History
Tsuchiura Station opened on 4 November 1895 as a Nippon Railway stop in Ariake-chō, Tsuchiura, Ibaraki. It became state-run in 1906 and joined the Jōban Line in 1909. From 17 April 1918 to 31 March 1987 it was the Tsuchiura end of the Tsukuba Railway. The famous "warship-style" second building opened in October 1936, and a third elevated station building completed on 17 February 1983 added an east entrance. The station passed to JR East and JR Freight at the 1987 JNR breakup. Limited expresses began stopping in October 1981 and Suica acceptance followed on 18 November 2001. The cycling-themed PLAYatré Tsuchiura station-building was rolled out in 2018–2020 with Hoshino Resorts' BEB5 cycling hotel.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The last "peddlers' rest" — a sloped wooden bench let farmers sit while still wearing their heavy back-baskets — was removed from the Tsuchiura platform in November 2021 and donated to the Railway Museum in Saitama.