Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This paper examines how institutional and organizational fragmentation affects the coordination of rail freight infrastructure in Japan. Focusing on JR Freight and regional nodes, it highlights disconnections between national transport policy, local development strategies, and logistics practices.

Paper long abstract

This paper investigates how institutional and organizational fragmentation shapes the coordination of rail freight infrastructure in Japan, focusing on the evolving role of JR Freight and regional logistics nodes. Since the breakup of the Japanese National Railways, rail freight has operated within a distinctive institutional configuration that separates infrastructure ownership from freight operations. Although this model was expected to improve efficiency, it has also created complex governance challenges that span multiple actors and territorial scales.

The paper examines the interface between trunk rail corridors, inland freight terminals, seaports, and surrounding logistics parks. Network rationalization and terminal consolidation have reduced redundancy and improved cost efficiency in some respects, but they have also weakened connections to local industries and peripheral regions. At the same time, municipal governments promote logistics-led regional development, often without full alignment with national transport strategies or private sector investment plans. These misalignments lead to underused facilities in some locations and persistent bottlenecks in others.

Empirically, the study draws on policy debates, corporate data, and regional case studies to show how decisions about terminal location, compatibility, and intermodal transfer equipment depend on coordination across organizational boundaries. The paper argues that the central constraint on rail freight expansion is not simply low demand or the technical superiority of road transport, but fragmented governance and weak coordination between infrastructure providers, operators, shippers, and local governments.

By reframing modal shift and decarbonization as coordination problems, the paper highlights the political dimension of infrastructure planning. It shows how competing objectives—fiscal consolidation, regional revitalization, carbon reduction, and logistics efficiency—are pursued through institutions that are only partially aligned. The analysis contributes to broader research on multi-level governance and infrastructure politics by demonstrating how network effects and institutional design jointly shape the prospects of rail freight in contemporary Japan.