Trading Locomotives: The Global Economy and the Development of Japan’s Railroads, 1869–1914

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Naofumi Nakamura

Trading Locomotives

The Global Economy and the Development of Japan’s Railroads, 1869–1914

Naofumi Nakamura

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Hardback

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English

Columbia University Press
08 July 2025

General & world history; Asian history; Industrialisation & industrial history; History of engineering & technology; Trains & railways: general interest

The proliferation of railroads around the world was integral to the emergence of a global market-based economy at the turn of the twentieth century. This deeply researched and comprehensive book examines the history of rail in Japan from a global perspective, offering new insight into the connections between the world economy and Japan's industrialization. Naofumi Nakamura traces the international locomotive trade and the growth of the Japanese railway industry, considering its ties to Japan's domestic economic development and later imperial expansion. He investigates locomotive manufacturing and distribution in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focusing on how this industry came to Japan and then became a major domestic sector.

Nakamura argues that rail, introduced as an essential tool for nation-state building, was transformed into a tool for empire after the late 1890s. Japan sought to develop its domestic economy in response to globalization, yet had to balance the desire to localize industry with its imperial ventures. This necessitated imports from Western manufacturers until just before the First World War, by which time a domestic rail industry formed through government-led technology transfer and development found new outlets in Japan's colonies and sphere of influence. Drawing on an extensive array of archival materials, Trading Locomotives sheds new light on the transnational nature of the industrial revolution in Japan and the world.

By: Naofumi Nakamura
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9780231218450
ISBN 10: 0231218451
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 08 July 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Naofumi Nakamura is a professor at the Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo. He has written widely on the business and economic history of modern Japan, including railroad history, local history, and the history of technological transfer.

Reviews for Trading Locomotives: The Global Economy and the Development of Japan’s Railroads, 1869–1914

Japanese railways have for decades been the envy of the world, powered by domestically produced locomotives. But between 1870 and 1914, Japan imported its locomotives from the UK, US, and Germany, relying on the nation's newly emerged and increasingly important trading companies. Trading Locomotives offers a fresh perspective on the fascinating story of Japan’s integration into the global economy. -- Andrew Gordon, Professor of History, Harvard University Trading Locomotives is a richly researched study of the interaction between Japan’s industrialization and the global economy before 1914, documenting the country’s acquisition of knowledge and manufacturing capacity through the purchase, imitation, and adaptation of locomotives from Britain, America, and Germany. -- Janet Hunter, co-editor of <i>Ethics, Business and Capitalism: Thailand and Indonesia in an Asian Perspective</i> Thoroughly researched in archives across the world, Trading Locomotives expertly traces the growth of Japan’s railroads amid the dueling forces of globalization and localization. Nakamura provides fresh insights on how businesses, government and individuals shaped Japan’s path to industrialization, thereby giving us multiple new ways to better understand Meiji Japan. -- Robert Hellyer, author of <i>Green with Milk and Sugar: When Japan Filled America's Tea Cups</i>