Former Matsushiro Station Building
It was recently reported that Nagano City has decided to demolish the former Matsushiro Station Building. (Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, April 26, 2025)
After the Yashiro Line of Nagano Dentestu was discontinued in 2012, the building and grounds were transferred to the local governments (Nagano City, Suzaka City, and Chikuma City) free of charge.
Matsushiro Station is now owned by Nagano City and has been used as a waiting area for buses and taxies and as a tourist information center.
In 2021, a local review committee concluded that it supported the demolition of the station building, and Nagano City has now decided to demolish it. The demolition is scheduled to take place within this fiscal year.
A sign for a taxi stand hangs under the eaves of the building.
The sign on the left pillar is for the Matsushiro Tourist Information Corner, which was until March 31, 2025.
Next to the entrance is a sign that reads, “Evacuate outside in case of earthquake". The lack of earthquake-proofing measures was one of the reasons why the local community agreed to demolish the building.
This is the inside of the waiting room. On the walls, tourist information about Matsushiro is posted.
Let’s take a look at the history of the discontinued Yashiro Line.
Although the line has been called the Yashiro Line in recent years, it was originally constructed by Kato Railway Co.
In June 1922, the railroad line between Yashiro and Suzaka was opened by Kato Railway Co. Matsushiro Station was one of the stations on that line.
In March 1923, the Suzaka-Shinshunakano line also opened. Furthermore, in 1925, the line was extended to Kijima Station (Kijima, Iiyama City), and the entire line between Yashiro and Kijima was completed.
In 1926, Kato Railway merged with Nagano Denki Testudo (means: Nagano Electric Railway) and changed its name to Nagano Dentestu (means : Nagano Electric Railway).
Since then, the line was operated under the name Nagano Dentetsu Kato Line.
However, after the car-oriented society was introduced, the management of the line deteriorated, and its closure came under consideration.
First, the line between Suzaka and Kijima was discontinued on April 1, 2002. The remaining line between Suzaka and Yashiro was renamed the Yashiro Line.
Then, on April 1, 2012, the Yashiro Line was also discontinued.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Nagano Dentetsu offered to transfer the site to the local municipality free of charge, and after the line was discontinued, it became the property of the municipality.
A bicycle-pedestrian path was planned for use after the line was closed, but it has only been partially completed.
(Data as of 2023, but the completion status of the Yashiro Line site is 2.8 km out of 3.9 km in Suzaka City, 6.5 km out of 16.3 km in Nagano City, and 0.5 km out of 4.2 km in Chikuma City.)
This photo was taken on the platform side of Matsushiro Station from a short distance away.
At Matsushiro Station, the site where the tracks were removed is used as a parking lot. Although it was during Golden Week, there were not many cars.
A view of the platform.
Entering the waiting room again to see the explanatory panel.
This panel was already posted at the time of the event to consider preserving the station building in 2019.
(I don’t know if it was created for the event or before that.)
One of the panels included a photo of Matsushiro station when it opened (1922), which I reproduce here.
It was a station building with more prominent white walls than it looks today.
According to the explanation, the iron roofing was done in different ways for the main roof, the ground floor roof, and the window eaves. It is hard to tell from this photo.
(PS: The way the steel plates on the main roof are attached differs between when the building was completed and now.)
In front of the station building, a monument of the children’s song “Kisha Poppo” (means: choo-choo train) was erected. The monument was apparently erected because the composer, Shin Kusakawa, was born in Matsushiro.
I have just learned that this song was originally published in 1937 as “Soldier’s Train". The lyrics were intended to send off soldiers on their way to war, but after the war ended, the lyrics were changed to fit the times.
(I thought I had never heard of this song before, but after searching for the lyrics, I think I have heard it somewhere before.)
The side of the station building. When I think of Matsushiro station, I remember this place seen from the road, because I was not a station user but only saw the station building when I drove by.
I wonder how long this scenery will remain.
Nagano City has decided to demolish the building, but the use of the site is still undecided. Since the parking lot of the Matsushiro station is next to the Matsushiro castle site, it is likely that the project will be implemented as part of the development of the area around the Matsushiro castle site.