History
Yoshihama Station opened on 1 July 1973 as the terminus of the Japanese National Railways' Sakari Line, unstaffed from the start. On 1 April 1984 the line was transferred to the Sanriku Railway and Yoshihama became part of the Minami-Rias Line; the same-day extension to Kamaishi turned it into an intermediate station. The Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011 left the Minami-Rias Line out of service; on 24 June 2011 a 36-100 series DMU that had been stopped in the Kuwadai Tunnel between the station and Tōni made its way back to Yoshihama under its own power for inspection. Service between Sakari and Yoshihama resumed on 3 April 2013, and between Yoshihama and Kamaishi on 5 April 2014. Service between Sanriku and Kamaishi was again suspended on 2 March 2025 by the Ōfunato forest fire, and resumed on 9 March 2025.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
Yoshihama Station's nickname is "Kippin Awabi no Umi", from the famous local "Kippin abalone". A 17 March 2013 TV Tokyo special programme arranged the connection by which comedian Ken Shimura of The Drifters was appointed honorary non-resident stationmaster on 3 April 2013, the day Sakari–Yoshihama service resumed. A life-size cardboard cut-out of Shimura in stationmaster's uniform and a "Shimura Box" suggestion box stand inside the station, and a pink-coloured footbridge designed by actress Maiko Kawakami was built in front of the station at Shimura's suggestion. Following Shimura's death on 29 March 2020, a floral-tribute stand was set up at the station.