History
Minami-Wakkanai Station opened on 1 November 1922 as the original Wakkanai Station, the terminus of the Japanese Government Railways line from Onishibetsu via Hamatonbetsu. When the line was extended to Wakkanai-Minato on 26 December 1928 it became a through-station with switchback running, and on 1 February 1939 it was renamed Minami-Wakkanai. The station was relocated roughly one kilometre south on 6 November 1952 to the junction of the Soya Main Line and the Tempoku Line, eliminating the switchback. The current building dates from a March 1978 expansion. JR Hokkaido took over at privatisation on 1 April 1987; the connecting Tempoku Line closed on 1 May 1989.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Until the Tempoku Line closed in 1989, Minami-Wakkanai was the northernmost junction station in postwar Japan; the line's former route is still visible in the orientation of the present station's track layout.