Kitasaito Garden opened in 2015, right beside the station. The station area around it, Kitasaito, was redeveloped by 2014, and the station building itself dates from 2011.[1][41]
Look for the Ainu place-name sign put up here in 2018. It writes the Chūbetsu River’s name as Chuk pet; the scholar Yamada Hidezō read chuk-pet as “autumn river”.[13][4]
Asahikawa’s old name, Chūbetsu, comes from that river. Inside the station, the Ainu culture corner “Ru-siros” is part of a digital stamp rally with the city museum.[13][36]
