History
Sakurai Station opened on 23 May 1893 as the eastern terminus of the Osaka Railway extension from Takada. The Nara Railway connected from the north on 11 May 1898, the Kansai Railway absorbed both in 1900 and 1905, and the line was nationalised in 1907. The Hatsuse Tramway opened a separate connection in December 1909, eventually merging through the Hase Railway, Osaka Electric Tramway, and Kansai Express Railway into today's Kintetsu Railway in 1944. With JNR privatisation on 1 April 1987 the JR portion passed to JR West. A new elevated combined station building opened on 10 March 1995, finally separating the JR and Kintetsu ticket gates.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.