History
Akagawa Station opened on 25 September 1921 as Tanabu Station, the first stop on the Government Railways' Ōminato Light Railway. A horse-drawn tramway, the Tanabu Light Railway, began at the same point on 14 December 1921 to reach the centre of Tanabu town. Telegraph service started in 1924 and ceased in 1963, while parcel handling ended on 15 March 1972 alongside the loss of station staff. The depot was renamed Akagawa on 1 December 1948 - long after the tramway closed in 1941 - and freight handling at private sidings was withdrawn on 1 March 1974. The JNR split on 1 April 1987 placed the station under JR East.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Where the English and Japanese sources differ, this account follows the Japanese source.
Notes
The platform sits on a noticeable bend: although the track looks straight on approach, it curves toward the platform face at the stop itself.