History
Yasukuni Station opened on 1914-10-05 as Shimo-Ikutahara Station on the 762 mm-gauge Yūbetsu Light Railway between Rubeshibe and this station. The line was extended westward to Engaru the following year and converted to 1,067 mm gauge in 1916. The route was renamed the Yūbetsu Line in 1922 and the Engaru-Nokkeushi section was reorganised as the Sekihoku Line that October. The station was renamed Yasukuni on 1946-03-01 after a local district renaming. Freight ended in 1982, and CTC signalling made the station unstaffed in January 1983. JR Hokkaido inherited it at the 1987 privatisation. The current log-cabin-style wooden building, made with local karamatsu laminated timber, opened on 1989-10-25 as part of Ikutahara Town's station-front redevelopment.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The name Yasukuni was chosen by the village headman from the phrase yasukuni to tairakeku in the Shinto Ōharae no kotoba purification liturgy.