History
Hirano Station opened on 13 April 1913 on the Nose Electric Railway, in Hirano 1-chōme, Kawanishi, Hyōgo. The station moved to its current site in January 1966. The Uguisunomori–Hirano section was double-tracked on 5 October 1969, and the Hirano–Ichi-no-Torii section on 1 April 1973. The current overhead station building was completed in March 1981. With the introduction of the "Nissei Express" limited-express on 17 November 1997 the station became a compulsory stop for all revenue trains, and even out-of-service and chartered trains passing through must briefly halt — a deliberate rule, as the earlier Nissei kyūkō service used to pass through. Crossing-train interchanges and short-turn services at Hirano were withdrawn at the 17 December 2022 timetable revision.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
Hirano is the birthplace of Mitsuya Cider — originally marketed as "Mitsuya Hirano Mineral Water". A former imperial-household plant near the station shipped the cider nationwide before withdrawing from the cider business in 1954 and later closing; the Mitsuya Memorial Hall on the plant site stayed open alongside an Asahi-Beer-affiliated Sunshine Hirano home-centre until the latter closed in March 2005, after which the memorial hall also ended public access.