[1][2] Kagoshima Station is the notional southern terminus of the Kyushu Railway Company's Kagoshima and Nippo Main Lines, although services on both lines in fact start and terminate at the neighboring Kagoshima-Chūō Station.

The station is located 462.6 km from the starting point of the Nippō Main Line at Kokura, and 398.5 km from the starting point of the Kagoshima Main Line at Mojikō.

The current station building is the fifth generation, and is barrier-free, with elevators connecting the station entrance, the ticket gate concourse, and the passageway inside the ticket gates to each platform.

The station was completely destroyed in the Kagoshima Air Raid of 17 June 1945.

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.