is a railway station in the city of

Ōfunato is a city located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 35,452, and a population density of 110 persons per km2 in 14,895 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Ōfunato is located in southeastern ...

Iwate Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture (behind Hokkaido) at , with a population of 1,165,886 (as of July 1, 2023). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Pre ...

, Japan, jointly operated by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

(JR East), the third-sector operator

Sanriku Railway The is a railway company in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. The company and its lines are also known as . The company was founded in 1981, as the first " third-sector" (half public, half private) railway line in the country, excluding specia ...

, and the freight operator Iwate Development Railway.

Lines

Sakari Station is a terminus of the

Sanriku Railway Company The is a railway company in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. The company and its lines are also known as . The company was founded in 1981, as the first " third-sector" (half public, half private) railway line in the country, excluding specia ...

’s Rias Line and is 163.0 kilometers from the opposing terminus at . It was also a terminal station for the JR East Ōfunato Line; however all rail services between and Sakari have been suspended indefinitely since the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

and have been replaced by a

BRT BRT may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Bayrak Radio Television, a Turkish Cypriot broadcaster * Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (now ''VRT''), a Flemish broadcaster * Business Research and Training Center (BR&T), Ho Chi Minh Cit ...

system. The station is also served by the Iwate Development Railway Company for freight operations.

Station layout

Sakari Station has one

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, ...

and one

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 ...

connected to the station building by a footbridge. The station is staffed, and the JR East portion of the station has a ''

Midori no Madoguchi , short for ''Magnetic-electronic Automatic'' ''Reservation System,'' is a train ticket reservation system used by the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and travel agencies in Japan. It was developed jointly by Hitachi and the former Ja ...

'' ticket office.

Platforms

History

Sakari Station opened on 19 September 1935 as a station on the Ōfunato Line. The Iwate Development Railway Company Hikoroichi Line connected to the station on 21 October 1950 and the Akasaki Line from 21 June 1957. The Minami-Rias Line began operations on 1 March 1970. The Minami-Rias Line was privatized to the Sanriku Railway Company on 1 April 1984, and the Ōfunato Line was privatized on 1 April 1987, becoming part of JR East. During the 11 March

, the station was flooded and part of the tracks on both the Ōfunato Line and Minami-Rias Line were swept away, thus suspending services. The line resumed operations on the Minami-Rias Line on 3 April 2013 between Sakari and . Services between Yoshihama and resumed on 5 April 2014. Minami-Rias Line, a portion of Yamada Line, and Kita-Rias Line constitute Rias Line in 23 March 2019. Accordingly, the station became terminus of Rias Line.

Surrounding area

* Ōfunato City Hall * Ōfunato Post Office * National Route 45 * National Route 107

External links

JR East station information

Sanriku Railway station information

References

{{Rias Line Railway stations in Iwate Prefecture Railway stations in Japan opened in 1935 Ōfunato Line Ōfunato, Iwate