Ōigawa Railway

Company History: The Ōigawa Railway (大井川鐵道, Ōigawa Tetsudō) is a railway company in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, which first opened in 1917. The company is commonly known as Daitetsu (大鐵). The company belonged to the Meitetsu Group until 2015, when it was sold to Eclipse Hidaka, a food and hotel company headquartered in Hidaka, Hokkaido.

The company operates preserved steam locomotives, and has "sister railway" agreements with Brienz Rothorn Bahn in Switzerland and Alishan Forest Railway in Taiwan. Because of its historical rolling stock and the picturesque scenery, the Ōigawa Main Line is often used for shooting films or TV programs, especially those set in the pre-war period.

The company operates two 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge railway lines. The Ōigawa Main Line from Kanaya to Senzu; and the Ikawa Line from Senzu to Ikawa. Both lines function primarily as sightseeing lines. The former is known for its heritage steam trains, while the latter is the only rack railway line in existence in Japan.From Wikipedia

Brief History: Japan is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean with dense cities, imperial palaces, mountainous national parks and thousands of shrines and temples. Shinkansen bullet trains connect the main islands of Kyushu (with Okinawa's subtropical beaches), Honshu (home to Tokyo and Hiroshima’s atomic-bomb memorial) and Hokkaido (famous for skiing). Tokyo, the capital, is known for skyscrapers, shopping and pop culture.

Although legend has it that Japan was founded in 660BC, archaeologists agree that settlement in the Japanese archpelago dates back as far as 100,000 years. The Jomon Period (8000-c.300BC) is the earliest that has been studied. It is named after the 'jomon' or cord-marked pattern style of pottery of the period.