History
Shimo-Otai Station opened on 6 August 1912 on what is now Meitetsu's Inuyama Line. The platforms were extended from four to six cars in 1977; the station building was rebuilt on 7 February 1985 and a footbridge was added in January 1986. The September 2000 Tokai Floods inundated the station, and a high-water mark from that event is still inscribed on the wall by the east gate. The station became unstaffed on 15 February 2004 (managed from Inuyama Station), and SF Panorama Card/Yurica use began the same day. The manaca IC card was introduced on 11 February 2011.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
Shimo-Otai has two opposed eight-car-length side platforms and is unstaffed under a centralised station management system. The west gate (track 1 side) has only a ticket machine and no fare-adjustment machine, so passengers requiring fare adjustments are directed to the east gate. A west-facing single-direction crossover at the Iwakura end allows down-direction departures and was added under the FY2018 capital programme for emergency turnback service; it was used for the first time on 23 April 2026, the day of a fatal accident at Sannō Station. From the timetable revision of 15 March 2021, the Express services that make special stops at this station and Naka-Otai began carrying reserved-seat ('Special Car') accommodation. Although both neighbouring stations are within Nagoya city, Shimo-Otai is in Kiyosu City, and travel with Nagoya senior or welfare cards does not qualify for the local refund.