History
Itaya Station opened on 15 May 1899 alongside the Fukushima–Yonezawa stretch of what became the Ōu Main Line, serving the village of Itaya at the foot of the steep Itaya pass. Freight and parcels handling ceased in early 1984 and the station was destaffed in December that year. Briefly run on a contract basis from 1985, it reverted to unattended operation when no successor agent was found. The original switchback approach was abandoned on 1 September 1990 in preparation for the Yamagata Shinkansen, and platforms were relocated to their current positions inside the former snow shelter. Since 2023 all trains have bypassed Itaya during the heavy-snow winter months.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Since the 2023 timetable, all trains skip Itaya from mid-January through late March each winter; the bypass period now begins as early as 1 December.