History
Masaki Station opened on 11 May 1911 as an additional station on what was then the Japanese Government Railways' Hitoyoshi Main Line. On 17 October 1927, the stretch between Yoshimatsu and Hayato (including Masaki) was separated from the main line and redesignated as the Hisatsu Line, in conjunction with the opening of the Sendai Main Line. On 22 August 1945, a derailment in a tunnel between Masaki and Yoshimatsu killed 53 people. Freight handling was discontinued in 1974 and baggage handling in 1984, with the station becoming unattended in 1986. With the breakup and privatisation of JNR on 1 April 1987, Masaki passed to JR Kyushu.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
Masaki is the only Hisatsu Line station in Miyazaki Prefecture and was the first railway station built in the prefecture. It sits on a steep section of the line in an inverted Z-shaped switchback, which historically required every train — including limited expresses — to stop because passing was impossible. The original station building still stands. A "Bell of Happiness" stands in the middle of the platform, and during volunteer hours locals lay out a station notebook and sell commemorative admission tickets and refreshments. On 6 July 1972 a landslide caused by torrential rain destroyed the inside of the station and the surrounding hamlet, killing four people and washing away 28 homes and 29 other buildings; while the tracks and station were rebuilt, the displaced households were relocated, leaving the area around the station almost uninhabited.