History
Hongō Station (Hiroshima) opened on 10 June 1894 with the San'yō Railway's extension from Mihara to Hiroshima, handling both passengers and freight. The station passed to the state railway on 1 December 1906 when the San'yō Railway was nationalised, and was designated part of the San'yō Main Line on 12 October 1909. Freight handling ended on 21 March 1974 and parcel handling on 14 March 1985. At privatisation on 1 April 1987 it became a JR West station, and a Midori-no-Madoguchi window opened in March 1990. Administration moved from Mihara management station to the new Mihara Regional Railway District on 1 October 1995, and on 8 March 1997 the station became commission-operated. Turn-back services here were abolished from the 1 October 2001 timetable revision. ICOCA service began on 1 September 2007 following the 7 July installation of ICOCA-compatible gates. The current half-overhead station and the linked south–north municipal free passageway opened on 22 February 2009. The Mihara Regional Railway District was abolished on 1 June 2018, after which the station became a subordinate stop under Mihara Station; the station was suspended in the July 2018 heavy-rain disaster and reopened between Mihara and Shiraichi on 30 September. Station numbering (JR-G15) was introduced in September 2020, station operations were transferred from JR West Hiroshima Maintec to JR West Chūgoku Transport Service on 1 July 2021, and the Midori-no-Madoguchi window closed on 30 April 2024, with permanent on-site staffing ending the following day in favour of intercom-based remote service.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
Hongō has two opposed side platforms and a central passing track (track 2) with no platform that can be entered from either end, with the elevated half-overhead 2009 station building straddling the line. The municipal complex around the station also houses the Hongō branch of the Mihara Police koban on the ground floor.