The 68.5-kilometer section of the JR Geibi Line running through the Chugoku Mountains between Bingo-Shobara Station in Shobara, Hiroshima Prefecture, and Bitchu-Kojiro Station in Niimi, Okayama Prefecture, is one of the least used railway routes in Japan.
Amid acute depopulation and the widespread use of cars as means of transportation, discussions are underway over whether to maintain or abolish the section.
While the number of passengers has continued to decline, the Geibi Line has served as a lifeline for some residents. It is also helping to draw visitors from outside the region and invigorate the local economy.
Residents who continue to ride on the Geibi Line are voicing their hopes for its survival.
One evening in mid-December, the central Saijo area in Shobara was quiet, with no one in sight on the street. In the darkness, silence reigned over the town surrounded by mountains — until the sound of a live band performance began to resonate from the Geibi Line's Bingo-Saijo Station.
The venue for the music event was a space inside the station called Ekinaka, which houses the town's tourism association office. Around 20 residents who like music gathered for the event and enjoyed a live performance with food and drink.
A band of four students from the local Saijo Shisui High School kicked off the evening. When their vocalist began to sing, the audience erupted into applause. "I was super nervous, but everyone gave us good vibes," band member Nanami Yamamitsu,16, said, reflecting on her interaction with the residents.
The event, organized by the town’s tourism association and Masayoshi Hasegawa, one of the performers, was the fifth of its kind, with the first held last summer. Hasegawa, 50, who was born and raised in Saijo, sees the station as a “lighthouse” of the town. “It’s like a landmark for those who have moved to the big cities when they come back to their hometown,” he said.
Depopulation woes
The population in the former town of Saijo was about 4,700 in 2005, when it merged with five other towns and a city in its vicinity to form the present-day city of Shobara. By the end of November 2024, the population in the Saijo district had dropped to about 2,800.
"When the lighthouse is dim, people who come home will feel lonely,” Hasegawa said. “We want the station to stay lively." He noted his plans for a sixth event in the spring.
The tourism association, which the city of Shobara entrusts with managing the station, also rents station space to local residents for activities such as a soba noodle shop and flower arrangement workshops. Yuko Okazaki, the association’s manager, supports such community initiatives.
To foster people’s interest in the Geibi Line, Okazaki herself has been holding pop-up “train cafe” events since last fall. Featuring hands-on model train experiences, the events attract local children and railway fans from Hiroshima Prefecture and elsewhere.
“The stations on the Geibi Line aren’t just transit points like those in the cities — they’re venues for exchanges among residents and tourists,” Okazaki said. In addition to managing station operations such as ticket sales, Okazaki takes photos of the first train of the day almost every morning and shares them on social media, aiming to boost engagement.
The number of daily train services that go through Bingo-Saijo Station is four for inbound travel and five for outbound. The number has dropped by half from that in 1987 when Japan Railways Group was established through the privatization of Japan National Railways.
Increasing the number of train users is challenging, as residents have voiced their frustration over inconvenient services, saying they could not use the trains even if they wanted to. On the other hand, some residents come to buy round-trip tickets from Tokyo when their children visit to contribute to increasing the station's revenue, according to Okazaki.
As a result, sales are increasing little by little, Okazaki said, adding that she hopes such such moves by residents will help preserve the Geibi Line.
‘Secluded station’
One of the Geibi Line’s stations in highly remote areas is Uchina Station, standing on a hill surrounded by mountains in the Tojo area of Shobara. Called a “secluded station,” very few people use it, but for 83-year-old resident Hifumi Ueda, it remains essential.
Without a driver's license, Ueda relies on a community taxi for trips to central Tojo on Tuesdays and Fridays. After spending time grocery shopping or meeting friends in town, she takes the 1:35 p.m. train from Tojo Station to Uchina Station to go home.
While the fixed one-way taxi fare for the trip is ¥1,350, a train ride costs her only ¥240. Living on a pension, Ueda prefers the train for its affordability, but limited services make it difficult to use.
On the section she uses, there are only three daily services in each direction. The morning train reaches Tojo Station at 7:30 a.m. — too early for stores to open — leaving her with little choice but to use a taxi, instead. “If the timetable were more convenient, I could use the train both ways,” she said.
The section between Bingo-Ochiai Station and Tojo Station, on which Uchina Station is included, is one of the least utilized railroads in Japan. The transportation density, or the average daily number of passengers per kilometer, on the section was only 20 in the year ended in March 2024, the lowest among train routes operated by West Japan Railway.
There are only 10 houses around Uchina Station. Amid the accelerating depopulation, just three of them have someone living in them. Yet Ueda takes time every day to clean the station.
“For old residents with limited means of transportation, the Geibi Line is needed,” Ueda said, expressing her hopes for the railway’s survival. “We have to take good care of the station.”
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