The purpose of the line is to provide a railway link to Wakayama Port that has ferry service to Tokushima in Shikoku.

Opened in 1956 by Nankai from Wakayamashi to later Chikkōchō (then Wakayamakō) for rail connection to its ferry to Shikoku.

In 1971 the line was extended to Suiken via present Wakayamakō, by Wakayama Prefecture for the expansion of the port and to provide freight access to then planned lumber transport.

The section between Wakayamakō and Suiken was closed in 2002, until then freight train had never operated.

The stations between Wakayamashi and Wakayamakō were abandoned in 2005 due to few passengers, then Kubochō Station was renamed the "Prefecture-Company Boundary" (県社分界点, Ken-sha Bunkai ten).