History
Takeda Station opened on 1 April 1906 with the Sanyō Railway's extension from Niimi to Wadayama. The Sanyō Railway was nationalised on 1 December 1906, putting the station on the JNR network; under the 1909 line-naming rules it was placed on the Bantan Line. Freight handling ended on 1 March 1963. On 6 October 1968 Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun made a Royal Train journey to and from this station for the 23rd National Sports Festival in Hyōgo. The station was destaffed and luggage handling ended on 1 April 1973, although operational staff remained. JR West took over on 1 April 1987 at privatisation. On 26 March 2016 limited-express Hamakaze trains 1 and 4 began stopping year-round, making Takeda the line's first regular limited-express stop; ICOCA service began on 13 March 2021. Toyooka management took over on 1 June 2022, and the station now falls under the Kinki Statistical HQ's Fukuchiyama Management Office.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-24.
Notes
Takeda Station is the nearest stop to the "Castle in the Sky," the ruins of Takeda Castle (竹田城跡) — a mountaintop fortification often shrouded in sea-of-clouds at dawn. As tourist visits grew sharply from FY2012, the JR West limited-express "Hamakaze" began making seasonal stops from 27 April 2013 on weekends and holidays during the castle's open season, and the Zentan Bus "Tenkū Bus" connecting the station to the castle ruins started simultaneously. Since the FY2016 timetable change, Hamakaze 1 and 4 stop here all year round, while 3 and 6 continue to make seasonal stops between late March and the end of November. The station's heavy wooden tile-roofed building has been in continuous use since opening in 1906.