History
Hottoyuda Station opened on 16 December 1922 as Rikuchū-Kawajiri Station on the Ministry of Railways' Nishi-Yokoguro Line. Freight handling ended in November 1982 and parcel service in February 1984. With the 1987 privatisation of Japanese National Railways, operation passed to JR East. A new wooden two-storey building incorporating the public bathhouse 'Hotto-Yuda' opened on 1 April 1989, and on 20 June 1991 the station was renamed Hotto-Yuda. In January 1995 a station overbridge — funded by the then town of Yuda — opened, making it the first overbridge on the Kitakami Line built within station grounds. The station was listed among the Top 100 Stations of Tōhoku in 2002.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The bathhouse inside the station has a track-signal indicator on its wall — green 45 minutes before a train's departure, yellow at 30, red at 15 — to warn bathers when to head for the platform.