History
Minakuchi Matsuo Station opened on 5 April 1989 on the Ohmi Railway Main Line in Kōka, Shiga Prefecture, 42.7 km from the line's terminus at Maibara. It was established as a petitioned station, jointly requested by the then-town of Minakuchi and the Jehovah's Witnesses, whose Kansai assembly hall stands nearby. A non-incorporated religious group sponsoring a station was highly unusual even at the time. The unattended halt consists of a single side platform with a shelter rather than a station building, and bears the station number OR33.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The station was set up as a petitioned halt for a religious organization — the Jehovah's Witnesses' Kansai Assembly Hall sits a short walk away — a highly unusual sponsorship arrangement for a Japanese railway station.