History
Sayo Station opened on 30 July 1935 as the temporary terminus of the Japanese Government Railways' Himetsu-tō Line out of Mikazuki, named for the village of Sayo. Extension to Mimasaka-Emi the next April linked it through to today's Kishin Line, which absorbed the route in October 1936. Freight was withdrawn in 1971 and parcel handling in 1985, and the station became part of JR West at privatisation in April 1987. The arrival of the Chizu Express Chizu Line on 3 December 1994 made it a junction station. Sayo lost its Midori-no-Madoguchi on 30 November 2024 and was fully de-staffed on 1 December 2024.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
When Sayo Town merged in March 1955 the local pronunciation shifted from 'sayo' to 'sayou', but the station name's reading was left unchanged, so 佐用駅 is still officially 'Sayo-eki' even in 'Sayou-chō'.