The station building, located on the northwest side of the tracks, is a modern concrete structure with bamboo trim which houses a waiting area, automatic ticket vending machines and staffed ticket window.

From here, the track was extended north in phases, reaching Yokogawa (now Ōsumi-Yokogawa) on 15 January 1903 and Yoshimatsu on 5 September 1903.

On 24 November 1929, a new track, the Kokuto-West Line (国都西線) was opened to another station further to the east which took on the previous name of Kokubu.

On 6 December 1932, the entire stretch of track from Kokura through Hayato to Kagoshima was redesignated as the Nippō Main Line.

With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR), the successor of JGR, on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR Kyushu.