About the Chugoku Region
The Chugoku region lies in western Honshu and consists of five prefectures: Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi.
The Seto Inland Sea side is commonly called San'yo, and the Sea of Japan side San'in. On the San'yo side, where the Shinkansen runs, the populous cities are concentrated, while on the San'in side the railway ties together coastal and mountain towns.
Visitors come to cities such as Hiroshima and Okayama, to historic towns, to islands and to hot spring areas. So which stations in Chugoku see the most passengers? You can also look up the rank of a station you know.
This page draws on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), National Land Numerical Information (Station Passenger Data) (国土数値情報（駅別乗降客数）) to present the Chugoku rankings for 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024.
TOP50 Stations in the Chugoku Region by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
Select Chugoku on the map of Japan to display the TOP50 for the whole region.
For prefectural rankings, choose the button for Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima or Yamaguchi. You can also pick any of the four years.
Stations that share a name but differ in railway operator or line are listed as separate entries.
What the Ranking Shows
Hiroshima (広島) on the West Japan Railway Company (JR West, 西日本旅客鉄道) San'yo Main Line (山陽線) had the most daily passenger entries and exits in Chugoku in all four years.
The daily figures were 154,084 in 2019, 104,866 in 2021, 126,430 in 2023 and 150,070 in 2024. They fell in 2021 and recovered in 2023 and 2024, but the 2024 figure has not returned to the 2019 level.
Among the 53 stations that were in the Chugoku TOP50 in 2019 or 2024 and have figures for both years, Rakurakuen recorded the largest rise in rank (楽々園) on the Hiroshima Electric Railway (Hiroden, 広島電鉄) Miyajima Line (宮島線), which went from 66th to 49th, up 17 places. Its daily passenger entries and exits were 7,038 in 2019 and 7,542 in 2024.
Your own country may have railways that join seaside cities to mountain towns. Compare those with the lines of Chugoku as you read the ranking.
Chugoku's Stations on a Map
Use the station passenger map to locate any station that catches your eye in the ranking.
Look at how stations are distributed on the San'yo and San'in sides, and find stations in areas far from the cities.
Explore Japan and the Other Regions
The national edition lets you search for a station by name to find its national rank. Compare the other regional articles to see how the leading stations and the scale of passenger numbers differ.
- Japan Station Ranking by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
- Kinki Region Station Ranking by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
- Shikoku Region Station Ranking by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
Methodology and Notes
Each row in the ranking is a combination of station name, railway operator and line. Stations with the same name are not combined when the operator or line differs.
Ranks are calculated only for stations that have a positive passenger count recorded in the given year. The number of eligible Chugoku stations was 731 in 2019, 731 in 2021, 730 in 2023 and 727 in 2024.
The 2023 data includes 5 stations recorded as 0 passengers. These are excluded from the ranking. Because the number of eligible stations varies by year, keep this in mind when comparing ranks across years.
Stations with identical passenger counts share the same rank, and the next rank is skipped.
Source
Visible World by Data processed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), National Land Numerical Information (Station Passenger Data) (国土数値情報（駅別乗降客数）) for use in these rankings.
The figures shown are based on the data published for each year. For current train operations and station status, please check the information provided by each railway operator.
—