Division and privatization of Japanese National Railways in the context of "Japanese National Railways"

The Japan Railways Group, commonly known as the JR Group (Jeiāru Gurūpu) or simply JR, is a network of railway companies in Japan formed after the division and privatization of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. The group comprises six regional passenger railway companies, one freight railway company, and two non-service entities. The JNR Settlement Corporation assumed much of the debt of the former JNR.

The companies of the JR Group operates a significant portion of Japan’s rail services, including intercity routes, commuter lines, and the Shinkansen high-speed rail network.

The Japanese National Railway Settlement Corporation (日本国有鉄道清算事業団, Nihon Kokuyū Tetsudō Seisan Jigyōdan), 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 Railway Construction Public Corporation, JRCC, and its assets were transferred. Currently, the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency holds the liabilities and assets of the JNRSC.

The goal of disbanding the JNR was to privatize the newly created JR satellite companies, known collectively as the JR Group. Each of the seven companies was created as a kabushiki gaisha with the Japanese government as sole shareholder. Currently, JR East, JR West, JR Central and JR Kyushu are entirely privatized. JNRSC still holds titles to the remaining three JR Group companies, Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and the Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight).