History
Akita Station opened on 21 October 1902 as the terminus of the Ōu Hokusen government railway, then was extended a year later to Wada and on 22 February 1920 connected with the Uetsuhokusen. The second-generation station building of 1905 served 56 years before a third-generation Minshu-eki rebuild on 1 September 1961, just before the National Sports Festival. A ¥3 billion reconstruction produced the present elevated, wave-roofed fourth-generation building, which opened on 16 March 1997 ahead of the Akita Shinkansen's debut six days later. The east-west free passage Poporo-Road was added on 29 July 2000, and Suica acceptance began on 27 May 2023.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-06-09.
Notes
JR East's 2017 reworking of Akita Station — incorporating Akita-sugi cedar facades and timber waiting lounges — won the Wood Design Award 2017's grand prize that November.