Kada Line

The railway began as the Kada Light Railway (加太軽便鉄道), which was granted a railway licence for a Kitajima–Kada route on 5 October 1910 and opened its line between Wakayamaguchi—later renamed Kitajima—and Kada on 16 June 1912. In 1914 the original Wakayamaguchi station was relocated and renamed Kitajima, and on 23 September that year the completion of a Kinokawa River bridge allowed the line to be extended over the river to connect with Nankai's Wakayamashi Station.

The line was electrified at 1,500 V DC between Wakayamaguchi and Kada on 1 December 1930, when Higashi-Matsue and Nishinosho stations also opened, and three weeks later, on 22 December 1930, the company renamed itself the Kada Electric Railway (加太電気鉄道). On 1 February 1942 it was absorbed into Nankai Railway and became that company's Kada Line, and the Wakayamaguchi station was merged into Wakayamashi Station.

Wartime consolidation then swept the line into a much larger company: on 1 June 1944, under the Land Transport Business Coordination Act, Nankai Railway merged with Kansai Kyuko Railway to form the Kinki Nippon Railway, and the Kada Line passed into Kinki Nippon hands. It was during this Kinki Nippon period that the route's alignment began to change—on 1 October 1944 a new freight line, the Matsue Line, opened between Kinokawa and Higashi-Matsue. On 1 June 1947 the former Nankai Railway lines were separated off and transferred to the newly re-established Nankai Electric Railway.

After the war the line was rebuilt around the Matsue Line corridor. The Matsue Line was electrified on 1 October 1949, the Kajitori Signal Station opened on it on 15 July 1950, and on 25 July 1950 passenger service began over the Matsue Line, with Kada Line trains rerouted to run via Kinokawa rather than via Kitajima. The older alignment fared badly: a typhoon damaged the Kinokawa bridge in September 1950, and on 18 July 1953 flooding tilted the bridge piers and made the route impassable, leading to the suspension of the Wakayamashi–Kitajima section on 15 September 1953.

On 15 February 1955 the Wakayamashi–Kitajima section was formally abolished; the surviving Kinokawa–Kada route was reorganised as the Kada branch line (later simply the Kada Line again), while the remaining Kitajima–Higashi-Matsue stub became the Kitajima branch line. That branch was itself abolished on 1 December 1966, leaving the line in essentially its present form. A PTC train-control system was introduced on 1 September 1980, and on 1 February 1984 freight operations on the Kada line ceased—the last freight service anywhere on the Nankai network.

In more recent decades the line has shifted toward leisure and tourism. One-man (driver-only) operation began on 24 March 2001, and the line marked its centenary on 16 June 2012. From 1 November 2014 Nankai launched the "Kada Sakana Line Project" to draw visitors with the area's seafood, and from 29 April 2016 it introduced the "Medetai Densha" sightseeing trains—converted 7100-series cars decorated in fish-and-sea motifs—which were expanded over the following years, with further themed sets added in 2021 and 2024.

• 19105 October: a railway licence is granted to the Kada Light Railway for the Kitajima–Kada route.
• 191216 June: the Kada Light Railway opens its line between Wakayamaguchi (later Kitajima) and Kada.
• 191423 September: a Kinokawa River bridge is completed and the Wakayamaguchi–Kitajima section opens, connecting the line to Nankai's Wakayamashi Station (the original Wakayamaguchi station having been relocated and renamed Kitajima on 21 September).
• 19301 December: the Wakayamaguchi–Kada section is electrified at 1,500 V DC and Higashi-Matsue and Nishinosho stations open; on 22 December the company is renamed the Kada Electric Railway.
• 19421 February: the line is absorbed into Nankai Railway and becomes its Kada Line; Wakayamaguchi station is merged into Wakayamashi Station.
• 19441 June: under the Land Transport Business Coordination Act, Nankai Railway merges with Kansai Kyuko Railway to form the Kinki Nippon Railway, and the Kada Line passes to it; on 1 October the Matsue Line freight line opens between Kinokawa and Higashi-Matsue.
• 19471 June: the former Nankai Railway lines are separated off and transferred to the re-established Nankai Electric Railway.
• 19491 October: the Matsue Line is electrified.
• 195025 July: passenger service begins on the Matsue Line (Kajitori Signal Station having opened on 15 July) and Kada Line trains are rerouted to run via Kinokawa instead of via Kitajima.
• 195318 July: flooding tilts the piers of the Kinokawa bridge and halts operations; the Wakayamashi–Kitajima section is suspended on 15 September.
• 195515 February: the Wakayamashi–Kitajima section is abolished; Kinokawa–Kada becomes the Kada branch line (later the Kada Line) and Kitajima–Higashi-Matsue becomes the Kitajima branch line.
• 19661 December: the Kitajima branch line is abolished, leaving the line essentially in its present form.
• 19841 February: freight operations on the Kada line cease — the last freight service on the entire Nankai network.
• 200124 March: one-man (driver-only) operation begins on the line.
• 20141 November: Nankai launches the "Kada Sakana Line Project," promoting the line under the nickname Kada Sakana Line.
• 201629 April: the "Medetai Densha" sightseeing train (a converted 7100-series set in a pink fish-and-sea livery) enters service.