History
Higashi-Nemuro Station began as an unofficial halt on 1 February 1961 and was formally opened on 1 September 1961 by Japanese National Railways on the Nemuro Main Line, serving the Hokkaidō Nemuro High School that had relocated nearby two years earlier. Located at 145°35'50"E, 43°19'24"N, it held the title of Japan's easternmost passenger station from its opening until its closure. Ownership passed to JR Hokkaido on 1 April 1987 with the privatisation of JNR. From 2017 an "Easternmost Station Higashi-Nemuro arrival certificate" was distributed at the tourist information centre beside Nemuro Station. After bus services for the high school commuters absorbed most ridership, JR Hokkaido announced on 23 August 2024 that abolition was under consideration, and the station was closed on 15 March 2025, whereupon neighbouring Nemuro Station became the easternmost. By 17 November 2025 the site had been levelled, with only the easternmost-station post left standing; on 31 March 2026 the JR Hanasaki Line Survey Trial Council reused that post to install a "Higashi-Nemuro Station, As It Was" memorial marker.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-06-09.
Where the English and Japanese sources differ, this account follows the Japanese source.
Notes
From its 1961 opening until its closure on 15 March 2025, Higashi-Nemuro was the easternmost railway station in Japan, its single wooden platform marked by an "Easternmost Station in Japan" monument; the title then passed to neighbouring Nemuro Station.