Kinoshita Ritsuan

Image: Kinoshita Ritsuan (from "Nihon no Tetsudo-ron")

In October 1972, the history of Japanese railways reached its 100th anniversary. To commemorate this, Japanese National Railways compiled a 100-year history. At the end of the general history published last, there is a 66-page appendix. Most of it is devoted to introducing the people who developed the railways, and Kinoshita Ritsuan appears as one of the engineers from the founding period.

Kinoshita Ritsuan was a person who combined a career as a newspaper reporter and railway management. Leveraging that experience, he launched Japan's first railway information paper, "Tetsudo Jiho" (Railway Times), and is known as a pioneer of railway journalism. Its pages are still referred to today as first-class source material for railway history and related research.

Kinoshita Ritsuan was born in November 1866 into a family of doctors in Naka-iburi Village, Ito District, Kii Province (now Katsuragi Town, Ito District, Wakayama Prefecture). From a young age, he studied Chinese classics and English at a private school in his hometown, and also went to Kyoto to study at Ishizu Kanen's Juku. From that time on, he was a great lover of travel, and it is said that he used his spare time from his studies to visit famous scenic and historical sites four or five times a year, exploring human nature and customs with a meticulous and thorough eye for observation while befriending nature. Kii Province originally had many students who entered the school, including Yoshiro Wada, Nobukichi Koizumi, and Eikichi Kamada, and had deep ties with Keio University. In Ito District, there was also the Ito Jijo School, founded by Shobei Morita and others who returned home after studying at Keio University.

In May 1886, at the age of 19, Ritsuan entered Keio University and was enrolled in the Bekka (Special Course), a curriculum for late-starting students. In February 1888, an incident occurred in which students of the Seika (Regular Course) and Yoka (Preparatory Course) went on a strike to protest a revision of the grading standards. Ritsuan proposed that the Bekka students stand as mediators for this incident, and with this as a catalyst, the situation began to move toward a resolution. In July 1888, he graduated from the Bekka, and was specially noted as an honor student among the 24 students in the same course. Upon graduation, Ritsuan was given the words "Those who lack the idea of numbers are useless" by Fukuzawa.

After graduation, he joined the Jiji Shinpo-sha and worked at the head office, the Yokohama branch, and the Osaka branch. In 1891, Fukuzawa sent a letter to Ritsuan, who was stationed in Osaka, requesting an investigation into the market conditions for Shirashime-yu (refined rapeseed oil). The main use of Shirashime-yu was for food, but according to an advertisement in the "Tetsudo Jiho" mentioned later, its distribution as a substitute for machine oil at the time was seen as a problem because it damaged machinery.

In 1892, Ritsuan moved to the Hokkaido Tanko Railway Company and took up a post as the head of the Otaru Temiya Coal Sales Office. The company had significant ties with Fukuzawa; not only did he become one of the investors at the time of its establishment in 1889, but Momosuke Fukuzawa (the husband of his second daughter), who had returned to Japan after completing an apprenticeship at the Pennsylvania Railroad in the United States, had also joined the company. Furthermore, Kakugoro Inoue became the senior managing director in 1893. Ritsuan's tenure there was temporary, and after returning to Jiji Shinpo-sha, he was in charge of the economics department, and articles were sometimes published under his title as a reporter.

In 1895, Ritsuan resigned from Jiji Shinpo-sha and became the manager of the Kiwa Railway Company (now part of the JR Wakayama Line and the first railway to reach the foot of Mount Koya), which was under construction in his hometown.

In April 1898, the Railway Association was established with the aim of railway research and mutual friendship among members, centered on Kyoichi Murakami, the chief engineer of the Hoshu Railway, and Kiyoshi Minami, the president of the Hankaku Railway who had studied at Keio University for a period, and with the support of influential figures in private railways. It was located within the Tetsudo Komusho (Railway Engineering Office) in Wakamatsu-cho, Kita-ku, Osaka, which Murakami and Minami had founded two years prior. Minami began his career as a railway engineer as a government employee for the Ministry of Industry, and in 1890, when he moved to Sanyo Railway as chief engineer, he was involved in difficult construction work under the first president, Hikojiro Nakamigawa (Keio University alumni).

Takuzo Ushiba (Keio University alumni, senior managing director of Sanyo Railway) served as the president of the Railway Association, Minami as vice president, and in addition to Murakami, Takenori Kikuchi (Keio University alumni, general manager of Kyushu Railway) and Enosuke Nishino (Keio University alumni, transportation manager of Sanyo Railway) served as councilors. Kikuchi was a person who graduated from the Bekka one year earlier than Ritsuan and entered society starting with Jiji Shinpo-sha. Nishino graduated in the same year as Kikuchi and joined Sanyo Railway at the time of its establishment.

In October of its founding year, the Railway Association began publishing its organ, "Tetsudo Kyokai-shi" (Railway Association Journal), every other month. The content consisted of research papers and construction reports related to railways, but at a council meeting the following November, an opinion was raised that a magazine should be published that would interest and enlighten many railway personnel. Many councilors agreed with this, and Ritsuan, who had experience in both the newspaper and railway industries, was proposed as the person in charge. Ritsuan, for his part, had long felt the need for this type of magazine in the railway industry and happened to be free after resigning from Kiwa Railway. Thus, the Railway Association resolved to establish the Tetsudo Jiho Bureau within the association and publish "Tetsudo Jiho," entrusting the publishing administrative work entirely to Ritsuan.

On January 15, 1899, the first issue of "Tetsudo Jiho" was published just a short time after its conception. The size was roughly tabloid, 16 pages (plus 4 pages of appendix), priced at 4 sen, and released three times a month.

