On March 25, 2016, the last trains stopped at Kyu-Shirataki. Its neighbors on the line, Kami-Shirataki, Shimo-Shirataki and Kanehana, closed the same day.
Residents and rail fans came to each station to say goodbye. At Kyu-Shirataki, a simple ceremony included a procession of local people. The last day was even streamed live online, starting at 6:30 in the morning.
After 69 years, the station closed. That October, its little waiting shelter was taken down.
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It had spent its final three years serving one student, and it stayed open until she graduated.
One visitor summed it up in the station's notebook. A station, they wrote, exists because there are passengers who use it.
