History
Shikaribetsu Station opened on 10 December 1902 as a general-purpose stop on the privately built Hokkaido Railway, then the line's northern terminus from Ranshima. Further extensions in 1903 and 1904 connected it through to Hakodate, and on 1 July 1907 the line was nationalised. The Japanese Government Railways folded it into the Hakodate Main Line on 12 October 1909 and Japanese National Railways inherited operation in 1949. Freight handling ended in March 1972 and parcel service in March 1982, when the station became unstaffed. JR Hokkaido took over on 1 April 1987, the building was rebuilt in 1988, and station numbering as 'S20' was introduced on 1 October 2007.
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
The name 'Shikaribetsu' derives from the Ainu phrase 'shi-kari-pet', meaning 'river that turns back on itself'.