History
Miyota Station opened on 1 December 1888 as a station of the government-built railway, and today is served by Shinano Railway on its 65.1 km Shinano Railway Line, 13.2 km from the line's starting point at Karuizawa. Originally a switchback station on a single-track section, the layout was simplified on 26 April 1971 when the station was relocated 80 m south as the Shin'etsu Main Line was double-tracked and electrified, eliminating the switchback. The 1 October 1997 opening of the Nagano Shinkansen led to the parallel conventional line being transferred from JR East to the third-sector Shinano Railway. Suica service began on 14 March 2026.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The former switchback site adjacent to the station is preserved as the Miyota Town Transport Memorial, displaying an ex-JNR class D51 steam locomotive (D51 787) once tested with compressed-air working by a retired JNR engineer.