is a closed railway station on the defunct Hiroo Line in
Obihiro, Hokkaido
is a city in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Obihiro is the only designated city in the Tokachi area. As of February 29, 2020, the city has an estimated population of 165,851. The next most populous municipality in Tokachi is the adj ...
, Japan. Now owned by the Kofuku town residents' association,
even after its closure in 1987, it remains a popular sightseeing spot because of its name, which means "happiness" in Japanese.
Lines
Kōfuku Station was served by the now-closed 84 km
Hiroo Line between and Hiroo Station in
Hiroo, and was located 22.0 km from the starting point of the line at Obihiro.
Station layout
The original station building remains standing, and many people paste business cards and messages on the walls of the waiting room, hoping for happiness.
History
The station opened on 1 November 1956.
It closed in 1987 when the entire line closed just before privatization of
Japanese National Railways
The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987.
Network Railways
As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...
(JNR).
The station become famous after it was featured on a Japanese
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestri ...
TV travel documentary programme in 1973.
In fiscal 2012, it was visited by about 175,000 people, making it one of the top tourist attractions in the area.
The ageing station structure was scheduled to be renovated by Obihiro city government between September and November 2013, at a cost of 33 million yen.
Surrounding area
The station takes its name from the name of the area in which it is located. Although the area was originally called Kōshin, it was changed to Kōfuku in around 1910 by combining the "Kō" of Kōshin with "Fuku" from Fukui, denoting the farmers from
Fukui Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, Gi ...
who moved to the area around 1902 after being displaced by flooding.
References
External links
*
Tourist information provided by city of Obihiro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kofuku Station
Railway stations in Hokkaido Prefecture
Railway stations in Japan opened in 1956
Railway stations closed in 1987
1987 disestablishments in Japan
Obihiro
Tourist attractions in Hokkaido
Railway stations in Japan closed in the 1980s