The is a railway line in

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

, Japan, operated by the third-sector operator . The line connects

Mino-Ōta Station is a railway station in the city of Minokamo, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and the third-sector railway operator Nagaragawa Railway. Lines Mino-Ōta Station is served by the JR Central Takaya ...

in Minokamo with Hokunō Station in Gujō. It is the only railway line operated by Nagaragawa Railway, and was originally operated by

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 pre ...

(JNR).

History

Under JNR ownership

The original goal of

(JNR) was to build a railway line to the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

northward through the

Nagara River The has its source in the city of Gujō, Gifu Prefecture, and its mouth in the city of Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Along with the Kiso River and Ibi River, the Nagara River is one of the Kiso Three Rivers of the Nōbi Plain. Previously, t ...

valley. However, due to the resource requirements of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

, this objective was never achieved and only was ever built. The first section to open was between Mino-Ōta and Minoshi on 5 October 1923. The JNR then proceeded to extend the line progressively northwards until it reached Hokunō in 1934. Although a ¼-mile section of track was laid beyond Hokunō, no further construction on the line was ever undertaken. Infill stations were constructed and opened, such as Yasaka, Fukuno, Akaike, Kamono and Sekiguchi in 1952. Manba, Tokunaga, Ōshima and Shirotori-kōgen stations opened in 1955. Suhara station opened in 1957. Freight services ceased in 1974. JNR planned to connect the Etsumi-Nan Line and

Etsumi-Hoku Line The , also called the , is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The line extends 52.5 km (32.6 mi) from Echizen-Hanandō Station in Fukui to Kuzuryūko Station in Ōno with a t ...

("Etsumi North Line"), but the plan was never realized. The line was listed for closure as one of the

Specified local lines The were the railway lines specified by Japanese National Railways (JNR) under the 1980 to be closed. All of 83 lines were closed and substituted by buses or transferred to other railway operators between 1983 and 1990. Selection Article 8 of ...

in 1984, but it was decided that the line be transferred to a third-sector company instead of being closed in 1986. The line was transferred to the Nagaragawa Railway on December 11 of that year.

Under Nagaragawa Railway ownership

Upon the transferring of the line to the Nagaragawa Railway, many stations were renamed or newly opened. *Maehira-Koen, Seki-Tomioka, Sekiterasu-mae, Seki-shimouchi, Konno, Shizenen-mae station were opened on December 11, 1986. *Kamono, Tomika, Seki, Yonoharaonsenguchi, Suhara, Hanno, Ōya, Fukuno, Minami-Kariyasu, Akaike, Aioi, Yamada, Gujyō-Yamato station were renamed to their current name on the same date.

Infill station An infill station (sometimes in-fill station) is a train station built on an existing passenger rail, rapid transit, or light rail line to address demand in a location between existing stations. Such stations take advantage of existing train ser ...

s continued to open, with Kami-mamba and Umeyama stations opening on 21 September 1987, Hakusan-nagataki station opening on 6 August 1988, Sekishiyakusho-mae and Matsumori opening on 1 April 1999, and Minami-kodakara-onsen station opening on 4 April 2002. Trolley cars ran from 1992 to 2003, when an accident occurred forcing the service to be abolished. Beginning in spring 2016, two of the line's Nagara 300 series diesel cars were rebuilt as the ''Nagara'' sightseeing train. The rebuilding work on the two cars was overseen Don Design Associates, headed by industrial designer

Eiji Mitooka is a Japanese industrial designer, illustrator, and managing director of the industrial design company . He also works as a design consultant for Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). Biography Mitooka graduated from Okayama Technical High Sch ...

. The picturesque line is now popular with visitors and tourists. Beginning in April 2016, a two-car sightseeing train , which was created by industrial designer

, runs weekly services between Mino-Ota and Hokunō. Passengers are served a selection of

bento A is a Japanese-style single-portion take-out or home-packed meal, often for lunch, typically including rice and packaged in a box with a lid (often a segmented box with different parts of the meal placed in different sections). Outside Japa ...

dishes created from locally-sourced seasonal ingredients from Gifu Prefecture.

Stations

All stations are located in

. Seki Station used to connect with before its closure.

References

External links