In May 2026, NOREN's founder Miki Matsushima went to see the fireflies in Akamura, a small village in Fukuoka Prefecture, and heard that the railway could no longer be kept running and the village's stations would disappear. NOREN was started to send travelers to the places people don't go. While there is still time.
32stations about to disappearHeisei Chikuho Railway, Fukuoka. The date is still under discussion.
53stations gone since 2006
17stations with no trains since the July 2020 floods
2026
53 gone
Tap a station or a warm light for details
Bus routes: based on National Land Numerical Information (bus route data, FY2022, MLIT), processed by NOREN. Dates and what replaced each route are from the notices of the operators and local governments.
2007–2008Takachiho Railway, Nobeoka – Takachiho (Miyazaki)19 stations. Damaged by the 2005 typhoon, the line never reopened. JR Nobeoka Station remains.
2023JR Hitahikosan Line, Soeda – Yoake (Fukuoka, Oita)8 stations. Cut by the 2017 floods, the line never came back as a railway.
Since 2020JR Hisatsu Line, Yatsushiro – Yoshimatsu (Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Kagoshima)17 stations. No trains since the July 2020 floods. Between Yatsushiro and Hitoyoshi, it has been agreed to restore the railway.
The towns along these lines
Population in 1960 and 2020 of the towns whose stations have gone or are about to go. Most towns have shrunk; some have grown.
1960 → 2020
Kuma † Kumamoto
11,953 → 2,433
-79.6%
Hinokage Miyazaki
15,711 → 3,635
-76.9%
Toho * Fukuoka
6,352 → 1,899
-70.1%
Soeda Fukuoka
25,170 → 8,801
Places you can visit with NOREN
The warm lights on the map are experiences you can book on NOREN today, hosted by local people. Your booking reaches the people who live in that place.
There are no experiences yet in the towns losing their stations. We are adding them one at a time.
“Gone” means the station ceased to be a passenger railway station between 2006 and 2026. The 53 include Nobeoka Station on the Takachiho Railway (JR Nobeoka Station remains). For the 8 stations on the JR Hitahikosan Line, the year shown is August 2023, when they ended their role as railway stations (the formal end of the railway business is reported to be planned for March 2027). Positions follow the National Land Numerical Information data (about 1:25,000) and are not exact. Sagara-Toshima on the Kuma River Railway (moved in September 2026) is not shown, because no public position data exists yet.
Sources (original Japanese titles):
「国土数値情報（鉄道データ）2025年版」（国土交通省）（https://nlftp.mlit.go.jp/ksj/gml/datalist/KsjTmplt-N02-2025.html）（2026年9月28日取得）をもとにNOREN作成（CC BY 4.0）
NextHeisei Chikuho Railway: Ita, Itoda and Tagawa lines (Fukuoka)32 stations will disappear, including Akamura's four. The date is still under discussion. Nogata, Tagawa-Ita, Tagawa-Gotoji and Yukuhashi remain as JR stations.
-65.0%
Kotake Fukuoka
18,877 → 7,151
-62.1%
Takachiho * Miyazaki
27,052 → 11,642
-57.0%
Ashikita * Kumamoto
35,777 → 15,681
-56.2%
Ebino * Miyazaki
37,508 → 17,638
-53.0%
Tagawa Fukuoka
95,911 → 46,203
-51.8%
Minamishimabara * Nagasaki
79,549 → 42,330
-46.8%
Fukuchi * Fukuoka
39,501 → 21,398
-45.8%
Kawara Fukuoka
18,115 → 10,191
-43.7%
Akamura Fukuoka
4,810 → 2,774
-42.3%
Hita * Oita
98,651 → 62,657
-36.5%
Hitoyoshi Kumamoto
47,259 → 31,108
-34.2%
Itoda Fukuoka
12,398 → 8,407
-32.2%
Miyako * Fukuoka
27,147 → 18,825
-30.7%
Shimabara * Nagasaki
58,693 → 43,338
-26.2%
Yatsushiro * Kumamoto
164,685 → 123,067
-25.3%
Nobeoka * Miyazaki
151,800 → 118,394
-22.0%
Nogata Fukuoka
62,179 → 56,212
-9.6%
Yukuhashi Fukuoka
47,188 → 71,426
+51.4%
Fukutsu * Fukuoka
23,611 → 67,033
+183.9%
Koga Fukuoka
18,877 → 58,786
+211.4%
† Kuma Village's 2020 figure reflects the July 2020 floods, about three months before the census.
* Towns that merged after 1960: the 1960 figure is the total of the former municipalities.