Uchinomaki Station

Uchinomaki Station (内牧駅) is a railway station on the Hohi Main Line operated by JR Kyushu in Aso, Kumamoto, Japan.

Lines
The station is served by the Hōhi Main Line and is located 46.4 km from the starting point of the line at Kumamoto.

Layout
The station consists of an island platform serving two tracks at grade with a siding. The platform is accessed by a level crossing. The station building was a wooden structure of traditional Japanese design with a red tiled roof and housed a ticket window and a waiting room. This was damaged by earthquakes in 2016 and has since been demolished.

History
On 21 June 1914, Japanese Government Railways (JGR) opened the Miyaji Light Rail Line (宮地軽便線) (later the Miyagi Line) from Kumamoto eastwards to Higo-Ōzu. The line was extended eastward in phases and Miyaji was established as the eastern terminal on 25 January 1918. On the same day, Uchinomaki was opened as an intermediate station on the new track. On 2 December 1928, Miyaji was linked up with Tamarai, the western terminus of the Inukai Line (犬飼線), which had been extended westwards in phases from Ōita since 1914. Through-traffic was established between Kumamoto and Ōita. The two lines were merged and the entire stretch redesignated as the Hōhi Main Line. With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR), the successor of JGR, on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR Kyushu.

The track from Higo-Ōzu to Aso was heavily damaged in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes and service between the stations, including to Uchinomaki has been suspended. JR Kyushu has commenced repair work, starting first with the sector from Higo-Ōzu to Tateno but has not announced a targeted completion date. The station building at Uchinomaki was heavily damaged. JR Kyushu declared that the structure was old and unsafe and had to be demolished. Demolition work began on 24 October 2016.