MEIJI-ERA LOCOMOTIVE NAMING

The practice of naming locomotives has never been popular in Japan. Few Japanese locomotives in the Meiji period were officially named, and even fewer in later periods, if any. In this respect, Meiji was the “Golden Era” of Japanese locomotive naming and the few examples set forth below show how rare the practice of naming locomotives was, even in Meiji times. One particular locomotive of the original Shimbashi line locomotives is said to have been called Okajoki meaning “Land Steamship,” but this was a common term used at the time for all locomotives and the name probably was used as nothing more than an alternative word for locomotive. The earliest locomotives confirmed to bear names (on their cabsides) seem to be six of the first eight American locomotives for Hokkaidō imported by the Horonai Tetsudō, a forerunner of the Hokkaidō Tankō Tetsudō. The names all bore some connection to Hokkaidō. The first two locomotives, numbers 1 and 2 were named Yoshitsune and Benkei respectively, after two famous historic and legendary heroes of medieval Japan, from the time of the Taira-Minamoto civil war ending in 1185, who ended up on Hokkaidō. The locomotive bearing running number 6 was named Shizuka, Yoshitsune’s wife. Locomotive No. 3 was named Hirafu, a 7th Century general known for conquering Ainu tribes, No. 4 was named Mitsukuni after a Tokugawa Mito clan luminary, and No. 5 was named Nobuhiro, founder of the Matsumae feudal domain on southern Hokkaidō. The second locomotive to be built in Japan (built in Hokkaidō to American mogul drawings using some American parts) was completed in 1895 and named Taishō 大勝 “Great Victory” in honor of the victory in the then recently-concluded Sino-Japanese War. On the Kushiro Tetsudō there were two locomotives given the Chinese-sounding names of Zen Shin and Cho An. (Chinese pronunciations impart a classical flavor to Japanese, much the way Latinate or Greek allusions do to English.) The famous banker Yasuda Zenjirō 安田善次郎 was the principal shareholder of that railway. In a personal tribute, the kanji 安 pronounced ‘ an’ and 善 pronounced ‘zen’ in Chinese fashion from his name were used in the locomotive names Cho An (literally long, peaceful in the sense of “Long-living Peaceful One”) and Zen Shin meaning “Good Hearted”—perhaps not too far removed from the American and British practice of naming locomotives in honor of high-ranking railway officials.

One of the early Manning Wardle 0-6-0T locomotives that was among the first locomotives used in the building of the Nippon Tetsudō was named 善光 “Zenkō,” due to it being lost when the ship carrying it sank in a river near the temple grounds of a satellite of the celebrated Zenkō temple, and was salvaged and brought ashore on the temple grounds. One locomotive of the Hokkaidō Kansetsu Tetsudō was singled out to bear the kanji characters Roku-gō on its tank sides, meaning “Number 6.” As this was contrary to general practice, perhaps this was done more in the sense of “Old Number 6” than simply for numbering purposes.

The Public Works Bureau is known to have owned three named locomotives: a Decauville tank of 1880 vintage named Yaidzu and two 1906 locomotives named Tohgoh (in honor of Heihachirō Tōgō, hero of the Russo-Japanese War) and Matsuoka. All three were very small 0-4-0T contractor’s locomotives.

Four small Hohenzollern 0-4-0T locomotives on the Nankai Tetsudō were named. One was 浪花 or “Naniwa,” the former name of Ōsaka, another was 住 江 “Suminoe,” after the scenic coast around Ōsaka, the third name chosen was 吾妻 “Azuma,” the ancient name for eastern Japan, and the fourth and final name was 大江 “Ōe,” after a famous mountain near Kyōto. Finally, certain classes of locomotives bore acquired names. The 6500 class of the Kansai were known as the Hayate “Fast Wind” class while the later 6000 class were known as the Oite “Tailwind” class.