History
Minami-Kumamoto opened on 21 June 1914 in Minami-Kumamoto 3-chōme, Chūō Ward, Kumamoto, as Harutake Station on the Railway Bureau's Miyaji Light Railway. The Mifune Railway (later Yūen Railway) reached the station on 6 April 1915, and on 2 December 1928 the line was renamed the Hōhi Main Line. The station took its present name on 1 May 1940. The Yūen Railway closed on 31 March 1964 and the city tram's Harutake Line on 1 May 1970. JR Kyushu took over with the JNR break-up on 1 April 1987, and SUGOCA contactless ticketing started on 1 December 2012. The wooden station building, completed in 1943, narrowly escaped destruction in the air raid of August 1945 and remains in service today. Operation was returned to direct JR Kyushu control on 1 October 2023.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
Wartime-era wooden station building survived the August 1945 Kumamoto air raid intact and is still in service today.