History
Aniai Station opened on 1936-09-25 in what is now Kita-Akita when JNR extended the Aniai Line from Ani-Maeda (today's Ani-Maeda-Onsen). On 1963-10-15 the line was further extended to Hitachinai. Freight handling ended on 1982-11-15 and parcels on 1984-02-01. The line passed to the third-sector Akita Inland Jūkan Railway on 1986-11-01, and the present two-storey timber building, featuring a striking triangular roof referencing the 40°N latitude of the town, was completed in March 1989; it was named one of the Tōhoku Top 100 Stations in 2002. A landslide between Kobuchi and the station closed the inland section on 2017-02-17; through services resumed on 2017-04-29. A major interior renovation reopened on 2018-04-01 with the affectionate sub-name 'Shiawase no Eki' (Station of Happiness), and a tourist welcome centre opened on the upper floor on 2019-04-19. The depot here houses every train on the line.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The station building is a 1989 timber two-storey structure built around a large triangular roof motif marking the latitude of 40 degrees north, on which the surrounding town sits.