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 town of Kaiyō, Kaifu District,

Tokushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 682,439 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,146 Square kilometre, km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture b ...

, Japan. It is operated by the third-sector Asa Seaside Railway and bears the station number "AK28".

Lines

Kaifu Station is served by the Asato Line and located 1.5 km from the terminus of the line at Awa-Kainan Station. The JR Mugi Line hasn't interconnected with Asa Seaside Railway since 2021.

Layout

The station, which is unstaffed, consists of two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

s serving two tracks on an elevated structure. There is no station building and the station is unstaffed. Access to the platforms is by means of a flight of steps and the two platforms are linked by a level crossing across the tracks. A bike shed is provided at the base of the elevated structure. Just to the north of the station, trains pass through the , a short tunnel original driven through a hill. Land development had led to the entire hill being removed but the tunnel structure was left intact. file:Kaifu Station, ekisha.jpg, Station entrance. Note steps leading up to the platform. The black plaque commemorates the opening of the Asatō Line. The sign above the roller shutters says "Kaifu Town Tourism Information Centre" - now replaced by a community interaction centre. file:Near Kaifu - panoramio.jpg, A view of the station tracks looking in the direction of . Note the Chōnai Tunnel. The hill it used to punch through has now been removed for land development

Adjacent stations

, - !colspan=5, Asa Seaside Railway

History

Japanese National Railways (JNR) opened Kaifu Station on 1 October 1973 as an intermediate station when the track of the Mugi Line was extended from to . On 1 April 1987, with the

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of JNR, control of the station passed to

JR Shikoku The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four Prefectures of Japan, prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Jap ...

. On 26 March 1992, the third sector Asa Kaigan Railway completing the extension of the track southwards to and the Asatō Line began operations with Kaifu as the northern terminus. On 23 December 2015, a local community group in Kaiyō opened a community interaction centre underneath the elevated structure of the station to promote interaction between senior citizens and children in the town. It was located in the premises of a former town tourism information centre which had been built there in 1995. Since 1 November 2020, the station has been transferred to Asa Seaside Railway from JR Shikoku as DMV is commenced operations from summer 2021.

Surrounding area

*Kaiyo Town Hall Kaifu Government Building

References

External links

Asa Kaigan Railway official website
{{Asa Kaigan Railway Asatō Line Railway stations in Tokushima Prefecture Railway stations in Japan opened in 1973 Kaiyō, Tokushima