is a passenger

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

located in the city of Imari,

Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...

, Japan. It is operated by

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

Lines

The station is served by the western section of the Chikuhi Line and is 12.9 km from the starting point of this section at . Besides the terminal at Yamamoto, the station is the only place on this section of line with a passing loop which allows trains travelling in opposite directions to pass each other.

Station layout

The station, which is unstaffed, consists of an

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

serving two tracks at grade. The station building, built in 2006, is a timber structure in traditional Japanese style with a skylight. It serves as a waiting room as well as a local community facility. Access to the island platform is by means of a level crossing.

Adjacent stations

History

The private Kitakyushu Railway, which had a track between and by 1926 and had expanded southwards to by 1929. In a later phase of expansion, the track was extended west from Yamamoto to , which opened as the western terminus on 1 March 1935. This station was opened on the same day as an intermediate station on the new track. The Kitakyushi Railway was nationalised on 1 October 1937 and

Japanese Government Railways The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) was the national rail transport, railway system directly operated by the until 1949. It was a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the later Japan Railways Group. Name The English name "Japanese ...

(JGR) assumed control of the station and designated the track which served it as part of the Chikuhi Line. With the privatization of

Japanese National Railways The , abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

(JNR), the successor of JGR, on 1 April 1987, control of the station passed to JR Kyushu. In 2006, Ōkawa town authorities, in response to requests by residents, opened the to replace the station building which had been demolished in 2001. The new building serves as a waiting room for the station and also doubles as a community facility, featuring rooms which can be rented for meetings, and an exhibition space with displays about the history and the economy of the region.

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2015, there were a total of 14,883 boarding passengers, giving a daily average of 41 passengers. See table 12-7 at section under Transportation and Communications.

Surrounding area

*Okawa Community Center (Imari City Hall Okawa Branch) *Imari City Okawa Elementary School

References

External links

Ōkawano (JR Kyushu)
Railway stations in Japan opened in 1935 Chikuhi Line Railway stations in Saga Prefecture Stations of Kyushu Railway Company Imari, Saga {{Saga-railstation-stub