History
Gala-Yuzawa Station opened on 1990-12-20 as the terminus of a short Joetsu Shinkansen branch from Echigo-Yuzawa, built primarily to deliver skiers to the JR East-affiliated Gala-Yuzawa resort. The branch reused right-of-way originally laid out as a maintenance siding, and although Shinkansen trainsets serve it, the line is legally treated as a sub-branch of the conventional Joetsu Line. The station operates only during the winter ski season (roughly mid-December to early May), with limited summer service for tie-in events. Automatic ticket gates entered service on 1999-04-21, and the Shinkansen e-ticket service began on 2020-03-14.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The name "Gala" refers to a festive celebration, and to reinforce that theme some station staff wear uniforms and caps that differ from JR East's standard issue.