Sōtarō Station

Sōtarō Station (宗太郎駅, Sōtarō-eki) is a railway station in Saiki, Ōita, Japan. It is operated by JR Kyushu and is on the Nippō Main Line.[1][2]

Sōtarō Station 重岡駅
Sōtarō Station in 2011
Location	Japan
Coordinates	32°47′11″N 131°42′24″E
Operated by	JR Kyushu
Line(s)	■ Nippō Main Line
Distance	231.0 km from Kokura
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2 + 1 siding
Construction
Structure type	Side hill cutting
Disabled access	No - platform accessed by footbridge
Other information
Status	Unstaffed
Website	Official website
History
Opened	15 December 1923 (1923-12-15)
Traffic
Passengers (FY2015)	144 per year
Location
Sōtarō Station Location within Japan

Lines

The station is served by the Nippō Main Line and is located 231.0 km from the starting point of the line at Kokura.[3]

Layout

The station consists of two side platforms serving two track with a siding set on a side hill cutting in a remote mountainous area. The station is not staffed and there is no station building. A small shed and a public telephone call box are provided as a passenger shelter near the station entrance and another shelter is provided on the opposite side platform. The platforms are linked by a footbridge.[2][3][4]

• 
  A view of the station platforms looking north.
• 
  A view of the station platform looking south.
• 
  Station entrance. Note the box for collecting used tickets.

Adjacent stations

«		Service	»
Nippō Main Line
Shigeoka		Local	Ichitana

History

The private Kyushu Railway had, by 1909, through acquisition and its own expansion, established a track from Kokura to Yanagigaura down the east coast of Kyushu. The Kyushu Railway was nationalised on 1 July 1907. Japanese Government Railways (JGR), designated the track as the Hōshū Main Line on 12 October 1909 and expanded it southwards in phases over the next 13 years, establishing Shigeoka as its southern terminus on 26 March 1922. At the same time, JGR had been expanding its Miyazaki Main Line north from Miyazaki, reaching Ichitana, just 9 km south of Shigeoka by July 1923. The link up between the two lines was achieved on 15 December 1923, establishing through traffic from Kokura in the north to Miyakonojō. The entire stretch of track was then renamed the Nippō Main Line. On the same day, Sōtarō was opened as a signal box on the linking track. On 1 March 1947, Sōtarō was upgraded to a full station. With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR), the successor of JGR, on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR Kyushu.[5][6]

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2015, there were a total of 144 boarding passengers, giving a daily average of less than 1 passenger.[7]

See also

• List of railway stations in Japan

References

1. "JR Kyushu Route Map" (PDF). JR Kyushu. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
2. "宗太郎" [Sōtarō]. hacchi-no-he.net. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
3. Kawashima, Ryōzō (2013). 図説: 日本の鉄道 四国・九州ライン 全線・全駅・全配線・第6巻 熊本 大分 エリア [Japan Railways Illustrated. Shikoku and Kyushu. All lines, all stations, all track layouts. Volume 6 Kumamoto Ōita Area] (in Japanese). Kodansha. pp. 49, 84. ISBN 9784062951654.
4. "宗太郎駅散策" [Walking around Sōtarō Station]. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018. Blog entry with good photographic coverage of station facilities.
5. Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR] (in Japanese). I. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. pp. 228–9. ISBN 4533029809.
6. Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR] (in Japanese). II. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. 756. ISBN 4533029809.
7. "平成28年版　大分県統計年鑑 11 運輸および通信" [Oita Prefecture Statistics Yearbook 2016 Edition Section 11 Transportation and Communications]. Oita Prefectural Government website. Retrieved 8 April 2018. See table 128 Transport situation by individual railway stations (JR Kyushu JR Freight).

External links

• Sōtarō (JR Kyushu)(in Japanese)