Company (JR West), and Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) since July ...

'' (not operated by JR East, operated by JR Central and JR-West over the Tokaido Main Line, part of which JR East owns between Tokyo and

Atami is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 36,865 in 21,593 households

)

Stations

During fiscal 2017, the busiest stations in the JR East network by average daily passenger count were: #

(778,618) #

Ikebukuro Station Ikebukuro Station () is a major railway station located in the Ikebukuro district of Toshima, Tokyo, Japan, shared by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro, and the two private railway operators Seibu Railw ...

(566,516) #

Tokyo Station Tōkyō Station (, ) is a major railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is not far ...

(452,549) #

Yokohama Station is a major interchange railway station in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It is the busiest station in Kanagawa Prefecture and the fifth-busiest in the world as of 2013, serving 760 million passengers a year. Lines Yokohama Station is served by t ...

(420,192) #

Shinagawa Station is a major railway station in the Takanawa and Konan districts of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), and the private railway operator Keikyu. The Tokaido Shinkans ...

(378,566) #

Shibuya Station is a major railway station in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Keio Corporation, Tokyu Corporation, and Tokyo Metro. It serves as a terminal for six railway lines, five of which are operated by Tokyo Metro ...

(370,669) #

Shimbashi Station is a major interchange railway station in Tokyo's Minato Ward, located centrally and a 10-minute walk from the Ginza shopping district, directly south of Tokyo station. Many train services such as limited express trains (except the Shōnan ( ...

(277,404) # Omiya Station (255,147) #

Akihabara Station is an interchange railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is at the center of the Akihabara shopping district specializing in electronic goods. Lines Akihabara Station is served by the following lines. JR East: * Tōhoku Main Line ** Ke ...

(250,251) # Kita-Senju Station (217,838)

Subsidiaries

*Higashi-Nihon Kiosk - provides newspapers, drinks and other items in station kiosks and operates the Newdays

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

chain *JR Bus Kanto / JR Bus Tohoku - intercity bus operators *Nippon Restaurant Enterprise - provides ''

bentō A is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese-style single-portion take-out or Packed lunch, home-packed meal, often for lunch, typically including rice and packaged in a box with a lid (often a segmented box with different parts of the meal placed in diff ...

'' box lunches on trains and in train stations *

Tokyo Monorail The , officially the , is a straddle-beam, Alweg-type monorail line in Tokyo, Japan. It is an airport rail link that connects Haneda Airport, Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) to Tokyo's Ōta, Tokyo, Ōta, Shinagawa, and Minato, Tokyo, Minato ...

- (70% ownership stake) *East Japan Marketing & Communications

Sponsorship

JR East co-sponsors the

JEF United Chiba , full name and also known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chiba, capital of Chiba Prefecture. They currently play in the J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football. History Furukawa Electric SC (19 ...

J-League The , commonly a.k.a. shortened to the , and officially known as the for sponsorship with Meiji Yasuda Life, is the men's association football league in Japan. It is responsible for organizing Japan's major professional football tournaments, in ...

football club , 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 Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

by half, as measured over the period 1990–2030. This would be achieved by increasing the efficiency of trains and company-owned

thermal power station A thermal power station, also known as a thermal power plant, is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.) is converted to electrical energy. The heat ...

s and by developing hybrid trains.

Alleged revolutionary front

The

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department The , known locally as simply the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), is the prefectural police of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Founded in 1874, the TMPD is the largest police force in Japan by number of officers, with a staff of more than 4 ...

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.

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". The Railway Museum in Saitama is operated by the foundation.

Bids outside Japan

JR East held a 15% shareholding in

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within the West Midlands region as West Midlands Rai ...

with

Abellio Abellio (also Abelio and Abelionni) was a god worshiped in the Garonne Valley in Gallia Aquitania (now southwest France), known primarily by a number of inscriptions which were discovered in Comminges, in the Pyrenees. He may have been a god ...

and

Mitsui is a Japanese corporate group and '' keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. Ins ...

that commenced operating the West Midlands franchise in England in December 2017. JR East sold their stake to Abellio in September 2021. The same consortium were also listed to be bidding for the South Eastern franchise.

References

External links

*
JR East official apology for "Inaho No.14" accident on 25 December 2005
* Wiki collection of bibliographic works on East Japan Railway Company {{Authority control Transport companies based in Tokyo Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Companies in the Nikkei 225 Railway companies established in 1987 1500 V DC railway electrification 25 kV AC railway electrification Japanese companies established in 1987 Japan Railway companies