Many might know that Higashi-Nemuro station is the eastern-most train station in Japan, but do not know that it is also the eastern-most in the whole of Asia.
Getting there is no easy feat, nestled in the quiet neighborhood of Nemuro, the most eastern city of Hokkaido, there are only five trains passing by each day in each direction. Much like other train stations in quiet residential areas, the single railroad, single platform station has no staff, no toilets and no shops. Some quiet stations in residential areas are equipped with chairs or a waiting room, but this station has none of those, not to mention a room, there was not even a shelter from the rain, and one can only imagine standing out in the cold during Hokkaido’s harsh winter periods.
I did not have an easy time locating the station as well. Driving through the many turns through the residential areas, I was searching for a big parking area of some sort. I had been to Nemuro station earlier, and given that this station is the eastern-most station, I was expecting some big station with the usual sign saying “The most-eastern train station of Japan”. Despite having GPS in the car, and GPS in my phone, I found myself turning endlessly through the neighborhood.
After what felt like eternity, I stopped at where the GPS instructed. However, the location was a dead-end road. I decided to alight and search for the station on foot. Wandering across an underpass built below the railway tracks, suddenly the most coveted sign that I had been searching for appeared. It states “The most-eastern train station of Japan, Higashi-Nemuro” in Japanese. It was in the shape of a tree log with bright blue characters. There was another similar older looking sign at the platform, which looked like it had been around for decades. The platform and train tracks are built on higher level ground. Standing on the platform, you could have a bird’s eye view of the surrounding residential area.
Interestingly, when I was about to leave, there was another car approaching. Two other tourists had come searching for the same sign. For train fans, this is a quiet station in a nice neighborhood not to be missed.
