History
Rikuchū-Yamada Station opened on 17 November 1935 as the temporary terminus of the Ministry of Railways' Yamada Line in what is now Yamada, Iwate Prefecture. The line was extended to Iwate-Funakoshi on 10 November 1936, making it an intermediate stop. It passed to JR East at the JNR privatisation on 1 April 1987. The station building and platforms were destroyed by the tsunami and ensuing fire of the 11 March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. After eight years of suspended service, the rebuilt station reopened on 23 March 2019, when the restored Miyako–Kamaishi segment was transferred to the Sanriku Railway as part of the unified Rias Line.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
On 8 August 1947 Emperor Shōwa's imperial train stopped here during the postwar imperial tours, with the emperor acknowledging well-wishers from the carriage window.