History
Haratai Station opened on 6 November 1934 as part of the Japanese Government Railways' Yamada Line in what is now Miyako, Iwate Prefecture. Storm damage closed the station from 26 November 1946; service was restored east of Haratai on 25 March 1953 and the rest of the line on 21 November 1954. Freight handling ended on 1 November 1961 and parcel service on 15 August 1971, leaving the station unstaffed. JNR's 1987 privatisation transferred it to JR East. The wooden station building has been removed; a single side platform with a small shelter now serves the bidirectional track.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Haratai's storm-driven 1946-1954 closure was lifted in two stages — eastward in March 1953, then westward more than a year later — because reconstruction crews had to wait for separate damaged segments of the Yamada Line to be repaired.