Karatsu

Weekday departures: 39/day · Sat & holiday departures: 93/day

First / last departure (weekday): 4:44 / 24:39 (00:39 next day)

Busiest hour: 8:00–9:00 (3)

0:00 ─ 23:00

Figures are typical departures in the timetable data, not a live service count.

Timetable data as of 2 May 2026.

• JR Chikuhi Line: Watada
• JR Karatsu Line: Nishi-Karatsu ⇄ Onizuka

Karatsu Station opened on 1 December 1898 with the Karatsu Kogyo Railway's line to Yamamoto, which was extended to Kyūragi on 13 June 1899. The line was absorbed by the Kyushu Railway in February 1902 and then nationalised on 1 July 1907. In 1909 it was designated the Karatsu Line. The original ground-level station was rebuilt as an elevated structure on 9 October 1982 when the line was grade-separated, and on 22 March 1983 the Chikuhi Line was rerouted onto a new alignment through Karatsu, with the Midori no Madoguchi ticket office transferred here from Higashi-Karatsu; Karatsu became the terminus of the line's eastern section when the Chikuhi Line was split in two on 1 April 1987. SUGOCA service began on 13 March 2010 and the station was returned to direct JR Kyushu operation on 1 October 2023.

The figure-skating anime "Yuri!!! on Ice" used Karatsu Station as the model for the fictional Hasetsu Station that appears in the series.