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The link in my comment is a long read but links to lots of original sources.

That article didn't touch on what happened before JGR/JNR. Prior to railway nationalization around 1906-1910, most lines beyond Tokyo-Osaka were built and owned by private companies. This includes Sanyo Main Line (previously built and owned by Sanyo Railway, not to be confused with today Sanyo Electric Railway), and Tohoku Main Line (previously built and owned by Nippon Railway).

Exactly. In the US the railroads were first developed by private entrepreneurs as well.

People seem to think nowadays that all the infrastructure we have has sprung out of thin air by pure goverment will or something.

The original lines may be from the private era but JNR also built a lot.

The Saikyo, Keiyo, and Musashino Lines in Tokyo were all built by JNR. So was all the Shinkansen. And all the main lines around Tokyo were quadrupled or sextupled by JNR at great cost. And let’s not forget the feats of the Kanmon tunnel to Kyushu, the Seikan tunnel to Hokkaido, and the Great Seto Bridge to Shikoku.

Tokyo Metro and Toei are also state-owned, and private operators directly benefit from the through operations into the Yamanote loop.

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