There has been several attempts to build a railway line into southern
Chita peninsula before
World War II, such as
Japan Governmental Railways' attempt to extend the
Taketoyo Line to Morozaki, Aichi Electric Railways' (Current
Meitetsu) attempt to build a line to
Utsumi, and the local investors' plan to build a
light railway from
Taketoyo in 1913. However, due to the low
population density in the area, and the lack of industry, none of the plans came to fruition. Meitetsu, in a part of an effort to develop the southern Chita peninsula, planned building a line to Utsumi. Three potential routes were considered: extending the
Meitetsu Tokoname Line down south, extending the
Meitetsu Kōwa Line southwest from
Kōwa Station, and the route branching off the Kōwa Line from the
Fuki Station. The Tokoname route was rejected due to the length of the line needed to extend to Utsumi, and the Fuki route was preferred by the line as it was easier to develop the central part of the peninsula. For the route running west of the peninsula, the hillside route was taken to allow housing developments. In 1969, Meitetsu gained permits to construct the first section of the line from
Fuki Station to Bessouike signaling station. Meitetsu gained permit to build the rest of the line from Bessouike to Utsumi in 1971, and started extending the line. The first section of the line to
Kaminoma Station was opened in 1974. The construction of the
Utsumi Station was delayed due to a
midden, which was discovered in 1978. The line was completed with the final extension to Utsumi on 5 June 1980. The Mihama-ryokuen Station opened on 24 April 1987 as a
infill station for developments. During the line's construction, most of the area along the line was restricted from residential development by the
Japanese land law, which prevented most developments. This resulted in the line's ridership being lower than the estimated numbers.
One-person operation on the line commenced from the timetable revision on 18 March 2023. ==Network and operations==