Electricity was first used in Japan on March 25, 1878 at the Institute of Technology in Toranomon, Tokyo when an arc lamp was switched on in commemoration of the opening of the Central Telegraph Office. Eight years later, in 1886, Tokyo Electric Lighting commenced operations as the nation's first electricity company, and began supplying electricity to the public in the following year.
Electricity was at first used primarily for lighting and gradually found more broadly-based applications as a power source. By 1896, the number of electricity companies established throughout the nation reached a total of 33, and the number of electric lights with a power supply increased to 120,000.
The early 20th century marked the establishment of long-distance transmission technology and growing generation capacity. As generation costs fell, electric lights became popular throughout the country and electricity became indispensable as a power source for industry.
In the years that followed, the electricity industry grew in tandem with the modernization and development of Japan's industry. At the same time, the industry experienced a major restructuring that led to the dissolution of 700 electricity companies which merged to create five major electricity suppliers after the First World War. During the Second World War, electricity industry was completely monopolized by the state-owned company Nihon Hassoden K.K. and nine distribution companies.
By the end of the war in 1945, Japan's generating facilities were devastated from overuse and bombing damage suffered during the conflict. Despite the devastation, the industry was able to rapidly recover. After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the industry experienced a boom resulting from a rapid increase in war-related orders. Growing concerns over the development of reliable power sources, however, led to extensive debates on the restructuring of the electricity industry. The resulting establishment of nine regional power companies (Hokkaido, Tohoku, Tokyo, Chubu, Hokuriku, Kansai, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu) in 1951 remains to this day. With the return of Okinawa in 1972, Japan added a tenth member to its electric power grid. In May 1999 came revision of the Electric Utility Industry Law followed in March 2000 by the start of partial liberalization of power retail supply for extra high-voltage users.
As for the future, in November of 2001, the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, Electricity Industry Committee an advisory organ to the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry was set up. The purpose of this body is to examine the present system and propose a sound path of future development for the electric industry.
