History
Yanagigaura Station opened on 25 September 1897 as Nagasu (長洲駅), at the eastern terminus of the first-generation Bushū Railway's Yukuhashi–Nagasu line. It was renamed Usa (宇佐駅) on 1 March 1898, the line was nationalised in October 1907, and on 15 October 1909 the station took its present name Yanagigaura. The connecting line west to (today's) Usa Station opened on 21 December 1909. A spur serving the Usa Naval Air Group was opened in February 1944. The station building was rebuilt in 1962. Freight handling stopped on 1 February 1984; package handling on 1 November 1986. With JNR privatisation on 1 April 1987 the station passed to JR Kyushu. SUGOCA IC-card access was added on 1 December 2012, and a station-arrival jingle ("Welcome to Ōita") was attached on 1 July 2015. The station moved from JR Kyushu Service Support contract operation to direct JR Kyushu operation on 1 October 2023. A station-master post was set up on 1 April 2025 and abolished on 1 April 2026.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-06-09.
Notes
Yanagigaura was the eastern end of the original Bushū Railway alignment and was sung about in the Tetsudō Shōka (Railway Song) Second Collection (Sanyō/Kyushu edition) as the place where "the train stops at Usa" before turning back to Kokura — the station was the line's functional terminus through to the 1909 westward extension. Until the rebuilding of the Tateishi Pass it was also a base for Yanagigaura Engine Depot, with bank-engine coupling and train re-marshalling work for the 25 ‰ grade ahead.