Kyushu Railway Company

The Kyushu Railway Company (九州旅客鉄道株式会社, Kyūshū Ryokaku Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha), also referred to as JR Kyushu (JR九州, Jeiāru Kyūshū), is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services in Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait between Fukuoka and Busan, South Korea. JR Kyushu's headquarters are in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka.

History

When Japanese National Railways was divided in 1987, Kyushu Railway Company inherited its assets and operations on the island of Kyushu along with losses of around 28.8 billion yen, exacerbated by a growing highway network in Kyushu and a large number of lightly-used rural lines. After privatization, JR Kyushu diversified its business into new ventures such as fish and mushroom farming and car sales. Two of its more successful side ventures were the Beetle ferry, started in 1991, and the Trandor bakery chain, started in 1992. JR Kyushu also built up its premium rail services through the development of the Kyushu Shinkansen high-speed rail line and the Seven Stars in Kyushu luxury excursion train.

Kyushu

Kyushu (九州, Kyūshū, lit. "Nine Provinces") (Japanese pronunciation: [kjɯᵝːꜜɕɯᵝː]) is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include Kyūkoku (九国^?, "Nine States") , Chinzei (鎮西^?, "West of the Pacified Area") , and Tsukushi-no-shima (筑紫島^?, "Island of Tsukushi") . The historical regional name Saikaidō (西海道, lit. West Sea Circuit) referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands.

In the 8th century Taihō Code reforms, Dazaifu was established as a special administrative term for the region.

As of 2006, Kyushu has a population of 13,231,995 and covers 35,640 square kilometres (13,760 sq mi).

Geography

The island is mountainous, and Japan's most active volcano, Mt Aso at 1,591 metres (5,220 ft), is on Kyushu. There are many other signs of tectonic activity, including numerous areas of hot springs. The most famous of these are in Beppu, on the east shore, and around Mt. Aso, in central Kyushu. The island is separated from Honshu by the Kanmon Straits.