History
Asari Station opened on 28 November 1880 as a flag station on the early Hokkaidō rail network, before assuming its present role on the Hakodate Main Line. Today the station consists of two ground-level opposed side platforms linked by a footbridge and serving two tracks, equipped with automated ticket machines and Kitaca card readers. Operations are unattended and the station carries the modern code S12. The surrounding coast, with Otaru's distinctive rocky inlets and grey-blue ocean, was used as a filming location for the music video accompanying Death Cab for Cutie's 2008 song "I Will Possess Your Heart".
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Asari is one of the few JR Hokkaido stations whose surroundings have crossed into Western pop culture: the 2008 music video for Death Cab for Cutie's "I Will Possess Your Heart" was filmed in the area around the station.