This paper is to clarify the urban modernization procedure in China and Japan through analyzing the difference in adopting the railway, which is assumed to be the principal fruit of the industrialization. Due to the low-level traffic system, the railway was adopted right away in Japan at the beginning of the modernization. This caused a great convenience to the urban transportation among the main cities and habours. As a result, the urban modernization was enhanced. Correspondly, the traffic system was perfect in China before the industrialization, which resulted in a delay in adopting the railway compared with Japan. Moreover, the principal purpose of railway was to strengthen the Mingqing's government and the national defence. Therefore, the railway was not so useful in the modernization.
