History
Takenaka Station opened on 1 September 1916 as the new western terminus when Japanese Government Railways extended the Inukai Light Rail Line west from Naka-Handa. It became a through-station on 20 July 1917 when track was extended further west to Inukai. The line was redesignated the Hōhi Main Line on 2 December 1928 once track had been completed all the way through to Kumamoto. Freight handling ended in October 1962, and the station was destaffed on 30 November 1983 as CTC signalling was introduced on the line. JR Kyushu inherited the station at the 1987 privatisation. It is now an unstaffed two-track island-platform halt accessed by a level crossing.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
Japanese musician Minami Kōsetsu was raised at a Sōtō-Zen temple near the station, and his 1972 song "Hitorikiri" describes the area around it.