History
Okazaki Station opened on 1 September 1888 when the Japanese Government Railways' Hamamatsu–Ōbu segment was completed; the line was named the Tōkaidō in 1895 and the Tōkaidō Main Line in 1909. Sited in then-rural Hane village rather than the historic castle town centre, the station served the country's first government-run bus service from 1930. Freight was discontinued in 1984 and luggage handling in 1986. With JNR's break-up on 1 April 1987 it passed to JR Central, and the present elevated building with a free passage was completed on 28 October 1990. Aichi Loop Railway took over the former Okata Line in 1988 and was given its own dedicated track into the station in November 2004.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Japan's first government-operated bus service launched here on 20 December 1930, making Okazaki Station the ancestor of the entire national-rail bus network later run by JNR and JR Bus.