Nakatsu (Oita · JR Kyushu)

Weekday departures: 127/day · Sat & holiday departures: 127/day

First / last departure (weekday): 5:08 / 24:29 (00:29 next day)

Busiest hour: 17:00–18:00 (9)

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 Nippo Line: Yoshitomi (Fukuoka) ⇄ Higashi-Nakatsu

Nakatsu Station opened on 25 September 1897 with the first-generation Hōshū Railway's extension between Yukuhashi and Yanagigaura. The line was acquired by the first-generation Kyushu Railway on 3 September 1901 and nationalised on 1 July 1907. The Yabakei Railway (later Ōita Kōtsū Yabakei Line) began running between Nakatsu and Hida (later Dōmon Station) on 26 December 1913. Work on elevating the station started in September 1971; freight handling ended on 1 November 1972, the up tracks were elevated on 17 April 1975, the Ōita Kōtsū Yabakei Line closed on 1 October 1975, and the present third-generation elevated station building was completed on 1 June 1977 at a cost of ¥5.45 billion. JR Kyushu took over at privatisation on 1 April 1987. Automatic ticket gates came into use from the first train on 4 February 2009; SUGOCA card use began at and north of Nakatsu on 1 March 2009 and was extended towards Ōita on 1 December 2012. A sub-stationmaster post was established on 1 April 2026.

The platform features the "longest hamo (pike conger) bench in Japan": a 10-metre bench made from a typhoon-felled tree, installed in 1994 to promote Nakatsu's famous hamo cuisine. A bronze statue of Fukuzawa Yukichi stands in front of the north exit, and in March 2024 a tile-mosaic artwork modelled on the ¥10,000 banknote was installed on the wall by the station's north exit.