Higashi-Beppu

History

Higashi-Beppu Station opened on 1 November 1911 as Hamawaki, an intermediate stop on the Hōshū Main Line's southward extension from Beppu to the new terminus at Ōita. The route had been built up by Kyushu Railway and nationalised in 1907, with Japanese Government Railways extending it in phases. The line was renamed the Nippō Main Line on 15 December 1923, and the station was renamed Higashi-Beppu on 15 April 1934. Freight handling ended on 10 June 1945 and parcel handling on 1 February 1984. JR Kyushu took over at the 1 April 1987 privatisation. On 5 February 2003 the original Meiji-period timber station building was designated as a tangible cultural property by Beppu City. SUGOCA IC service began on 1 December 2012. The ticket office closed on 11 March 2022 and the station became unstaffed the next day.

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

The 1911 timber station building still stands and was protected as a Beppu City tangible cultural property in 2003, then carefully restored in 2004 — making Higashi-Beppu one of the few stations on the Nippō Main Line whose original Meiji-era ekisha was rescued from demolition.