South Manchuria Railway
Encyclopedia
The is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
, where it connected to the Chinese Eastern Railway
Chinese Eastern Railway
The Chinese Eastern Railway or was a railway in northeastern China . It connected Chita and the Russian Far East. English-speakers have sometimes referred to this line as the Manchurian Railway...
.
History
Treaty of Portsmouth
The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War. It was signed on September 5, 1905 after negotiations at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine in the USA.-Negotiations:...
, the southernmost section of the southern branch (Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
- Port Arthur
Port Arthur
Port Arthur may refer to:* Port Arthur naval base in Manchuria, now called Lüshunkou** Port Arthur massacre in the Sino-Japanese War in 1894** Battle of Port Arthur, a sea battle in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904...
) of the China Far East Railway
China Far East Railway
The Chinese Eastern Railway or was a railway in northeastern China . It connected Chita and the Russian Far East. English-speakers have sometimes referred to this line as the Manchurian Railway...
was transferred to Japanese control.
The last station remaining in Russian hands was Kuancheng
Kuancheng District
Kuancheng District is one of the administrative Districts of Changchun, the capital ofJilin province, People's Republic of China. It is part of Changchun's main urban area, located north of downtown.-History:...
(Kuanchengtze, in contemporary spelling); the first Japanese station was Changchun
Changchun
Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
.
A new, semi-privately-held company was established with a capitalization
Capitalization
Capitalization is writing a word with its first letter as a majuscule and the remaining letters in minuscules . This of course only applies to those writing systems which have a case distinction...
of 200 million yen to operate the railroad and to develop settlements and industries along its route. The organizing committee was headed by General Kodama Gentarō, and after his death, by General Terauchi Masatake
Terauchi Masatake
, GCB was a Japanese military officer and politician. He was a Field Marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 18th Prime Minister of Japan from 9 October 1916 to 29 September 1918.-Early period:...
. Count Gotō Shimpei
Goto Shimpei
Count was a Japanese statesman. He served as the head of civilian affairs of Taiwan under Japanese rule, the first director of the South Manchuria Railway, the seventh mayor of Tokyo, the first Chief Scout of Japan, the first director of NHK, the third principal of Takushoku University, and the...
, formerly Japanese governor of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, was appointed the first president, and the headquarters of the company was established in Dairen.
One of the first tasks of the new company was to change the railway gauge. Although the rail line was originally built on the Russian gauge
Russian gauge
In railway terminology, Russian gauge refers to railway track with a gauge between 1,520 mm and . In a narrow sense as defined by Russian Railways it refers to gauge....
(5 ft), during the war it had been converted by the advancing Japanese troops to the Japanese 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, in order to facilitate the use of rolling stock brought from Japan. But once the new Japanese South Manchuria Railway company took possession of the line, it had it re-gauged again, now to the standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
(4 ft. 8.5 in.).
In 1907, an agreement was reached between the Japanese and Russian authorities about connecting the Japanese South Manchuria Railway with the line to the north, remaining in the hands of Russian China Far East Railway. According to the agreement, Russian gauge tracks would continue from the "Russian" Kuancheng Station to the "Japanese" Changchun Station, and vice versa, tracks on the "gauge adapted by the South Manchuria Railway" (i.e., the standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
) would continue from the Changchun Station to the Kuancheng Station.
By the end of 1907, the company employed 9,000 Japanese and 4,000 Chinese. By 1910, those numbers had increased to 35,000 and 25,000 respectively. The railway used a significant amount of US-made rails and signaling equipment, as well as some steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s built by the American Locomotive Company
American Locomotive Company
The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...
at Dunkirk, NY. A visiting executive from the Erie Railroad
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...
was quite impressed with the arrangement, and described South Manchurian Railway ca. 1913 as "the only railroad in the whole world that is like our American railroads (and they are, fairly speaking, the best)".
Mantetsu quickly expanded the system inherited from Russia to staggering proportions, building coal mines at Fushun
Fushun
Fushun is a city in Liaoning, China, about 45 km east from Shenyang, with a population about 2,138 090 inhabitants at the 2010 census and an area of 11,271 km2, including 713 km2 of the city proper. Fushun is situated on the Hun He . It was formerly called Fouchouen in French...
and Yantai
Yantai
Yantai is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. Located on the southern coast of the Bohai Sea and the eastern coast of the Laizhou Bay, Yantai borders the cities of Qingdao and Weihai to the southwest and east respectively.The largest fishing...
, and harbor facilities at Andong
Andong
Andong is a city in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, South Korea. It is the largest city in the northern part of the province with a population of 167,821 in October 2010. The Nakdong River flows through the city...
, Yingkou
Yingkou
Yingkou is located in the northwestern portion of the Liaodong Peninsula, and on the left bank of the Daliao River, which enters the sea in the city. To the west is the Liaodong Bay of the Bohai Gulf, and the city thus looks across to Jinzhou and Huludao...
, and Dalian
Dalian
Dalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
. At each station, Mantetsu built hotels for travelers and warehouses for goods. Japanese settlers were encouraged through the construction of schools, libraries, hospitals and public utilities. The Mantetsu Research Wing was the centerpiece of Japan's colonial program, and instigated agricultural research into development of soybean
Soybean
The soybean or soya bean is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses...
farming. Land under cultivation expanded 70% in 20 years.
