Furano Line

The line began as the first stage of a state-sponsored push across the interior of Hokkaidō. It was opened on 1 September 1899 by the Hokkaidō Kansetsu Railway (the colonial government's railway bureau) as the Tokachi Line (十勝線), running at first only from Asahikawa to Biei. The railway was extended to Kami-Furano on 15 November 1899 and onward to Shimo-Furano — today's Furano — on 1 August 1900, by which point the whole of the present Furano Line was in service.

In its early decades the route was not a quiet branch but the first link in the trunk railway being driven east toward the Tokachi plain and the Pacific coast at Kushiro. After the line passed into national government operation in 1905, the Tokachi Line and the separately built Kushiro Line were merged on 12 October 1909 into a single Kushiro Line (釧路線) running from Asahikawa through Shimo-Furano and Obihiro to Kushiro. For a time, therefore, the Asahikawa–Furano tracks formed part of the main artery toward the Nemuro and eastern Hokkaidō districts.

The line's modern identity dates from 10 November 1913. On that day a new and more direct connection from Takikawa to Shimo-Furano (57.6 km) opened, and the through route via Takikawa to Obihiro and Kushiro was renamed the Kushiro Main Line (釧路本線), the predecessor of today's Nemuro Main Line. The older Asahikawa–Shimo-Furano section (54.8 km) was separated from that trunk route and given the name it still carries: the Furano Line.

Natural hazards have marked the line's history. On 24 May 1926 an eruption of Mount Tokachi sent a mudflow across the railway, interrupting service between Biei and Kami-Furano for several days. The line was otherwise gradually built out with additional stations through the 1920s and 1930s, and on 1 April 1942 Shimo-Furano Station was renamed Furano Station, fixing the modern name of both the town's station and, in everyday usage, the line itself.

Under the post-war Japanese National Railways, to which the line was transferred on 1 June 1949, the Furano Line was converted from steam to diesel railcar operation and lost its through limited-express services, settling into the role of a rural local line. When JNR was broken up and privatised on 1 April 1987, the line passed to the newly created Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), and its remaining freight service was discontinued.

Under JR Hokkaido the line has leaned into tourism. A seasonal Lavender Field temporary station (ラベンダー畑駅) opened on 11 June 1999 to serve the flower farms near Nakafurano, and station numbering was introduced across the line on 1 October 2007. Today the Furano Line carries local trains together with summer sightseeing services — the open-air "Furano-Biei Norokko" excursion train and the lavender-season "Furano Lavender Express" — that bring visitors to the Biei hills and the lavender fields the line has become famous for.

• 18991 September: the Hokkaidō Kansetsu Railway opens the Tokachi Line from Asahikawa to Biei — the origin of the Furano Line.
• 189915 November: the line is extended from Biei to Kami-Furano.
• 19001 August: the line is extended to Shimo-Furano (present-day Furano), completing the present Furano Line route.
• 19051 April: the line passes from the colonial railway to national government railway operation.
• 190912 October: the Tokachi Line and the Kushiro Line are merged into a single Kushiro Line running Asahikawa–Shimo-Furano–Obihiro–Kushiro.
• 191310 November: a direct Takikawa–Shimo-Furano line (57.6 km) opens; the through route via Takikawa to Kushiro is renamed the Kushiro Main Line, and the Asahikawa–Shimo-Furano section (54.8 km) is split off and named the Furano Line.
• 192624 May: an eruption of Mount Tokachi sends a mudflow across the line, interrupting service between Biei and Kami-Furano; service is restored on 28 May.
• 19421 April: Shimo-Furano Station is renamed Furano Station.
• 19491 June: the line is transferred to the Japanese National Railways (JNR).
• 19871 April: with the breakup of JNR, the line passes to the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido); remaining freight service is discontinued.
• 199911 June: the seasonal Lavender Field temporary station opens to serve the flower farms near Nakafurano.
• 20071 October: station numbering is introduced along the line.