[Hokkaido] Sekihoku Main Line: A local line that lets you experience the vastness of Hokkaido

#0yentravel The Sekihoku Main Line is a local line that connects Asahikawa in the center of Hokkaido with Abashiri City, which faces the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. This line, which was once used by many people, is struggling with depopulation and the rise of airplanes and express buses. There are many sections along the line where there are almost no people, and the section between Shirataki and Kamikawa stations has no stations for an astounding 37.3 kilometers, making it the longest stretch in Japan excluding the Shinkansen. That's how empty the area is. However, along the line, there are fresh sights for city dwellers, such as onion fields, a specialty of Kitami, and endless forests. If you're visiting eastern Hokkaido, be sure to take the Sekihoku Main Line!