Tanagawa Line

The line was built during the Second World War. It opened in 1944 to carry workers to the Senshū plant of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, a shipyard that was then building submarines and coastal-defence ships. Because the new branch was laid close to the settlement of Fuke, a station called Fukechō was provided on it; at the same time the existing Fuke Station on the Nankai Main Line, between Minami-Awanawa (today's Misaki-kōen) and Kyōshi, lost its passenger service. The branch thus reoriented local rail access in the Fuke area around the wartime shipyard traffic.

Ownership changed twice in quick succession during the war-and-occupation reshuffling of Japan's private railways. On 1 June 1944, only a day after the line opened, a corporate merger placed it under Kinki Nippon Railway (Kintetsu). On 1 June 1947 a corporate separation carved the former Nankai network back out, and the branch became the Nankai Electric Railway Tanagawa Line, the identity it still holds.

The post-war years brought the line its heyday. In 1948 the boat basin of the Kawasaki shipyard was rebuilt into Fukekō (Fuke Harbour), a new Fukekō Station opened on the line on 3 November of that year, and ferry routes were inaugurated from the harbour — across to Awaji Island and on to Tokushima on Shikoku. A connecting express began running through from Namba to Tanagawa, and for a time the Fuke route was the fastest way to travel between Osaka and Awaji or Tokushima, drawing brisk traffic. In 1957 the branch's junction station, Minami-Awanawa, was renamed Misaki-kōen.

From the 1970s the harbour route went into a long decline as ferries and high-speed boats sailing from the larger ports of Osaka and Kobe drew passengers away. The through express from Namba — operated under the name "Awaji" — was withdrawn on 18 April 1993, when Nankai instead increased the frequency of its Namba–Wakayamashi expresses. The decisive blow to the sea link came in 1998, when the opening of the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge gave road traffic a direct crossing to Awaji Island; ferry and vehicle-carrying demand collapsed, the Fuke Kaiun and Tokushima Ferry services were abolished, and the surviving Osaka Bay Ferry was rebranded the Nankai Awaji Line and shifted to Izumisano; that service too was suspended at the end of January 2007.

With its maritime role gone, the Tanagawa Line settled into the quiet existence of a rural branch. Automated train control (PTC) had been introduced in 1980, and one-man (driver-only) operation began on 24 March 2001. The line continued to serve the Misaki area, though much of its route runs parallel to the town's own community circulator minibus, with little difference in journey time.

The line's diminished standing was formalised in a timetable revision on 21 October 2023. Reflecting falling ridership, weekday service was cut sharply from 46 to 26 round trips and weekend and holiday service from 37 to 23; the first departure was moved later and the last departure earlier; and every station except the junction at Misaki-kōen was made unstaffed. The Tanagawa Line remains in service today as a two-car shuttle entirely within Misaki, a modest survivor of what was once a celebrated gateway between Osaka and Shikoku.

• 194431 May: the line opens between Minami-Awanawa (now Misaki-kōen) and Tanagawa to serve the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Senshū shipyard; Fukechō Station is provided and Fuke Station on the Main Line loses its passenger service.
• 19441 June: a corporate merger places the line under Kinki Nippon Railway (Kintetsu).
• 19471 June: a corporate separation makes the branch the Nankai Electric Railway Tanagawa Line.
• 19483 November: Fukekō (Fuke Harbour) Station opens; the rebuilt harbour inaugurates ferry routes to Awaji Island and Tokushima, and a connecting express begins running through from Namba.
• 19571 January: the junction station Minami-Awanawa is renamed Misaki-kōen.
• 19801 September: a programmed train control (PTC) system is introduced on the line.
• 199318 April: the through express "Awaji" (Namba–Tanagawa) is abolished, as Nankai increases its Namba–Wakayamashi express service instead.
• 1998The Akashi Kaikyō Bridge opens, giving road traffic a direct crossing to Awaji Island; ferry and vehicle-ferry demand from Fuke collapses and the Fuke Kaiun and Tokushima Ferry services are abolished.
• 200124 March: one-man (driver-only) operation begins on the line.
• 2007End of January: the Osaka Bay Ferry's successor, the Nankai Awaji Line (relocated to Izumisano), is suspended, ending the harbour's regular sea services.
• 202321 October: a timetable revision cuts service from 46 to 26 weekday round trips and from 37 to 23 on weekends/holidays, moves the first train later and the last earlier, and makes every station except Misaki-kōen unstaffed.