History
Soja Station opened on 17 February 1925 as Nishi-Soja, the eastern endpoint of the JNR Hakubi South Line's first segment from Kurashiki to Shiso (now Gokei). The Chugoku Railway's Kibi Line was extended from the original Soja (now Higashi-Soja) to this station on 7 August 1925. The Hakubi South Line was incorporated into the Hakubi Line in 1928, and the Kibi Line was nationalised on 1 June 1944. The station was renamed Soja on 1 November 1959 and passed to JR West at the 1987 privatisation. On 11 January 1999 the third-sector Ibara Railway connected to the station, sharing the running line between Kiyone and Soja with the JR Hakubi Line.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-06-09.
Where the English and Japanese sources differ, this account follows the Japanese source.
Notes
A bracket on Platform 3 carries a mouse motif honouring the sumi-e painter Sesshu, whose ties to the Soja area gave rise to the legend of his foot-drawn mouse.