History
Kōchi Station opened on 10 June 1894 in present-day Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, when the private San'yō Railway built its Mihara - Hiroshima section. The railway was nationalised on 1 December 1906, and the route became part of the San'yō Main Line on 12 October 1909. On 12 January 1931 an inbound express derailed at a turnout in the station; locomotive C53 24 overturned and five passenger cars fell from the Mukunashi River bridge, killing seven and injuring 179. Freight ended in 1973 and parcel handling in 1985. JR West took over on 1 April 1987. The Midori-no-Madoguchi closed on 31 March 2018 and the station became unstaffed the next day; station numbering JR-G14 followed in September 2020.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The 1931 derailment was the third major accident at this spot — two earlier wartime mishaps had already given the curve a reputation as a "cursed place".