Mizuma Railway Mizuma Line

A licence to build the railway, applied for under the provisional name Mizuma Steam Railway Co., Ltd. and covering a route in Sennan District, was granted on 8 August 1923, and the Mizuma Railway Co., Ltd. was established on 17 April 1924 with capital of 400,000 yen. It was an entirely privately financed railway company, founded on contributions from local backers in Kaizuka, then a town prospering on the spinning and textile trades.

The line opened in stages. On 24 December 1925 the first section, from Kaizuka-Minami (貝塚南, later renamed Umizuka) to Nagose, was opened; a short freight branch between Nankai's Kaizuka Station and Kaizuka-Minami followed on 28 December 1925, beginning freight operations. The remaining section from Nagose to Mizuma — the present Mizuma Kannon — opened on 30 January 1926, completing the line through to the temple. Passenger service over the Kaizuka–Kaizuka-Minami stretch began on 20 January 1934. The terminal station building at Mizuma Kannon, in use since the 1926 completion, became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 1999.

In the post-war decades the line served residents of inland Kaizuka, carrying about 3.86 million passengers in fiscal 1970. Freight operations were discontinued in 1972, and automatic block signalling replaced tablet working in 1985. In 1990 the overhead voltage was raised from 600 V to 1,500 V DC, and the entire fleet was replaced with former Tokyu 7000 series electric cars, built between 1962 and 1966, which the company acquired from the Tokyu Corporation. Ten cars were taken on; from 2006 eight of them were progressively refurbished and renumbered as the 1000 series, which runs as four two-car sets, and the other two were withdrawn from regular service.

During the bubble economy of the 1980s the company expanded aggressively into real estate outside the area its line serves, at its peak turning over about two billion yen, but the property business slumped after the bubble burst and heavy borrowings strained the company. With passenger numbers also falling, the Mizuma Railway gave up on rebuilding by itself and collapsed into insolvency, applying on 30 April 2005 to the Osaka District Court for protection under the Corporate Reorganization Act.

On 30 June 2005 the restaurant chain Gourmet Kineya was chosen as the sponsoring company. Its chairman, Mukumoto (椋本彦之), had been evacuated to Kaizuka during the war and came forward to support the railway's reconstruction because of that connection. Reconstruction proceeded under Gourmet Kineya: on 6 April 2006 it acquired 100 percent of the shares, making the Mizuma Railway a wholly-owned subsidiary, and on 16 June 2006 the Osaka District Court ruled the reorganisation plan concluded. That completed the corporate-reorganisation process, and the firm was relaunched as a new company.

Under the new ownership the railway modernised its fare collection. It joined the Surutto KANSAI council in 2007 ahead of introducing IC cards, and on 1 June 2009 brought in the PiTaPa IC card, shifted the whole line to one-man operation, and renamed Mizuma Station as Mizuma Kannon Station; nationwide IC-card interoperability followed on 23 March 2013. Because Mizuma Kannon Station is the nearest station to Mizuma-dera, the company runs extended late-night services on New Year's Eve for hatsumōde worshippers, and formerly ran all-night services.

10 stations tracked on the map, listed alphabetically. Select any to read its page.

• Ishizai石才
• Kaizuka (Osaka)貝塚
• Kaizuka Shiyakusho-mae貝塚市役所前
• Koginosato近義の里
• Mikeyamaguchi三ヶ山口
• Mitsumatsu (Osaka)三ツ松
• Mizumakannon水間観音
• Mori (Osaka)森
• Nagose名越
• Sechigo清児

• 19238 August: a licence to build a railway in Sennan District, applied for under the provisional name Mizuma Steam Railway Co., Ltd., is granted.
• 192417 April: the Mizuma Railway Co., Ltd. is established with capital of 400,000 yen, financed by contributions from local backers in Kaizuka, then prospering on spinning and textiles.
• 192524 December: the first section, Kaizuka-Minami (later Umizuka) to Nagose, opens; a freight branch from Nankai's Kaizuka to Kaizuka-Minami follows on 28 December, beginning freight operations.
• 192630 January: the Nagose–Mizuma (now Mizuma Kannon) section opens, completing the line through to Mizuma-dera.
• 193420 January: passenger service begins on the Kaizuka–Kaizuka-Minami section.
• 1972Freight operations on the line are discontinued.
• 1985Automatic block signalling replaces tablet working on the line.
• 1990The overhead voltage is raised from 600 V to 1,500 V DC and the whole fleet is replaced with ex-Tokyu 7000 series cars (built 1962–1966); ten cars are acquired from Tokyu.
• 1996The licence for the never-completed planned extension (Sechigo–Inunaki) is formally abolished.
• 200530 April: its 1980s real-estate ventures having slumped after the bubble burst, the Mizuma Railway files for protection under the Corporate Reorganization Act at the Osaka District Court — a corporate insolvency. 30 June: the restaurant chain Gourmet Kineya is chosen as sponsor.
• 20066 April: Gourmet Kineya acquires 100% of the shares, making the Mizuma Railway a wholly-owned subsidiary; 16 June: the Osaka District Court rules the reorganisation plan concluded, completing the corporate-reorganisation process.
• 20091 June: the PiTaPa IC card is introduced, the whole line goes to one-man operation, and Mizuma Station is renamed Mizuma Kannon Station.
• 201323 March: the line becomes usable with nationwide mutually interoperable transit IC cards.