From 1916, Mantestu began to spin off a number of subsidiary companies, including Showa Steel Works
Showa Steel Works
The was a Japanese government-sponsored steel mill that was one of the showpieces of the industrialization program for Manchukuo in the late 1930s....
, Dalian Ceramics, Dalian Oil & Fat, South Manchurian Glass, as well as flour mills, sugar mills, electrical power plants, shale oil
Shale oil
Shale oil, known also as kerogen oil or oil-shale oil, is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock into synthetic oil and gas...
plants and chemical plants.
Until 1925, the company also operated the Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n railway system.
Company assets rose from 163 million yen in 1908 to over a billion yen in 1930. Mantetsu was by far the largest corporation in Japan, and also its most profitable, averaging rates of return from 25-45 percent per year. During the 1920s, Mantetsu provided for over a quarter of the Japanese government's tax revenue
Tax revenue
Tax revenue is the income that is gained by governments through taxation.Just as there are different types of tax, the form in which tax revenue is collected also differs; furthermore, the agency that collects the tax may not be part of central government, but may be an alternative third-party...
s.
Over 75% of Mantetsu's income was generated by its freight business, with the key to profitability coming from soybean exports, both to Japan proper and to Europe. Soybean production increased exponentially with increasing demand for soy oil, and for soy meal for use in fertilizer
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
and animal feed
Compound feed
Compound feeds are feedstuffs that are blended from various raw materials and additives. These blends are formulated according to the specific requirements of the target animal...
. By 1927, half of the world's supply of soybean was from Manchuria and the efforts by Mantetsu to expand production and to ship to export ports was a classic example of an extractive colonial economy dependent on a single product.
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
in 1932. By 1938, Mantetsu had 72 subsidiary companies, development projects in 25 urban areas and carried 17,515,000 passengers per year. Between 1930-1940, the Japanese population of Manchukuo rose by 800,000 making ethnic Japanese the majority in many of the towns and cities served by Mantetsu. Mantetsu prided itself on state-of-the-art urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
, with modern sewer system
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
s, public parks, and creative modern architecture
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
far in advance of what could be found in Japan itself. These things possible due to Mantetsu's tremendous profitability, and its political power to seize property and silence opposition and dissent at will through its political connections to the military and totalitarian
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
national leadership.
In 1934, Mantetsu inaugurated the "Asia Express
Asia Express
The Asia Express was an express train built and operated by the South Manchuria Railway from 1934 until 1943....
", a high speed train from Dalian to the Manchukuo capital of Hsinking. Reaching a top speed of 134 kilometre per hour, the "Asia Express" was the fastest scheduled train in Asia at the time.
Changchun remained the break of gauge point between the Russian and standard gauges into the 1930s, until the Chinese Eastern Railway itself was bought by Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
and converted to the standard gauge in the mid-1930s.
In 1945, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
invaded and overran Manchukuo. Rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
and moveable equipment was looted, and taken back to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, some of which was returned when the Chinese Communist government came into power. Mantetsu itself was dissolved by order of the American occupation authorities
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the Occupation of Japan following World War II...
in occupied Japan
Occupied Japan
At the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers, led by the United States with contributions also from Australia, India, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. This foreign presence marked the first time in its history that the island nation had been occupied by a foreign power...
.
Presidents
| Name | From | To | |
| 1 | Shinpei Goto | 13 November 1906 | 14 July 1908 |
| 2 | Yoshikoto Nakamura | 19 December 1908 | 18 December 1913 |
| 3 | Ryutaro Nomura | 19 December 1913 | 15 July 1914 |
| 4 | Yujiro Nakamura | 15 July 1914 | 31 July 1917 |
| 5 | Shimbei Kunisawa | 31 July 1917 | 12 April 1919 |
| 6 | Ryutaro Nomura | 12 April 1919 | 31 May 1921 |
| 7 | Senkichiro Hayakawa | 31 May 1921 | 14 October 1922 |
| 8 | Takeji Kawamura | 24 October 1922 | 22 June 1924 |
| 9 | Banichiro Yasuhiro | 22 June 1924 | 19 July 1927 |
| 10 | Jōtaro Yamamoto | 19 July 1927 | 14 August 1929 |
| 11 | Mitsugu Sengoku | 14 August 1928 | 13 June 1931 |
| 12 | Yasuya Uchida Yasuya Uchida Count was a statesman, diplomat and interim prime minister, active in Meiji, Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. He was also known as Uchida Yasuya.- Biography :... |
13 June 1931 | 6 July 1932 |
| 13 | Hakutaro Hayashi | 26 July 1932 | 2 August 1935 |
| 14 | Yōsuke Matsuoka Yosuke Matsuoka was a diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Japan during the early stages of World War II. He is best known for his defiant speech at the League of Nations in 1933, ending Japan’s participation in that organization... |
2 August 1935 | 24 March 1939 |
| 15 | Takuichi Ohmura | 24 March 1939 | 14 July 1943 |
| 16 | Naoto Kohiyama | 14 July 1943 | 11 April 1945 |
| 17 | Motoki Yamazaki | 5 May 1945 | 30 September 1945 |