History
Hokunō Station opened on 16 August 1934 as the terminus of the Ministry of Railways' Etsumi-Nan Line when the line was extended from Mino-Shirotori, with passenger and freight services from the outset. It served as a major resource-shipping hub during the construction of the Miboro Dam (begun 1957) and the Ōshirakawa Dam and Miboro No. 2 power station (begun 1961). Freight handling ended on 1 October 1974. On 11 December 1986 the Etsumi-Nan Line was transferred from Japanese National Railways to the third-sector Nagaragawa Railway, and the station has been operated by that company since.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-06-09.
Where the English and Japanese sources differ, this account follows the Japanese source.
Notes
The hand-pushed turntable surviving at the platform end was built in 1902 by American Bridge for Gifu Station, moved here in 1934, and is now Japan's second-oldest after the one at Senzu on the Ōigawa Railway; it was listed as a National Tangible Cultural Property on 12 July 2005.