Pippu Station, railway station in Pippu, Kamikawa district, Hokkaido, Japan
Pippu Station is a small railway stop on the Soya Line in rural Hokkaido, with two side platforms and a wooden building rebuilt in 2016. Inside the building there is a waiting area, a small shop, and a coffee corner.
The station opened in 1898 as the railway network expanded across Hokkaido, connecting farming communities to larger towns. Over the decades it remained a modest stop, serving the local area without significant changes until the building was replaced in 2016.
The station name comes from an Ainu word for reeds, a reminder of the people who lived in this region long before the railway arrived. On the platform, the pace feels slow and unhurried, with only a few trains stopping each day.
The station is unmanned, so tickets should be bought in advance or at machines before boarding. Trains on this line run infrequently, so checking the timetable before visiting is a good idea.
A Pokemon manhole cover featuring Alolan Vulpix and Piplup sits just outside the station building, drawing visitors who might otherwise pass through without stopping. The station also appeared in a television commercial in 1980, bringing a brief moment of national attention to this otherwise overlooked stop.
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