A ticket gate is seen at Hanshin Electric Railway's Umeda Station in the city of Osaka on May 6, 2019. (Mainichi/Naoto Ishikawa)

OSAKA -- Hankyu Corp. and Hanshin Electric Railway Co. announced on July 30 that Umeda Station in Osaka will be renamed "Osaka-umeda Station" and "Osaka Umeda Station" effective Oct. 1, respectively, in a bid to respond to a surge in foreign tourists and underline the hub station as the gateway to Osaka in western Japan.

In a related move, Hankyu Corp. will also change Kawaramachi Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line to "Kyoto-kawaramachi Station," also on Oct. 1.

According to the two railway operators, complaints have been heard from foreign tourists that the name Umeda Station makes it difficult for them to understand it's in the heart of Osaka.

As work to change station boards will take much time, the renaming will be timed with fare raises in October in conjunction with the consumption tax hike planned for that month, according to the companies.

Hankyu and Hanshin are under the umbrella of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings. Inc.

Hankyu Umeda Station and Hanshin's Umeda Station see an average of roughly 508,000 passengers and some 168,000 passengers a day, respectively. In addition, JR Osaka Station witnesses about 870,000 passengers a day on average, making the area the largest terminal in western Japan.

Furthermore, the area also hosts Umeda Station on the Midosuji Line, Higashi-Umeda Station on the Tanimachi Line and Nishi-Umeda Station on the Yotsubashi Line, all operated by Osaka Metro Co.

Amid the aging population and declining birth rate in Japan, railway operators have been staging increasingly fierce competition to attract passengers. As the section between Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, and Osaka, the western commercial hub, is highly popular among travelers, the renaming is aimed at "bringing in more passengers by specifying Umeda Station as that of Osaka's," according to a representative of Hankyu Corp.

Meanwhile, Ishibashi Station on the Hankyu Takarazuka Line, which is close to Osaka University's Toyonaka campus, will be called "Ishibashi handai-mae Station," while Hanshin's Naruo Station will be dubbed "Naruo Mukogawajoshidai-Mae Station" also from October.

(Japanese original by Masaki Takahashi, Osaka City News Department)