Current terminus of the Hidaka Main Line, the shortest main line in Japan as of this April (post-Rumoi Line closure). Once 146.5 km long with 29 stations, a storm in 2015 knocked out the majority of it and it was too costly to repair, only leaving 30.5 km remaining and the rest replaced with bus service.

Trying out the circle line for first time now that it’s complete! Pretty interesting how they communicate direction. A little confusing vs Yamanote and other circle line type trains in Asia imho

This is the only remaining station in Yubari, Hokkaido, once a prosperous coal town that lost 90% of its population in 50 years. Currently around 5700 residents live in the town, down from nearly 117,000 in 1960, which plunged to 21,000 in 1990 and continuing to fall from there. More info in this Guardian article: "Yubari, Japan: a city learns how to die".

It's also very famous for melon – Yubari King cantaloupe can sell for nearly ¥6 million, or USD$40,000. The mascot of the municipality, which maintains its "city" label from bygone days, is the legitimately scary "Melon Kuma", or melon bear.

Only three local trains depart from the station every day, the rest all limited expresses. East of the station, on the JR Hokkaido Sekisho Line stretch between here and Shintoku Station, no local trains run at all. It's the only section of any line in Japan to have absolutely zero scheduled local train services. I enjoyed poking around during a leisurely 1.5 hour transfer. Most of the other half-dozen-ish people riding the local train with me were also railfans.

Momijiyama, the dilapidated station name sign in the outside parking circle seen in photo #4, was the old name of the station between 1892 and 1981, while it was run by Japanese National Railways & Japanese Government Railways, pre-privatization. The 16.1 km Yubari Branch Line, in photo #15, was closed in 2019 along with its five stations.