History
Hiroden-hatsukaichi Station opened on 6 April 1924 as Hatsukaichi-machi when the Miyajima Line was extended from Kusatsu-machi to its then-terminus here; the station had been planned as Tenjin-shita Station (for a nearby Tenmangu shrine) but the name was changed before opening. The line was extended further to Jigozen on 15 July 1925, and the station was renamed Dentetsu-Hatsukaichi ('Tramway Hatsukaichi') on 1 February 1931, the day the Miyajima Line reached its full present length. During the Pacific War, on 21 July 1944, the down-line track between this station and Dentetsu-Miyajima Station was lifted to provide rails for the under-construction Hijiyama Line in central Hiroshima, leaving the western section single-track; the line was re-doubled on 24 July 1950. The station was renamed Hiroden-Hatsukaichi on 1 June 1961 to distinguish it from JNR's (now JR West's) Hatsukaichi Station. Other dates: platform improvements on 31 January 1981; becoming unstaffed outside morning rush hours on 15 May 1988; end of morning rush-hour terminating service on 17 August 1999; closure of the commuter-pass window on 1 December 2005; restoration of morning rush-hour terminating service in October 2009; demolition of the wooden station building in October 2012 (with a farewell event on 8 September 2012); completion of the new south rotary and waiting room in August 2013. The station carries number M31.
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
The Hatsukaichi Substation behind the up-side platform — which has supplied power to the Miyajima Line since opening day in 1922 from a brick building 150 m to the north — is why central Hiroshima's tram network was able to restart so quickly after the atomic bombing on 6 August 1945: the substation, 15 km from the hypocentre, was largely undamaged and could re-energise the city tracks three days later. The original brick substation was demolished in 2009 after a new substation came online in March 2008.