Tanoshiri Station

Tanoshiri Station [田之尻駅], next to the Ota River just outside Kake in rural Yamagata-gun, is about 40km from Hiroshima. The station closed back in December 2003 when the line between Kabe and Sandankyo Gorge was shut down. It caught my eye on a bike trip as I embarked upon the steep 4km climb up to the Ini-no-tanada rice terraces.

Tanoshiri Station is just across the river from the main Route 191 that runs to Kake and on to Hamada, at the start to the winding Route 303.

The station signs are gone, as are the tracks, but the shelter under which passengers used to wait and the last timetable are still there.

A small community lives around the station, who perhaps are responsible for keep the place tidy, and tidy it is, with cropped grass and bright flowers. When a gentleman who emerged from a house right next to the platform noticed me taking photos, he gave me a friendly smile and offered to take my photo.

Across the road, barely wide enough for a standard family-sized car is one of the old train lines many disused tunnels, with a small shrine set up by its side.