Suda, JR Tokai's 1st President, Dies at 93

Tokyo, Dec. 23 (Jiji Press)--Hiroshi Suda, the first president of Central Japan Railway Co., or JR Tokai, died of old age on Dec. 13. He was 93.

Born in Kyoto, Suda graduated from Kyoto University and joined the now-defunct Japanese National Railways in 1954.

He took charge of the "Discover Japan" tourism campaign, which sparked a travel boom in the 1970s, while working to prevent a fall in demand for Shinkansen bullet train services after the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka as sales division chief at the passenger bureau.

Suda was also known to be creative, introducing priority seats on train cars and Home Liner rapid commuter services using deadhead limited express trains.

After serving as passenger bureau chief and managing director, he took the helm of JR Tokai, one of the six regional passenger railroad operators created through the privatization of the JNR in 1987.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]