History
Zenibako Station was inaugurated on 28 November 1880 when the state-run Horonai Railway began regular service between Temiya and Sapporo, making it one of Hokkaido's very first stations. Operation passed to the Hokkaidō Colliery and Railway Company in 1889 and back to the state at re-nationalisation on 1 October 1906; from 1909 the stop sat on the newly designated Hakodate Main Line. The current wooden mansard-roofed station building dates to December 1931. Electrification of the Otaru-Takikawa section reached the station on 28 August 1968, freight ended in 1978, and parcel service in 1984. JR Hokkaido took over operation at privatisation on 1 April 1987.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The auspicious-sounding name (literally 'money chest') made the station's tickets a popular keepsake, and a commemorative entrance ticket was issued each 17 October on Japan's national 'Savings Day'.