title: Idakiso Station
text: # Idakiso Station
  
  Idakiso Station (伊太祈曽駅, Idakiso eki) is a passenger railway station in located in the city of Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway company Wakayama Electric Railway.
  
  ## Lines
  
  Idakiso Station is served by the Kishigawa Line, and is located 8.0 kilometers from the terminus of the line at Wakayama Station.
  
  ## Station layout
  
  The station consists of one island platform connected to the station building by a level crossing. The station is staffed.
  
  ## Adjacent stations
  
  | « | « | Service | » | » |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Kishigawa Line |||||
  | Kire | Kire | Local | Sandō | Sandō |
  
  ## History
  
  Idakiso Station opened on February 15, 1916 as Sandō Station (山東駅) . It was renamed Idakiso Station (伊太祁曽駅) on August 18, 1933 after the nearby Shinto shrine. When the Kishigawa Line's ownership was transferred from Nankai Electric Railway to Wakayama Electric Railway in 2006, the station name was changed to its current name. The only difference between the two is the writing of the third kanji; the pronunciation remains the same. Some of the station's older signage retain the old writing format.
  
  ### Stationmaster cat
  
  In January 2007, Kishi Station, the eastern terminus of the Kishigawa Line, named a stray calico cat named Tama as the stationmaster. The cat quickly became the face of the franchise and caused a surge of tourism to the railway line. In February 2012, another stray cat named Nitama (literally "Tama two") was named Tama's apprentice, and was installed as Idakiso Station's stationmaster. Following Tama's death in August 2015, Nitama was reassigned to Kishi Station. In January 2017, another stray cat named Yontama ("literally "Tama four") was named stationmaster at Idakiso Station.
  
  ## Passenger statistics
  
  Ridership per day :
  
  | Year | Ridership |
  | - | - |
  | 2011 | 623 |
  | 2012 | 618 |
  | 2013 | 656 |
  | 2014 | 653 |
  | 2015 | 872 |
  | 2016 | 825 |
  | 2017 | 808 |
  
  ## Surrounding Area
  
  * Wakayama Electric Railway Headquarters
  * Idakiso Depot
  * Itakiso Shrine
  