History
Ujiyamada Station opened on 17 March 1931 as the new gateway to Ise Grand Shrine when Sangū Express Electric Railway — the predecessor of today's Kintetsu Osaka and Yamada Lines — completed its through route from Osaka. Because construction of this station ran late, the neighbouring government-run Yamada Station (now Iseshi) had served as a provisional terminus for three months. The grand elevated terminus, designed for the company's 20th-anniversary celebrations, drew admiring notice that "in Ise even the electric trains arrive in heaven." The station is the junction of the Yamada Line and the Toba Line, both measured at 28.3 kilometers from Ise-Nakagawa. A stationmaster is posted here, and the station houses an Imperial reception room used by the Emperor and Prime Minister on their pilgrimages to the Ise Shrines.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
A royal reception room sits on the second floor; what is now this suite was originally a penthouse at the building's eastern end that served as a fire watch tower.