The title on the front page is surrounded by the logos of railway operators of the time. In the margins of the main text, promotional slogans are lined up, starting with "Japan's only specialized railway magazine." Except for the title and table of contents, almost everything is occupied by advertisements. This layout was occasionally adopted by "Jiji Shinpo." The second page is also a full-page advertisement.

Pages three to four are devoted to the purpose of publication, congratulatory messages, and editorials. The purpose of publication states that it will cover all matters related to railways and report them accurately and minutely, reflecting Ritsuan's gentle personality and fair character that would not tolerate even a speck of dishonesty. This consistent approach and practice are the reasons why the documentary value and reputation of Tetsudo Jiho were further enhanced. The congratulatory message was contributed by Saburo Obata, a Bachelor of Laws. There are two editorials. One is by Kikuchi, titled "The Pros and Cons of Railway Nationalization," listing the key points for each side. Kikuchi had experience traveling to the United States, and his foresight can be glimpsed in his inclusion of examples from various European and American countries. The second is by Nishino (written under the pen name W.F. Sei), who appeals for the necessity of a long-distance tapering fare system in "Long-distance passenger fares should be greatly reduced."

From page four onwards, there are lectures, interview records, current events, commentary, foreign reports, statistics, a technical section (technical explanations), personnel matters, school guides, stocks, Railway Association news, travelogues, and conversations. "Conversations" was billed as common English conversation for railway employees, initially starting with lists of words, with actual conversations added from the fourth issue onwards.

Pages fourteen to sixteen are again devoted to advertisements, occupied by railway operators such as Kansai Railway, Osaka Railway, Sangu Railway, Nankai Railway, and Sanyo Railway, as well as manufacturing companies related to rolling stock and banks.

The four-page appendix contains a timetable. The layout using right-binding, vertical writing, and Chinese numerals is similar to Japan's first monthly railway timetable, "Kisha Kisen Ryoko Annai" (Train and Steamboat Travel Guide, first published in October 1894) by Koshin Shinshi-sha, which was created by Takemasa Tezuka (Keio University alumni). Tezuka graduated from the Bekka one year after Ritsuan.

The Railway Association merged with the Imperial Railway Association of Tokyo in July 1899, and the office was located in Tokyo. Along with this, the Tetsudo Jiho Bureau also moved from Osaka to Tokyo. Following the merger, the number of readers increased dramatically, and the accounting became independent from the association. In September of the same year, it also began a publishing business, starting with "Teikoku Tetsudo Yokan" (Imperial Railway Handbook), and in June 1901, it established Koeki-sha within the bureau and published works such as "Gekkan Saishin Jikanhyo" (Monthly Latest Timetable) one after another. In 1914, three influential timetable publishers that were in competition, including Koshin Shinshi-sha, merged to establish the Ryoko Annai-sha, and this timetable was rebranded as the Railway Board-authorized "Authorized Train and Steamboat Travel Guide." Tezuka became the president and Ritsuan became the senior managing director. This timetable ceased publication after its last issue in March 1944, with the publishing rights transferred to the Toa Kotsu Kosha (now JTB Corporation).

"Tetsudo Jiho" became a topic of conversation not only in Japan but also in the United Kingdom, the birthplace of railways. In the issue published on April 15, 1900, it was reported with surprise and praise by two magazines, The Railway Times and The Railway News, with the original text quoted. In April 1901, marking two years since its launch, it became a weekly publication. Then, in 1909, to commemorate its 10th anniversary, "Nihon no Tetsudo-ron" (On Japanese Railways) was published. It contained over 90 carefully selected editorials, lectures, and interview records that had appeared in "Tetsudo Jiho." In the preface, Ritsuan stated, "Is it not worth raising a glass of sake to commemorate ten years? However, a banquet is a momentary splendor, while a book is an eternal light. All the more so in this industry's reading world, where the lack of books is most felt. This is why we have chosen to discard the flowery and take the fruit, replacing the banquet with the publication of this book," showing his spirit as an editor. The table of contents is broadly divided into the origins of railways, railway management, operations (general theory, passengers, freight), accounting, electricity, and personnel, which gives a sense of the breadth of the content of "Tetsudo Jiho."

The journey was not always smooth sailing, and he recalled that there were times when the business failed and Ritsuan's own household goods were seized. However, Ritsuan continued to conduct his own interviews and write, visiting and reporting on every new railway line that opened. In 1923, he published "To the Dry Country: A Trip to Manchuria, Korea, and China."

The magazine ceased publication with issue No. 2239, published in December 1942, under wartime newspaper controls, a loss lamented by many involved. The "Kotsu Shimbun" (Transportation News), an industry paper for transportation industry personnel that began publication in the following year by the Rikuun Kyoryoku-kai (now Kotsu Shimbunsha) and continues to this day, is considered to have succeeded Tetsudo Jiho. Meanwhile, the Tetsudo Jiho Bureau itself acquired two publishing companies and reorganized into Riko Tosho Co., Ltd., which continues to this day as a publisher specializing in books on architecture, civil engineering, and home economics.

Ritsuan's activities sometimes extended beyond "Tetsudo Jiho." For example, in December 1906, he became a promoter and established the Tokyo Underground Electric Railway Co., Ltd. together with Momosuke Fukuzawa, Raita Fujiyama, and others, and applied for licenses for two routes (Takanawa–Ginza–Asakusa and Ginza–Shinjuku). This was the first application for a subway construction license in Japan.

In his later years, he spent his retirement in Atami, and in June 1953, he ended his life of over 86 years.