History
Minabe Station opened on 21 September 1931 when Japanese Government Railways' Kisei-Nishi Line was extended from Inami. A further extension on 8 November 1932 took the line south to Kii-Tanabe, leaving Minabe as an intermediate stop. The line became part of the Kisei Main Line in July 1959. From the 1980 timetable revision the station has been a Kuroshio limited-express stop, with most stopping-type Kuroshio services calling. Freight ended in 1980 and parcel handling in 1985. JR West inherited the station at the 1987 privatisation; the staffed Midori-no-Madoguchi ticket office closed on 12 March 2021 and the station has been unstaffed throughout the day from the following day. ICOCA became usable on 17 December 2016.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Minabe is a regular Kuroshio limited-express stop and gains extra plum-blossom-season express stops during the local ume orchards' peak bloom.