Suwachō

History

Suwachō Station opened on 27 January 1945 as Shiyakusho-mae Station on what was then the Toyokawa Shinai Line, built mid-war using rails and rolling stock cannibalised from suspended lines to carry workers to the Toyokawa Naval Arsenal. The arsenal was destroyed in August 1945 air raids; after the war the line was repurposed to serve pilgrims visiting Toyokawa Inari. Voltage was raised to 1,500 V in 1953 and the route was extended one stop east to Toyokawa-Inari in 1954. The station was renamed Suwachō on 20 January 1955. Staffing ended on 14 March 2007 with the introduction of the Toranpasu ticketing system, and manaca IC cards have been accepted since 11 February 2011.

History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.

Notes

The Toyokawa Line is single-track and Suwachō has no passing siding, so opposing trains pass at Suwa-Shindō signal box just up the line — a relic of the route's wartime tram-standard origins.