HAMADERA KOEN STATION (SAKAI, OSAKA PREFECTURE)

Nostalgia has tourists flocking to station

Photos by Yomiuri Shimbun Photographer Kanji Tada

By Katsuo Kokaji

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Hamadera Koen Station on the Nankai Honsen line in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, is a fine example of the Western-style architecture that was so popular during the Meiji era (1868-1912).

The red-tiled roof with its triangular gables stands out in contrast against the white mortar walls. The framework of the building itself embellishes these walls with a rhythmic pattern, and the portico is supported by pillars that resemble sake bottles.

The wood-frame station, built in 1907 by Kingo Tatsuno, who also designed Tokyo Station, still has an elegant air--like a lady of quality.

A straight road covers the 100 meters from the station to Hamadera Park, which once was a popular bathing resort.

"In winter, the wind blows from the west. You got off the train, and the place was full of the smell of the ocean," recalled Kiyoshi Yanagawa, 76, who runs a liquor shop near the station.

He said he remembered hearing owls hoot as well as the wind rustling through the pine forest. It was a good residential district, he said, and in the park were traditional kaiseki ryori Japanese restaurants. The place prospered with throngs of beachgoers.

Most of the pine forest was cut down when the Allied Occupation forces took over the park after World War II. In 1962, the coast was reclaimed to develop waterfront industrial areas. The traditional smells and sounds vanished, and so did the beachgoers who once crowded the road from the station to the park.

But about 10 years ago, residents in the decaying area started to see a glimmer of hope as outsiders discovered the station and fell in love with its old-world look. Amateur photographers and painters came to immortalize it, and on their heels came legions of sightseeing buses.

"Swayed by the bursting of the economic bubble, perhaps it was time for people to take another look at vintage stuff," Yanagawa said. He said he had never considered the station anything special, but added "Now that people mention it, I can see that it's a picturesque piece of architecture."

Although the bathing beach has been filled in, Hamadera Park is still a resort. Instead of the beach, nine swimming pools--large and small--receive 124,000 visitors in July and August every year.

In addition to the pine forest, people can view cherry blossoms in spring, and in early summer and autumn, rose gardens containing 6,000 bushes of 230 species of rose come into bloom.