is a railway station in the town of

Yamanouchi, Nagano is a town located in Shimotakai District in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 12,403 in 5020 households, and a population density of 47 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Yamanouchi, located in th ...

, Japan, operated by the private railway operating company

Nagano Electric Railway The is a private railway based in Nagano, Japan. The company and its line are commonly referred to as . It originally operated three lines, but only the Nagano Line between Nagano — Suzaka — Shinshū-Nakano — Yudanaka remains ...

. Yudanaka Station is a gateway to seasonal mountain and outdoor activities, including

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

, and to

Jigokudani Monkey Park is located in Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the Joshinetsu Kogen National Park (locally known as Shigakogen), and is located in the valley of the Yokoyu-River, in the northern part of the prefecture. The name Jigokudani, ...

where

Japanese macaques The Japanese macaque (''Macaca fuscata''), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, they are referred to as "snow monkeys" because some live in areas where snow covers the gr ...

soak in an outdoor hot spring. Jigokudani hotspring in Nagano Japan 001

An indoor Japanese

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

named is located in the former station building, standing beside the current station. The former station building itself is registered as tangible cultural property. At the train's arrival, the song , composed by Akira Nishizawa,

Masao Koga was a Japanese composer, mandolinist, and guitarist of the Shōwa era who was dubbed "Japan's Irving Berlin" by Universal Press Syndicate. His melancholy style, based upon Nakayama Shimpei's '' yonanuki'' scale, was popularly known in Japan as ...

, and Atsuo Okamoto plays. On departure, a regular train bell rings.

Lines

Yudanaka Station is the terminus of the Nagano Electric Railway Nagano Line and is 33.2 kilometers from the opposing terminus of the line at

Nagano Station is a railway station in the city of Nagano in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The station is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the private railway operator Nagano Electric Railway (Nagaden). Lines Nagano Station is served by the f ...

. Yudanaka is 1.4 km from Kamijō Station, its nearest station on the local line, and 9.9 km from Shinshūnakano Station, its nearest station on the limited express.

Station layout

The station consists of one ground-level

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

serving a single dead-headed track. The station formerly had two opposed side platforms, but one side platform is no longer in use. The staffed station building includes a station office, waiting room, tourist information center, and automatic

ticket machine A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instance, ...

Adjacent stations

Buses

*Shirane Kazan bus stop is closed due to an eruption of Mount Kusatsu-Shirane. It is impossible to transfer onto any bus route at Shirane Kazan bus stop with suspension of Nagaden Bus bound for Shirane Kazan.

History

The station opened on 28 April 1927. Previously, there were plans to extend from Yudanaka a further 2 kilometers to . Two stations were built, two licenses were acquired, but the worked to lay the rails never commenced. Those licenses expired in 1931 and in 1958. In January 1937, a

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR) train arrived for the first time via Nagano Station, and in July of the same year a JNR trained arrived via

Yashiro Station is a railway station on the Shinano Railway Line in the city of Chikuma, Nagano, Japan, operated by the third-sector railway operating company Shinano Railway. Lines Yashiro Station is served by the Shinano Railway Line and is 59.9 kilometers ...

. In 1958, the current station building was completed. In 1971, freight operations ended. JNR operated the

Shiga is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Pr ...

train between Yudanaka and

Ueno Station is a major railway station in Tokyo's Taitō ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno district and Ueno Park—which contains Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo University of the Arts and other fam ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

using the

Shinetsu Line The Shinetsu Main Line ( ja, 信越本線, ) is a railway line, consisting of three geographically separated sections, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was originally one continuous line connecting and via . S ...

. This service to Yudanaka was discontinued in 1982. In preparation for the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

, there was an effort to rename the station ; however, this was withdrawn due to opposition from the Yudanaka Onsen Association. In 2004, the former station was registered as tangible cultural property. In 2006, the last mini switchback lines into the station were removed following repairs. Between 2010 and 2012, the station was operated by Hokushin Sightseeing Taxi (currently Nagaden Taxi).

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2016, the station was used by an average of 646 passengers daily (boarding passengers only).

Gallery

File:Nagano Yudanaka sta10n4272.jpg, Platform File:Nagano Yudanaka sta17n4272.jpg, Original station building

Surrounding area

*Yudanaka Onsen *Yamanouchi Town Hall *Yamanouchi Middle School *Yudanaka Post Office

References

External links

* {{Nagano Electric Railway Nagano Line Railway stations in Japan opened in 1927 Railway stations in Nagano Prefecture Nagano Electric Railway Yamanouchi, Nagano