History
Umenotsuji Station opened on 2 May 1904 — the day Tosa Electric Railway started Kōchi's streetcars — as the northern terminus of the Shioe Line (潮江線), one of the two original lines (Honmachi and Shioe). On 6 April 1906 the section north of here to Horizume opened, the Shioe Line was renamed Sanbashi Line, and this stop became intermediate. The original route to Horizume ran north over the Ushioe Bridge, then west along the Kagami River embankment, then north again — that loop was abandoned on 10 August 1928 when a new direct line from Harimaya-bashi south to Umenotsuji opened. The stop was relocated on 16 January 1943, and passed to Tosaden Kōtsū on 1 October 2014 with the operator merger. The two platforms straddle the intersection diagonally — Sanbashi-bound on the north, Kōchi-eki-bound on the south.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-25.
Notes
The crooked original route from here to Horizume — north, then west along the riverbank, then north again — was a relic of the days before the Ushioe-bashi bridge could carry both road traffic and trams; the bridge's northern approach forced the strange dogleg. The 1928 direct cut from Harimaya-bashi finally retired it.