History
Shingai Station began as Shinkai Signalbox on what is now the Dosan Line in Kami, Kōchi Prefecture, opening on 28 November 1935. It was converted from a signalbox to a passenger station on 1 June 1947. During the final months of the Pacific War the surrounding mountainous terrain was designated a fortified communications point in anticipation of a US invasion, and the Shikoku Military District Headquarters and other key installations were briefly relocated nearby. The hiragana reading of the name was changed from "Shinkai" to "Shingai" on 15 December 1956, with no change to the kanji. With the privatisation of JNR on 1 April 1987 it passed to JR Shikoku.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
Shingai is one of only two switchback-layout stations on Shikoku; trains stop in a siding on a 25-permille gradient, then reverse onto a second siding before resuming their original direction onto the main line.