History
Kikonai Station opened on 25 October 1930 as the terminus of the government-built Kamiiso Line, becoming an intermediate stop on the Esashi Line when the route was extended to Yunotai on 10 December 1935 and renamed in November 1936. From 12 October 1937 it became a junction with the Matsumae Line, a role it kept until that branch closed on 1 February 1988. The station passed to JR Hokkaido at privatisation on 1 April 1987, was rebuilt as an elevated overhead-walkway station that March, and on 13 March 1988 became the southern endpoint of the new Kaikyō Line through the Seikan Tunnel. On 26 March 2016 the Hokkaido Shinkansen opened with elevated platforms here, while the conventional Esashi-Line section southwest of Goryōkaku was transferred to South Hokkaido Railway Company.
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
Among all shinkansen stations nationwide, Kikonai has the second-lowest average boarding count, trailing only Okutsugaru-Imabetsu on the same line.