【Hokkaido Cities: Kitami】Walking through the city featured in Netflix drama "First Love"

The station building doesn't appear in the Netflix drama "First Love," but the station where the two main characters meet and get off the train together is Kitami Station.
The platform and ticket gate appear in the drama, but the cityscape doesn't.

Kitami Station was originally opened as Notsukeushi Station and later renamed

It opened as Notsukeushi Station in 1911. "Notsukeushi" is derived from the Ainu name "Nup-kes" with kanji applied.
This area of Hokkaido was established as Kitami Province after the Boshin War, and because it was the center of the province, it became Kitami City in 1942.
Along with that, Notsukeushi Station was renamed to Kitami Station.

Walking through the shopping street, there's a Tonden Clock Tower in the center

The central area was developed by Tonden soldiers.

There's a large shopping street near the station, and in its center is the Tonden Clock Tower.
The Kitami Cultural Center has a Tonden soldier's house built when settlers first arrived in 1897.
It seems to be a restoration combining materials from two buildings, but it's hard to believe people lived in this wooden house in temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius.
It's hard to imagine how harsh the development of Hokkaido was.
I wonder if watching the movie "Year One in the North" would help me understand a bit.

Good atmosphere with interesting buildings - I hope architecture lovers will walk here

As you can see in the video, the sidewalks are wide and it's quite an impressive shopping street. Kitami City's population hasn't decreased much, so considering the desolate feeling around the station, it seems this city has also become suburban. It's moving to walk while thinking about the development era while looking at the Tonden Clock Tower. There are many buildings with a good atmosphere that evoke the era, and the arcade is solid, so I hope it becomes more active. It's a bit disappointing to think about it that way.

The shopping street was desolate because it was early morning

It was 9 AM. Since stores weren't open yet, the timing of my walk was a bit too early.
Next time, I'd like to walk when the stores are open.
Perhaps because Hokkaido gets a lot of snow, there used to be many shopping streets with arcades.
Many have been removed due to aging and population decline, so I hope the arcade in Kitami's shopping street remains as long as possible.