History
Sakihana Station opened on 1 November 1961 as a Japanese National Railways halt on the Ban'etsu West Line, serving only passengers and unstaffed from the outset. The site overlooks the left bank of the Agano River next to Sakihana Onsen, whose name commemorates the historical name of the area, "Sakihanachi" ("a place where hot-spring flowers bloomed"). With the 1 April 1987 privatisation of JNR it became a JR East station, and the seasonal Niitsu–Aizu-Wakamatsu rapid "SL Banetsu Monogatari" stops here. The station building was reconstructed in February 2014 and a renewal ceremony was held on 5 April that year; the new building has the waiting room at platform level and an observation deck on a second floor.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The 2014-rebuilt station has a small upstairs observation deck overlooking the Agano River, and its waiting-room lighting switches itself on with a motion sensor for evening users.