Shin-Totsukawa Station

This is Shin-Totsukawa station in Hokkaido, Japan. It has had an interesting history.

It opened in 1931 under the name of Nakatoppu station and was, for a couple of years, the southern terminus of the Sassho North Line. By 1935, line extensions to the south had been completed and the whole Sassho Line between Soen and Ishikari-Numata opened. However, during World War Two, parts of the line were deemed non-essential and the station wasn't in operation between 1943 and 1953. When it eventually reopened, it was renamed Shin-Totsugawa. In 1972, the section of line going north to Ishikari-Numata closed and so Shin-Totsugawa became the northern terminus of the line. In 1997, the station was renamed again, this time only slightly, to Shin-Totsukawa.

But passenger numbers were in serious decline. In 2016, the timetable changed for the last time. There was to be just one train a day, a single carriage diesel, arriving at 9:28am and then departing again at 10:00am. It was the earliest "last train" in Japan.

I visited in the summer of 2018. By this time, the station had become somewhat more popular with tourists due to its quirky timetable.

A local tourist office was set up in the station to sell souvenirs and indeed train tickets, and the number of passengers arriving each day was carefully counted and written on the calendar in the waiting room.

Children from the local kindergarten came out each day to wave to the passengers and pass out hand-drawn postcards. But this wasn't enough to save the station. The non-electrified section of the line from Hokkaido-Iryodaigaku station northwards was marked for closure. The station and section of line finally closed in 2020. Due to the covid pandemic, the last day of operation was brought forward suddenly to avoid big crowds.

Film crews in helicopters captured the last day. It was quite an emotional watch, seeing the locals coming out to wave their last goodbye. Here’s the video of the last run on the Sessho Line between Shin-Totsukawa and Ishikari-Tobetsu.

Part one:

Part two:

Part three:

Part four:

Shin-Totsukawa station 1931-2020.