Kowata

History

Kowata Station (Keihan Uji Line, station number KH74) opened on 1 June 1913 with the inauguration of the Keihan Uji Line, in Kowata-Nishinaka, Uji, Kyoto. The station sits on the alluvial fan where the Uji and Yamashina rivers join, and the Kohata-ike pond lies on its western side, making it historically prone to flooding. The line became part of Keihanshin Kyūkō Dentetsu on 1 October 1943 and returned to Keihan Electric Railway on 1 December 1949 with the post-war company split. The Uji-bound ticket gate was rebuilt on 15 November 1951; two automatic ticket machines were added on 6 April 1981 along with tactile guidance blocks for visually-impaired users on the platform. The in-station footpath crossing was abolished on 27 February 1998, and wheelchair ramps were installed on both platforms in April 1998.

History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.

Notes

Although adjoining JR West Nara Line Kohata Station shares the same characters 木幡駅, the readings differ: Keihan reads it Kowata, JR reads it Kohata, and some nearby place names use a third reading Kobata. The Keihan station has been repeatedly inundated, with documented floods in 1917 (Taishō Great Flood), 1934 (Muroto Typhoon), 1935 (Kyoto Flood), 1951, 1953 (Typhoon No. 13), 1959, 1961 (Second Muroto Typhoon), and 1965 (Typhoon No. 24, which damaged 400-plus houses around the station).