History
Sakawa Station opened on 25 October 1924 as a new station between Tokano and Nishi-Sakawa on the then-Government Railways Kōchi Line (later the Dosan Line). Small-lot freight handling was discontinued in October 1970 and delivery services were re-started. A multi-purpose vending machine for short-distance tickets, express tickets, non-reserved limited-express tickets and platform tickets entered service on 6 October 1983. The station passed to JR Shikoku on 1 April 1987 at the JNR breakup. Around 1989 the single platform was expanded to two opposed platforms serving two tracks. From 1 March 1994 the station was unstaffed on weekends, and it was destaffed entirely on 29 December 2023.
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
All limited-express services on the Dosan Line — Shimanto, Ashizuri and the Nanpū — stop at Sakawa, with the sole exception of "Shikoku-Tosa Tokimeku Yoake Monogatari" (the joyful Tosa dawn-story tourist train). At Kōchi, the Ashizuri connects with the Nanpū inbound for Okayama, allowing through-running.