History
Kawase Station opened on 1 May 1896 as a passenger and freight station on the Japanese Government Railway Tokaido Line between Hikone and Notogawa, in what is now Hikone, Shiga Prefecture. Freight handling was withdrawn on 15 March 1972. The station passed to JR West with the privatisation of Japanese National Railways on 1 April 1987, and from 13 March 1988 carried the Biwako Line passenger nickname applied to the Maibara-Kyoto section of the Tokaido Main Line. A new station building with a lift and automated turnstiles opened on 14 March 1998, and ICOCA service began on 1 November 2003. Station numbering JR-A15 was introduced in March 2018.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Despite its rural feel, Kawase carries an A-series station number on JR West's urban Kyoto-line scheme because the Biwako-Line branding extends the Osaka commuter belt all the way out to Maibara.