City history
From the 1601 castle and the Kitamae-bune-era 'Osaka of San'in' to the birthplace of the San'in railway and the 2023 new Yonago Station and Gaina Road — how Yonago became today's travel hub, layer by layer.
Timeline
Nakamura Kazutada completed Yonago Castle, and the castle town (jōkamachi) began to expand around it — the foundation of the modern city. The ruins still show those stone walls today.
Through maritime trade on the Kitamae-bune route and its role as a commercial hub, Yonago grew a strong merchant class and bustling business — earning the nickname 'Osaka of the San'in region.'
Under the modern municipalities system, the town of Yonago was established in 1889, setting the administrative base for the city's later growth.
In 1902, the San'in region's first railway opened between Sakai (today's Sakaiminato) and Mikuriya, and Yonago Station was established. Yonago became known as the 'birthplace of the San'in railway' and grew into a railway town.
In 1927, Yonago was raised to city status, formally becoming one of the central cities of western Tottori.
After the war, the Yonago Station area held a railway management bureau and an engine depot; many railway workers and families lived nearby, and the older station building long stood as a symbol of the 'railway town.'
On 29 July 2023, Yonago Station's new station building 'Shamine Yonago' opened, along with the north–south free passage 'Gaina Road.' About 140m long with an observation deck overlooking the station's roundhouse, it finally connected the two sides long divided by the tracks.
Themes that still shape the city
Unlike many neighboring cities, Yonago formed an active merchant class early. Kitamae-bune trade and commercial energy gave it an enterprising civic character — context that makes the old merchant-quarter texture on an old-town walk read more clearly.
As the starting point of the San'in railway, Yonago Station hosts a 'birthplace of the San'in railway' display — a monument of a steam locomotive axle and a carriage wheel, with a memorial stele recording this railway history.
Yonago Station's Sakai Line 'Platform 0,' set in the cut-out on the east side of Platform 1, is where the yokai trains depart for Sakaiminato and Mizuki Shigeru Road — tying Yonago's railway identity to Sakaiminato's yokai culture.
Castle town, merchant city, railway town — each layer of Yonago's history still lingers in its streets. See the landscape from the castle ruins first, then walk the old town and the station to connect the layers.
Source ledger
Commercial-grade travel content needs visible sources and dates. These are the sources used on this page.
Yonago City · official history
Yonago Tourist Guide · official tourism
JR-WEST · official railway
Japan National Tourism Organization · official tourism
JR Odekake Net · official railway
