History
Kirishima-Onsen Station began on 11 July 1908 as Makizono Station, a freight-only station on the Kagoshima Main Line; passenger service was added on 10 July 1909. When a new coastal route was completed in 1927, the inland stretch was demoted to the Hisatsu Line on 17 October 1927. The station was renamed Kirishima-Nishiguchi on 15 January 1962, and freight ended later the same year. Baggage handling ended in 1984. The station became unstaffed on 1 November 1986 but kept staffing for ticket and gate operations until 1990, when it was fully unstaffed. JR Kyushu inherited it at the 1 April 1987 privatisation. The current name, Kirishima-Onsen, dates from 15 March 2003. From 2004 to 2010 it operated under simple consignment before reverting to fully unstaffed.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Notes
The station name has changed three times since 1908 — Makizono, then Kirishima-Nishiguchi (1962), then Kirishima-Onsen (2003) — yet each rename has reflected the same nearby Kirishima Onsen district.