History
Ōarai Station opened on 14 March 1985, when the third-sector Kashima Rinkai Railway inaugurated its Ōarai Kashima Line between Mito and what is now Kashima Soccer Stadium. The station was built to serve the central built-up area of Ōarai, a coastal town on Ibaraki's Pacific shore, and the elevated platforms share the site with the Kashima Rinkai Railway head office and the Ōarai rolling-stock depot. The forecourt and waiting room were rebuilt in 2020, and a lift connecting the concourse to the platforms entered service on 2 March 2023.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Because Ōarai is the canonical setting of the anime Girls und Panzer, JR-style livery rotations once carried character announcements voiced by Mai Fuchigami, and as of 2017 two wrapped trainsets still operate on the line.