Tanakura Station (棚倉駅)
Tanakura Station, located in Satoyashiki, Hirao, Yamashiro-cho, Kizu City in Kyoto Prefecture, is a stop on the Nara Line of West Japan Railway Company (JR West).
Station layout
It is an above-ground station with two platforms opposite each other and double tracks, at which trains can pass each other or pass others. The platform nearer the main structure is for Platform 2 (outbound) and the opposite one across a passenger overpass is Platform 1 (inbound). The station structure is of wooden construction on the smaller side, and the ticket gates are of the simplified type. Windows are manned only during certain hours of the day, usually from a little before noon till evening.
Both the ICOCA and J-Thru cards can be used as well as the PiTaPa (Surutto KANSAI Association) cards, which are subject ｔｏ mutual use with ICOCA cards. However, as ticket gates are of the simplified type, more than one J-Thru Card can't be processed.
Rapid trains bound for Kyoto currently make operational stops (no passengers alighting/boarding) at this station to standby in order for the train approaching from the opposite direction to pass by.
Usage status
The number of passengers boarding at this station came to approximately 562 per day in fiscal year 2006.
（Source: Kyoto Prefecture Statistical Report)
Station surroundings
Wakideno-miya Shrine
Kaniman-ji Temple
The Ecchudani residential area was developed in the 1980s.
The Fudo-gawa River (or the Ceiling River) is well known, as the torrential rainfall of 1953 in the southern part of Kyoto Prefecture caused a partial collapse of its banks and serious inundation of its environs.
Tanakura Nursery Site: Site of a nursery managed and based on a disposed Kyoto City tram reminiscent of "Totto-chan: The Little Girl by the Window." It is now the grounds of the aforementioned Wakideno-miya Shrine.
Oinari-san: A cluster of ancient tombs of the era of the Yamato Dynasty represented by the Tsubai-Otsukayama Tomb can be found around this station. The Inariyama Tomb and Tsubai-Otsukayama Tomb, discovered during construction of the Nara Line, are renowned. A mirror with triangular rims and designs of divinities and animals presented from China to Himiko, of the Yamatai Kingdom, was excavated from the Tsubai-Otsukayama Tomb (among others), and the area is sort of a region of relics that has caused a stir regarding legends concerning the Yamatai Kingdom and Himiko. A distance of 3 km from the station.
Kizugawa Municipal Yamashiro Library
Tanakura Post Office
History
March 13, 1896: The station was inaugurated when the newly extended section of Nara Railway between Tamamizu and Kizu became operational.
Soil purchased from a neighboring landlord at time of the station building's establishment was used to lay tracks toward Kamikoma. In honor of the merchant family 'Nakano,' which contributed a great deal at the time, the station building was constructed in front of the Nakano residence. It is a historical fact among the locals who really know. Tanakura Station is the only station on the Nara Line located in front of an individual's private home.
February 7, 1905: The station became a Kansai Railway Company station as a result of amalgamation.
October 1, 1907: Kansai Railway Company was nationalized under the Railway Nationalization Act.
April 1, 1987: The station became a JR West station due to the split privatization of Japan National Railways. Work is currently under way for electrification and laying double tracks.
Neighboring stations
West Japan Railway Company (JR West)
■Nara Line
Miyakoji Rapid Service/Rapid Service
Nonstop (Occasional operational stops)
Regional Rapid Service/Local
Tamamizu Station - Tanakura Station - Kamikoma Station