The Japan Railways Group 30th Anniversary

Exactly 30 years ago, the old Japanese National Railways (JNR) was privatized and 7 railway companies were established, forming the today's Japan Railways Group.

Photographed here is a rail stretch in Tokyo, on the Chūō-Sōbu Line, operated by the JR East Japan Railway Company (JR East in English, and JR Higashi-Nihon in Japanese). JR East operates in all Kanto and Tohoku regions, and in the Koshinetsu and Shizuoka areas. With a total rail length of over 7,500 km, of which more than a thousand kilometers are high-speed, the company services an astonishing number of 6 billion passengers per year!