Former JNR Yatake Station Stationmaster's Residence

A Stationmaster's House at the Top of the Line

The Former JNR Yatake Station Stationmaster's Residence (旧国鉄矢岳駅駅長官舎) is a railway staff house built in 1909 in Yatake-cho, Hitoyoshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture; its main house and its well were each registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2003.

It stands about 110 metres west of Yatake Station on the JR Hisatsu Line, high in the hills close to the Miyazaki border. Yatake sits on the steep mountain section of the Hisatsu Line known as the Yamasen, at about 536.9 metres above sea level, the highest station on that stretch.

The line from Hitoyoshi to Yoshimatsu was a hard-won piece of railway. Work stopped during the Russo-Japanese War, and the difficult ground around Okoba and Yatake took years to conquer before the section opened on 21 November 1909. Hitoyoshi City's heritage plan notes that its completion joined up a railway running the length of Japan, from Kushiro in the north to Kagoshima in the south. The staff house dates from that same year.

House and Well: Two Registrations, One Household

Two structures are registered: the single-storey timber main house, and the stone well dug on its east side. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the house one of the few Meiji-period railway staff houses still standing anywhere in Japan, and describes the well as a clear record of how life was lived at a stationmaster's house in a remote posting.

Having the dwelling and its water source survive together matters. On a mountain pass far from any town, how did a stationmaster and his family keep a household running? The house alone cannot answer that; the well fills in part of the picture.

Hitoyoshi City counts the residence as part of a wider set of railway heritage that tells the modern history of the Hitoyoshi-Kuma area, alongside the D51 170 steam locomotive preserved in the SL exhibition hall at Yatake Station and the line's tunnels and bridges.

How the House Is Used Today

In August 2019 a private operator renovated the main house and opened it as Hoshitake, a guesthouse let to one party at a time. Guests checked in at Hitoyoshi Station and rode the train up to Yatake.

The Hisatsu Line between Yatsushiro and Yoshimatsu, however, has not carried trains since it was damaged by heavy rain in July 2020. Its current operating status could not be confirmed from official sources. The property is not a visitor attraction, so view it from outside without entering the grounds.

Getting There

With the Hisatsu Line still suspended, Yatake Station cannot currently be reached by rail. The only way up is by car on mountain roads from central Hitoyoshi. According to Kumamoto Prefecture's tourism site, there is parking for 10 small cars at the station, which is listed as closed.

The roads are narrow and conditions change with the weather. Check road information and the status of facilities around the station before setting out.