Kyū-Shirataki Station

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Kyū-Shirataki Station

旧白滝駅
Kyūshirataki station01.JPG
The station platform in June 2009
LocationKyūshirataki, Engaru-cho, Monbetsu-gun, Hokkaido 099-0102
Japan
Operated byJR logo (hokkaido).svg JR Hokkaido
Line(s)■ Sekihoku Main Line
Distance88.3 km (54.9 mi) from Shin-Asahikawa
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
Other information
StatusClosed
Station codeA46
History
Opened11 February 1947 (1947-02-11)
Closed25 March 2016 (2016-03-25)
Location
Kyū-Shirataki Station is located in Japan
Kyū-Shirataki Station
Kyū-Shirataki Station
Location within Japan

Kyū-Shirataki Station (旧白滝駅, Kyū-Shirataki-eki, lit. "Old Shirataki") was a railway station on the Sekihoku Main Line in Engaru, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). Opened in 1947, the station closed in March 2016.

Lines[]

Kyū-Shirataki Station was served by the single-track Sekihoku Main Line, lying 88.3 km (54.9 mi) from the official starting point of the line at Shin-Asahikawa. The station was numbered "A46".

Station layout[]

The station had a side platform serving the otherwise single-track line. The station was unstaffed, but had a station structure and waiting room.

Adjacent stations[]

« Service »
Sekihoku Main Line
Limited Express Okhotsk: Does not stop at this station
Limited Express Taisetsu: Does not stop at this station
Limited Rapid Kitami: Does not stop at this station
Shirataki   Local   Shimo-Shirataki

History[]

The station opened on 11 February 1947.[1] With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR) on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR Hokkaido.[1]

In July 2015, JR Hokkaido announced that it would be closing the station along with three others on the line (Shimo-Shirataki Station, Kami-Shirataki Station, and Kanehana Station) in March 2016, due to low passenger usage.[2]

The station closed following the last day of services on 25 March 2016.[3] The station structure and platform was demolished in October 2016.[4]

In viral news[]

From January 2016, the station became the subject of global viral news, where it got known as being "the station that stays open for one high school girl".

The first known mention of the station was in a column in The Asahi Shimbun. The article published on 7 January 2015 is about Kana Harada (17), a sophomore student at the Hokkaido Engaru High School. She takes the train to school at Kyū-Shirataki Station, that have only one train stopping on the direction of the school, and three in the afternoon in the opposite direction. When she get in the train, there is already dozen of passengers, most of them being students at her school.[5]

On 22 July, The Hokkaido Shimbun reported that JR Hokkaido will close the station when the timetables are revised in March of the following year.[2] The article also include comments from Harada, who said that she rarely ever see other people use the station and that she heard the station would close after her graduation.[6] On 1 March, Harada took the train for the last time to attend her graduation ceremony.[7]

The first known occurrence of the news outside of Japan is on the Korean channel JTBC on 6 January.[8] In their news coverage, they indicated that the station was Kami-Shirataki Station and it also caused mistake on the timetable as this station only had one train in each directions. They continue by saying that the reason the station have not closed yet is that is it still used by few residents and it show that Japan is a society that does not give up, even for one person.

The most frequent cites origin of the new is a Facebook post in English by the Chinese television network CCTV News on 8 January.[9] The post say that the station was schedules to close three years ago, but when JR discovered that a young girl was using it, changed their mind and waited for her to graduate on 26 march and the train run on a timetable based on when the girls needs to be to school and back. Most of the information on the post is actually not accurate as there is no known causality between the fact that Harada uses the station and it staying open. Actually, in an article, Harada said that taking the train at this station allowed her to sleep a bit longer as otherwise she would have needed to take the same train one station earlier at Shirataki station.[10] The date that the station closed is also only a coincidence. JR updates their timetables every year in March, which just happened to be the end of the school year in Japan.

Some media went as far as to suggest that she was the only passenger in a train that runs twice a day only for her,[11] but she was not the only passenger and more trains were using the line, just not stopping at the station.

Other news outlets tried to debunk the news, like The Straits Times that mistakenly suggest that Harada was taking the train at the station along with ten other schoolmates,[12] while other properly pointed our that the other students were already in the train.[13][14]

Surrounding area[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Ishino, Tetsu, ed. (1998). 停車場変遷大辞典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR]. II. Japan: JTB. p. 918. ISBN 4-533-02980-9.
  2. ^ a b 上白滝・旧白滝・下白滝の３駅も廃止 ＪＲ石北線、来年３月に [3 JR Sekihoku Line stations Kami-Shirataki, Kyu-Shirataki, and Shimo-Shirataki to close next March]. Doshin (in Japanese). Japan: The Hokkaido Shimbun Press. 22 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  3. ^ 根室線花咲など８駅廃止、７９本減便 ＪＲ北海道がダイヤ改正 [JR Hokkaido introduces revised timetable - 8 stations closed and 79 services cut]. Doshin Web (in Japanese). Japan: The Hokkaido Shimbun Press. 26 March 2016. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  4. ^ 「秘境」北海道・旧白滝駅舎が解体 地元住民が別れ惜しむ [Remote JR Hokkaido Kyu-Shirataki Station demolished - Locals pay their last respects]. Doshin Web (in Japanese). Japan: The Hokkaido Shimbun Press. 18 October 2016. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  5. ^ "１日１本、次はない冬の北海道、秘境駅から通学する高校生". 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on January 2016.
  6. ^ "【旧白滝駅】女子高生1人だけが使っていた秘境駅、卒業と同時に廃止へ". ハフポスト (in Japanese). 5 January 2016. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  7. ^ SANKEI, DIGITAL. "卒業式へ最後の通学 旧白滝駅利用、唯一の乗客". 産経フォト (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  8. ^ "[앵커브리핑] 공공을 위한 약속…'기차가 서는 간이역'". news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  9. ^ "CCTVNews - Forget Harry Potter and platform 9¾ this... | Facebook". Facebook. 27 January 2016. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  10. ^ "北の無人駅、さようなら 女子高生の卒業と共に廃止へ：朝日新聞デジタル". 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  11. ^ ., Oneindia News. "Japan runs a special train so that a girl can attend school". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "Remote Hokkaido train station stays open for one high school girl? Perhaps not". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. 18 October 2016. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  13. ^ "Train continues to stop at rural station for lone schoolgirl until she graduates in March". SoraNews24 -Japan News-. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  14. ^ "The train station and the high school girl: what's the truth?". The Online Citizen Asia. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2021.

External links[]


Coordinates: 43°55′12″N 143°14′12″E / 43.9199°N 143.2367°E / 43.9199; 143.2367

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