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Since their inauguration two years ago JR companies have carried out business
operations positively in accordance with the purport of JNR reform. As a result,
they recorded a total current profit of \211.8 billion and a total current income
of \88.9 billion in fiscal 1988. These figures indicate that JR business generally
fared almost as well as in the previous financial year (Table
3). The main reason is that, in addition to management improvement efforts
resulting in increased earnings and cost reductions, the transport volume increased
sharply thanks to the expansion of demand for transport triggered off by the
prevailing economic boom, the opening of the Seikan Tunnel and the Seto-Ohashi
Bridge, and other encouraging factors.
In fiscal 1989, too, the JR companies are assiduously wrestling with business
operations in an effort to establish the wholesome foundations of business management
through the implementation of safety measures, upgrading of transportation capacities
and expansion of passenger services.
With respect to the settlement of the long-term JNR debt to be made by the
JNR Settlement Corporation, the JR companies are currently pushing forward with
the settlement, using their ows financial resources, such as earnings from real
estate sales, in accordance with the government's basic refund policy decided
at Cabinet meeting in January 1988. However, some JR companies, acting on the
government's emergency land countermeasures platform, postponed land-sale tenders
in areas where land prices were skyrocketing, with the result that the land
sales in fiscal 1988 were about two-thirds of the amount originally projected.
Because of these reasons, the settlement of accounts for the said financial
year shows that despite the corporation's efforts to secure its own financial
resources, the long-term debt, which stood at about \20.4 trillion at the end
of fiscal 1987, rose to about \22.2 trillion at the end of fiscal 1988. Simimarly,
the debt, including pensions and other burdens to be borne in the future, increased
from about \26.1 trillion at the end of fiscal 1987 to about \26.9 trillion
at the end of fiscal 1988. In view of these circumstances, it was agreed at
a meeting of Cabinet ministers on land countermeasures, held in February 1989,
that competitive land-sale tenders be offered gradually for corporation-owned
land in surveillance areas defined by the National Land Utilization Planning
Law, insofar as they are considered not to adversely affect land prices. Since
then, a succession of tenders have been offered. Again, as regard methods of
disposing of land in a manner that does not touch off spirals in land prices,
they have been put into practice after undegoing careful study.
The re-employment of JNR Settlement Corporation personnel has been carried
out in accordance with re-employment promotion basic plans decided at a Cabinet
meeting in June 1987. As a result,the number of those still unable to be re-employed
decreased from 7,628 as of April 1, 1987, to 1,868 as of February 1, 1990.
(1) As regards passenger transport in fiscal 1988, the volure posted a smooth
increase of 106.3 percent over the previous financial year on a passenger-kilometer
basis, principally in Hokkaido and Shikoku as a result of the opening of the
Seikan Tunnel and the Seto-Ohashi Bridge, surpassing the peak in the JNR days
(215.6 billion passenger-kilometers) . As to freight transport that had continued
to dwindle since 1979, the volume was up 115.0 percent in fiscal 1988 from the
preceding financial year on a ton-kilometer basis (Table
4).
(2) According to the settlement of accounts, the seven JR companies and others
registered a combined total of about \230 billion in current-term profits, while
JNR Settlement Corporation recorded a de facto loss of about \1.140 trillion,
excluding the loss amounting to debt which it had inherited from the Honshu-Shikoku
Bridge Authority. Therefore, the overall profit-loss situation in fiscal 1988
resulted in a loss of about \910 billion, an improvement of about \450 billion
over the net loss of about \1,360 trillion assessed in the JNR settlement of
accounts for fiscal 1986.
(3) As for the JR group's long-term debts, the seven JR and others recorded
a decrease of about \700 billion, and the JNR Settlement Corporation an increase
of about \1.8 trillion, at the end of fiscal 1988 over the end of fiscal 1987.
This follows that the combined total of long-term debts amounted to \31.6 trillion
at the end of fiscal 1988.
As is obvious from the foregoing, the JNR reform is progressing smoothly
in terms of the transport volume of the seven JR companies, and their revenue
and expenditure situation. Viewed in this light, it may be thought that the
JNR reform is facing no difficulties. However, in order to further the reform
on a permanent basis, there is a need to continue efforts to assiduously wrestle
with problems, including the settlement of long-term JNR debts.
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