Kibana Station

Kibana Station (木花駅) is a passenger railway station located in the city of Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by JR Kyushu and is on the Nichinan Line.

Lines
Kibana Station is served by the Nichinan Line and is located 7.5 km from the starting point of the line at Minami-Miyazaki.

Layout
The station, which is unstaffed, consists of an unnumbered island platform serving two tracks at grade set in a largely residential area. The station building is located on the east side of the tracks and is a timber building decorated with triangular gables and stained glass. It is unstaffed and serves only as a waiting room. A level crossing leads to the island platform where an automatic ticket vending machine is located. A separate station entrance on the west side has also been constructed which includes a bike shed and a station forecourt with a bus stop and a traffic roundabout. From there a level crossing leads to the island platform.

History
The private Miyazaki Light Railway (宮崎軽便鉄道) (later renamed the Miyazaki Railway) opened the station on 31 October 1913 as an intermediate station on a line it had laid between Minami-Miyazaki and Uchiumi (now closed). The station closed when the Miyazaki Railway ceased operations on 1 July 1962. Subsequently, Japanese National Railways (JNR) extended its then Shibushi Line north from Kitagō towards Minami-Miyazaki on the same route and reopened Minamikata as an intermediate station on 8 May 1963. With the privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR Kyushu.

Passenger statistics
In fiscal 2016, the station was used by an average of 353 passengers daily (boarding passengers only), and it ranked 287th among the busiest stations of JR Kyushu.

Surrounding area

 * University of Miyazaki
 * Kizakihama Beach (famous surfing spot)
 * Miyazaki City Konohana Elementary School