History
Gokan Station opened on 20 November 1926 when the Joetsu South Line was extended from Numata, in the town of Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, serving as the representative station for the former Tsukiyone town area. The line was extended to Mizukami in October 1928 and through service to Miyauchi was completed in September 1931, at which point the line was renamed the Joetsu Line. The station building was rebuilt in September 1961 in concrete with a large gabled roof. Freight ended in 1963 and parcel service in 1984. With JNR's 1987 privatisation the station passed to JR East. Suica service began on 14 March 2009, and the station became fully unattended on 20 April 2018.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The preserved D51 498 steam locomotive once stood opposite Gokan's Platform 3; selected for its condition during the 1989 Yokohama Exhibition, it now hauls JR East's 'SL Gunma Minakami' tourist trains, which stop at Gokan despite its small size.