Hachinohe Station - History

History

Hachinohe Station began operation as Shiriuchi Station (尻内駅?) on the Nippon Railway on September 1, 1891. Initially, construction of a railroad close to the coast was opposed by the Imperial Japanese Army for defensive purposes, so the station was constructed at a considerable distance inland from the town center. The Hachinohe Line began operations on January 4, 1894 from Hachinohe Station. The Nippon Railway was nationalized on November 1, 1906, and Shiriuchi Station became a station on the Japanese Government Railways (JGR), which became the Japan National Railways (JNR) after World War II. From 1929-1969, the now-defunct Nanbu Railways also had its terminus at Shiriuchi Station. On April 1, 1971, Shiriuchi Station changed its name to Hachinohe Station. The station previously named Hachinohe Station was renamed Hon-Hachinohe Station. Freight operations were transfer to the Hachinohe Freight Terminal later that year, and were discontinued completely from 1986. With the privatization of the JNR on April 1, 1987, the station came under the operational control of JR East. A new station building was opened on July 1, 2002, and Tōhoku Shinkansen services began operation from December 12, 2002, with operations of the Tōhoku Main Line from Hachinohe to the border of Iwate Prefecture transferred to the new Aoimori Railway. Following the opening of the Tōhoku Shinkansen extension to Shin-Aomori on December 4, 2010, all Tōhoku Main Line local services through the station were transferred to the Aoimori Railway.