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The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, next to Shinjuku Station. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange (it formerly had secondary listings in the Nagoya and Osaka stock exchanges), is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and is one of three Japan Railways Group constituents of the Nikkei 225 index, the others being JR Central and JR West.

History

JR East was incorporated on 1 April 1987 after being spun off from the government-run Japanese National Railways (JNR). The spin-off was nominally "privatization", as the company was actually a wholly owned subsidiary of the government-owned JNR Settlement Corporation for several years, and was not completely sold to the public until 2002.

Following the breakup, JR East ran the operations on former JNR lines in the Greater Tokyo Area, the Tōhoku region, and surrounding areas.

thumb|200px|JR Group service regions

Lines

Railway lines of JR East primarily serve the Kanto and Tohoku regions, along with adjacent areas in Kōshin'etsu region (Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi) and Shizuoka prefectures.

Shinkansen

JR East operates all of the Shinkansen high-speed rail lines north of Tokyo, with the exception of the Hokkaido Shinkansen which is operated by JR Hokkaido.

  • Tōhoku Shinkansen (Tokyo - Shin-Aomori)
  • Jōetsu Shinkansen (Tokyo - Niigata; Echigo-Yuzawa - Gala Yuzawa)
  • Hokuriku Shinkansen (jointly operated with JR West) (Tokyo - Jōetsumyōkō)
  • Yamagata Shinkansen (Tokyo - Shinjo)
  • Akita Shinkansen (Tokyo - Akita)

The Tokyo–Osaka Tōkaidō Shinkansen is owned and operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), although it stops at several JR East stations.

Kanto region

These lines have sections inside the Tokyo suburban area () designated by JR East. This does not necessarily mean that the lines are fully inside the Greater Tokyo Area.

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Koshinetsu region

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Tohoku region

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Services

Below is the full list of limited express and express train services operated on JR East lines as of 2025.

Shinkansen

  • Asama
  • Hakutaka
  • Hayabusa
  • Hayate
  • Kagayaki
  • Komachi
  • Nasuno
  • Tanigawa
  • Toki
  • Tsubasa
  • Yamabiko

Limited express (daytime)

  • Akagi
  • Azusa
  • Fuji Excursion
  • Hitachi and Tokiwa
  • Inaho
  • Kaiji/View Kaiji
  • Kusatsu·Shima
  • Narita Express
  • Nikkō and Kinugawa
  • Saphir Odoriko/Odoriko
  • Sazanami
  • Shirayuki
  • Shiosai
  • Shōnan
  • Tsugaru
  • Wakashio

Limited express (overnight)

  • Sunrise Izumo/Sunrise Seto (not operated by JR East, operated by JR Central and JR-West over the Tokaido Main Line, part of which JR East owns between Tokyo and Atami)
  • Train Suite Shiki-shima
  • Cassiopeia (Retired)
  • Hokutosei (Retired)

Cargo transport

JR East operates "Hakobyun", a priority cargo transport service on its Shinkansen lines. The service is intended for high-value, delicate, and time-sensitive goods such as precision equipment and premium fresh seafood, offering faster delivery times and smoother handling than conventional freight trains. Any Shinkansen train can carry up to 40 boxes of commercial cargo using storage areas located between cars. On selected services, one or more cars may be closed to passengers and used for cargo transport, with boxes loaded onto specially designed carts that fit between seats. JR East also operates a converted E3 series trainset with all seating removed for dedicated cargo use. Hakobyun services operate on the Akita, Hokuriku, Hokkaidō, Jōetsu, Tōhoku, and Yamagata Shinkansen lines. Small consignments can be loaded and unloaded at any station along the route, while larger volumes must be handled at designated cargo terminals.

Stations

During Japanese fiscal year 2024, the busiest stations in the JR East network by average daily passenger count were:

  1. (666,809)
  2. (499,128)
  3. (434,564)
  4. (373,010)
  5. (324,414)
  6. (287,939)
  7. (254,220)
  8. (231,628)
  9. (221,421)
  10. (198,732)

Subsidiaries

200px|right|thumb|JR East headquarters ([[:ja:JR東日本本社ビル|JR東日本本社ビル), located near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo]]

  • Higashi-Nihon Kiosk - provides newspapers, drinks and other items in station kiosks and operates the Newdays convenience store chain
  • JR Bus Kanto / JR Bus Tohoku - intercity bus operators
  • Nippon Restaurant Enterprise - provides bentō box lunches on trains and in train stations
  • Tokyo Monorail - (70% ownership stake)
  • East Japan Marketing & Communications

Sponsorship

JR East co-sponsors the JEF United Chiba J-League football club , which was formed by a merger between the JR East and Furukawa Electric company teams.

Carbon emission plan

JR East aims to reduce its carbon emissions by half, as measured over the period 1990–2030. This would be achieved by increasing the efficiency of trains and company-owned thermal power stations and by developing hybrid trains.

Culture foundation

The East Japan Railway Culture Foundation is a non-profit organization established by JR East for the purpose of developing a "richer railway culture". The Railway Museum in Saitama is operated by the foundation.

Bids outside Japan

JR East held a 15% shareholding in West Midlands Trains with Abellio and Mitsui that commenced operating the West Midlands franchise in England in December 2017. JR East sold their stake to Abellio in September 2021. The same consortium were also listed to be bidding for the South Eastern franchise.

Notes

References

  • JR East official apology for "Inaho No.14" accident on 25 December 2005
  • Wiki collection of bibliographic works on East Japan Railway Company