Kobanchaya

Weekday departures: 51/day · Sat & holiday departures: 51/day

First / last departure (weekday): 5:35 / 24:17 (00:17 next day)

Busiest hour: 19:00–20:00 (5)

0:00 ─ 23:00

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

Timetable data as of 2 May 2026.

• Kagoshima Main Line: Kumanojo ⇄ Kushikino

Kobanchaya Station was opened on 1 June 1914 by the Railway Bureau on the Sendai Line, when service began between Sendaimachi (now Sendai) and Kushikino. On 17 October 1927 the line was renamed the Kagoshima Main Line on completion of the coastal route. Freight operations ended on 1 April 1961, and baggage handling and staffing both ceased on 21 August 1970. The current steel-framed station building was rebuilt in March 1978 to replace the original wooden building. The station passed to JR Kyushu on 1 April 1987 at privatisation. SUGOCA card service began on 1 December 2012, although only a simple gate is installed and no top-up or ticket vending machines are provided.

The station name preserves a pre-modern hospitality landmark: the area was known as "Kobahara" because slash-and-burn agriculture was once common there, and a teahouse formally called the "Oyashiki", which drew on the district's good water, became popularly known as the "Kobanchaya" — a name that passed first to the whole neighbourhood and then, at the station's opening, to the station itself.