History
Ikawa Station opened on 1 August 1959 in Aoi Ward, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, as the new terminus of the Oigawa Railway Ikawa Line. The line had originally continued a short distance further to a freight yard at Dodaira, but that section was closed on 1 April 1971, leaving Ikawa as the line's only terminus. The station sits at the highest elevation of any railway station in Shizuoka Prefecture, with a wedge-shaped island platform serving two tracks beside a small station building. Service to Ikawa has been repeatedly interrupted by landslides on the steep section between Kanzo and Ikawa, including suspensions in 2014-2017, 2018-2019 and 2022. Track 1 was reduced when the Nishiyamasawa Bridge was removed in February 2023, leaving a single platform face.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Because the road link to Ikawa Honmura village runs along several kilometres of switchbacks, Oigawa Railway operates a free passenger ferry, the Akaishi-maru, across Lake Ikawa for foot traffic; the service is suspended in winter when water levels drop too low.