Hage

A station name linked to Mashike Station, Hokkaido

According to legend, when fleeing the pursuit of Genji, the Heike Warriors changed their name to escape detection, altering it from “平” (hei) to “半”　(han) by lowering the “一” line down one row. This became the origin for the name of the region (平家heike→ 半家hage), which was then adopted as the station name. The name “Hage” has been featured on television as a rare train station name, representing Shikoku in the TBS Television Quiz Derby and becoming an easily recognizable name. There is also a “peculiar relation” between the pronunciation of Hage Station and Mashike Station on the JR Rumoi Main Line in Hokkaido. (Hage means “balding” in Japanese, whereas the Chinese characters for Mashike (増毛) mean “increasing hair.”) The station is unmanned with a single platform serving one track, and there is a 60-step staircase leading to the National Route 381. Other than private residences, there is nothing nearby.