A little of each town’s story

Shimonada Station

From: A seaside station and slow time in Futami

A platform with only a roof and a bench, and the sea and sky

An unstaffed station on the JR Yosan Line, number S09. It opened on June 9, 1935, and the wooden station building dates from that time. Until 1981, when National Route 378 was built on reclaimed land on the seaward side, waves lapped right below the platform and it was called the closest station to the sea in Japan. It has appeared three times on posters for the Seishun 18 rail pass and was a location for the 1977 film Tora-san Meets His Lordship. The station parking lot is for drop-offs only; visitors are asked not to use it.

Okubo, Futami-cho, Iyo, Ehime

Sources: jr-shikoku.co.jp tabi-mag.jp ja.wikipedia.org

This moment in the journey

The station with a view of the sea

I walked to Shimonada Station, famous as the station with a view of the sea. The waiting room walls were covered with photographs of sunsets and the platform, and the sea glittered through the window beside the timetable.

Out on the platform, all you can see is the sky and the sea. Flowers grown by the locals were blooming beautifully along a platform that has nothing but a roof and a bench.

Opened in 1935, the station was once called the closest station to the sea in Japan, until 1981, when National Route 378 was built on reclaimed land on the seaward side. In the old days, the sea was right under this platform. As I sat on the bench looking out at the water, a single car wrapped in flowers rolled slowly into the station.

Watch this scene on YouTube1:01

Read this scene in the full journey