History
Obama Station opened on 10 November 1918 as the terminus of the Obama Line extending from Tomura. When the line was further extended to Wakasa-Takahama on 3 April 1921 the station became an intermediate stop. Freight services ended on 15 November 1982 and parcel handling on 14 March 1985. JR West took over the station at the 1987 privatisation of Japanese National Railways. The station building was rebuilt in 1991. Imperial visits by Emperor Shōwa included a postwar inspection on 24 October 1947 (the imperial train departed Obama for Takefu) and a joint visit with Empress Kōjun on 22 April 1962. The staffed Midori-no-Madoguchi closed on 11 March 2022, replaced by a Midori-no-Kembaiki Plus ticket machine, and a refurbished 64-seat waiting room reopened on 2 March 2024.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
An ivy-clad steam-era water tower still stands near the Higashi-Maizuru end of the station building, a leftover from when the Obama Line was worked by steam locomotives.