Wakasa Railway Abe Station Building

The Station With Two Front Doors

Wakasa Railway Abe Station Building (若桜鉄道安部駅本屋, Abe-eki) is a single-storey timber station building in Kusakabe, Yazu Town, Tottori Prefecture, built in 1932 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 8 July 2008.

Abe Station opened in February 1932, about two years after the rest of the Wakasa Line, 2.55 kilometres west of Hattō Station. According to the railway, the name is said to combine one character each from the neighbouring settlements of Yasuijuku and Kusakabe.

The building measures 13 metres by 4.5 metres, with a floor area of 61 square metres, under a gabled sheet-metal roof with a canopy thrust out toward the track.

Why It Was Registered

The registration cites its contribution to the historic landscape, and two details make Wakasa Railway Abe Station Building stand out. The first is its entrances. At the northwest corner there are two doors, one in the gable end and one in the long side. The Agency for Cultural Affairs explains them as a courtesy to residents of the two villages the station served. Together with the name, they show a station that came into being at local request.

The second is the block instrument room projecting on the platform side. On a single-track line only one train may occupy a section at a time, and stations exchange permission to proceed. This is where that was handled, a relic of the days of manually worked signalling. The Wakasa Line used a ticket-based block system until 2003.

What to Look For

From the forecourt, look at the northwest corner: doors on both faces, so whichever village you came from, the way in was straight ahead. It is a small courtesy built into the corner of a small building.

On the platform side you can pick out the bay of the block instrument room. The platform itself lies a little to the south, with a glazed waiting shelter, and is registered separately. Building and platform make one scene together, and according to the railway the station has appeared in the Tora-san film series, Otoko wa Tsurai yo.

Visiting

This is a working station building, and the waiting room is open as it would be to any passenger. Staff areas and the track are off limits. Reach the platform by the station path, never by crossing the rails.

Take photographs without getting in the way of passengers or trains. Travel to the station and tickets are covered on the Wakasa Railway page.