Tateno (Kumamoto)

History

Tateno opened on 11 November 1916 as the eastern terminus of the Miyaji Light Rail Line, which JGR was extending east from Kumamoto. It became a through-station on 25 January 1918 when the track was pushed on to Miyaji, and on 2 December 1928 the Kumamoto - Ōita route was incorporated into the Hōhi Main Line; the Tateno - Takamori branch was separated as the Takamori Line the same day. The Takamori Line was transferred to the third-sector Minami-Aso Railway on 1 April 1986, and Tateno passed to JR Kyushu at JNR privatisation on 1 April 1987. The April 2016 Kumamoto earthquake closed the station; JR services resumed on 8 August 2020 and Minami-Aso through-services on 15 July 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

To climb the 190-metre altitude gap to the next station at Akamizu, JR trains leaving Tateno perform a three-stage switchback - reversing twice on dedicated tracks outside the station - one of only three JR Kyushu locations ever to have used the technique.