Matsusaka

History

Matsusaka Station opened on 31 December 1893 as a general station of the Sangū Railway, with the simultaneous opening of the Tsu–Miyagawa section. The line was nationalised on 1 October 1907 and became the Sangū Line of the Japanese Government Railways on 12 October 1909. The Matsusaka Light Railway (later Mie Electric Railway) Matsusaka Line opened a separate station on the south side on 17 August 1912. The Sangū Express Railway (Sangū Kyūkō Electric Railway) connected to Matsusaka on 27 March 1930; on 25 August 1929 the JNR Meishō Line had opened as far as Gongenmae. A new JNR station building was completed on 3 December 1937. Sangū Kyūkō was absorbed by the Osaka Electric Tramway in March 1941, renamed Kansai Kyūkō Railway, and merged with Nankai Railway on 1 June 1944 to form Kintetsu. With the completion of the Kisei Main Line on 15 July 1959, the JNR portion was transferred from the Sangū Line to the Kisei Main Line. A second new JNR building was completed on 16 November 1962. The Mie Electric Railway Matsusaka Line was discontinued on 14 December 1964. Freight handling ended on 1 February 1984 and parcel handling on 1 November 1986. The JNR station was succeeded by JR Central on 1 April 1987. TOICA support is planned for spring 2027.

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

Matsusaka is Mie Prefecture's only station with sold ekiben, traditionally dominated by Matsusaka beef and wagyū bentō; the long-standing Ara-take stall on the JR side once sold the country's most expensive ekiben at 10,500 yen. The pillars supporting the Kintetsu platform roof are repurposed rails — those on Platform 6 were manufactured in 1886 and are the oldest rails Kintetsu owns. Matsusaka has five platforms serving seven tracks (three platforms / four tracks for JR, two platforms / three tracks for Kintetsu) connected by footbridges, with separate JR (south) and Kintetsu (north) station buildings and no internal transfer gate.