History
Yanaizu Station opened on 24 October 1968 as the terminus of the Japanese National Railways' Yanaizu Line. On 11 December 1977 the section to Hon'yoshi opened and the Yanaizu Line was absorbed into the through-running Kesennuma Line, making Yanaizu an intermediate station. The station passed to JR East on 1 April 1987 at the JNR privatisation. On 14 October 2001 an Imperial train hauled by DD51 842 ran from Sendai via Kogota and the Ishinomaki Line to Yanaizu for the visit of the Emperor and Empress to Miyagi for the National Sports Festival. After the 11 March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake left the station out of service, rail service resumed between Maeyachi and Yanaizu on 29 April 2011. The line beyond Yanaizu to Kesennuma was provisionally restored as bus rapid transit (BRT) on 20 August 2012; BRT was extended to run between Maeyachi and Yanaizu on 27 June 2015, and on 1 July 2018 BRT was rerouted onto a dedicated busway entering the station precinct. The rail section between Yanaizu and Kesennuma was formally abolished on 1 April 2020, returning Yanaizu to its original status as terminus after 43 years. On 1 April 2022 the Tome City simplified-consignment ticket agency was discontinued and the station became unstaffed throughout the day.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
Although called a station, the Kesennuma Line BRT bus stop is defined as a "station" by JR East's transport conditions, sharing its name and signage with the rail station. The 2021 NHK morning drama "Okaeri Mone" used Yanaizu as a filming location for a scene of the protagonist returning to Kesennuma, where the station was renamed "Momotsu Station" in-universe (episode 11, broadcast 31 May 2021).