History
Setaka Station was opened on 1 April 1891 as Yabegawa Station by the private Kyushu Railway, on what was then the line's southern extension to Takase (today Tamana) in Fukuoka. The original "Yabegawa" name avoided confusion with nearby Takase Station. Nationalisation on 1 July 1907 transferred control to Japanese Government Railways, and the line was redesignated the Kagoshima Main Line on 21 November 1909. The station was renamed Setaka in 1941, became Setakamachi in April 1942, then returned to Setaka in April 1956 once Takase had been renamed Tamana. JR Kyushu inherited the station at the 1987 privatisation, and the present building dates from June 1979.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
The station's name was changed three times between 1941 and 1956 because passengers kept confusing it with nearby Takase Station — finally returning to "Setaka" only after Takase itself was renamed Tamana.