The station opened on 1 May 1896 as a station for passengers and cargo on the Japanese Government Railway (JGR) Tōkaidō Line, which became the Japan National Railways (JNR) after World War II. Freight operations were discontinued on 15 March 1972. The station came under the aegis of the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) on 1 April 1987 due to the privatization of JNR. A new station building was completed in 1988.
Station numbering was introduced in March 2018 with Kawase being assigned station number JR-A15.[1][2]
Passenger statistics
In fiscal 2019, the station was used by an average of 3405 passengers daily (boarding passengers only).[3]
Surrounding area
Showa Denko Hikone Office
Shiga Prefectural Kawase Junior and Senior High School
^"近畿エリアの12路線 のべ300駅に「駅ナンバー」を導入します！" ["Station numbers" will be introduced at a total of 300 stations on 12 lines in the Kinki area!]. westjr.co.jp (in Japanese). 20 July 2016. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
^"「駅ナンバー」一覧表" ["Station number" list] (PDF). westjr.co.jp (in Japanese). 20 July 2016. Archived from the original(PDF) on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
^彦根市統計（令和2年版） 第10章 運輸および通信 [Hikone City Statistics (Reiwa 2nd Year Edition) Chapter 10 Transportation and Communications] (in Japanese). Japan: Hikone City. 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
