History
Nanao Station opened on 24 April 1898 as a Nanao Railway station on the line from Tsubata (now Hon-Tsubata) towards Yatashin (later Nanao-Kō), at a site different from the current location. Nanao Railway was nationalised in 1907 and the line was designated the Nanao Line in 1909. On 15 December 1925 the line was extended to Wakura and the station was relocated to its present position. The freight spur to Nanao-Kō closed in 1984. The station joined JR West at the 1987 privatisation. On 1 September 1991 electrification reached Wakuraonsen, and the line beyond Nanao was transferred to the third-sector Noto Railway, making this the demarcation point between the two operators.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The pre-1925 wooden station building was not demolished after the relocation; it was disassembled, moved across the Hida Mountains in 1927, and reinstalled at Etchū-Yatsuo Station on the Takayama Main Line, where it remains in use today.