In 1987 the Japanese government privatized the debt-ridden Japan National Railway (JNR), which had run Japan's national railway network since the Meiji era. The JNR lines were divided into eleven smaller regional Japan Rail (JR) companies. A settlement headquarters took over the railway's assets and longterm debt, which it planned to pay off by selling JNR-owned land and stock in the new JR companies. The new JR companies planned to eliminate 100,000 jobs, most of which would come from the ranks of JNR unionized workers, who had vigorously protested the privatization plan. Under normal circumstances in Japan it is very difficult to lay off or dismiss workers who are regular employees. The massive job losses were possible in this case because the original government employer, JNR, was dissolved and the new JR companies did not have to retain all of their workers.