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The timing and mechanism of the tectonic transition from an active continental margin to a trench‐arc‐basin system in NE Asia are debated. In this study, we report the pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) path of this transition based on petrographic observations, phase‐equilibrium modelling, and U–Pb ages of zircon and rutile from pelitic granulites in the Hidaka metamorphic belt (Hokkaido, Japan). The granulites contain an early phase mineral assemblage of staurolite + sillimanite + biotite + plagioclase + quartz + rutile/ilmenite, a peak phase granulite assemblage of garnet + biotite + cordierite + plagioclase + quartz + rutile/ilmenite and a symplectic intergrowth of spinel + cordierite ± sillimanite within garnet porphyroblasts. Phase‐equilibrium modelling indicates two phases of metamorphism with P–T conditions, respectively, of ~6 kbar/620–670°C and ~6 kbar/850°C. A clockwise P–T path was thus reconstructed for the granulites, showing a near‐isobaric temperature increase to the peak conditions and a post‐peak cooling. U–Pb dating of zircon and rutile in the granulites yielded two groupings of metamorphic ages at c. 37 Ma and 19 Ma, related to early phase amphibolite facies and late phase granulite facies metamorphism, respectively. The age of magmatism from the previous work at the NE Asian continental margin overlaps with these metamorphic ages, and the two phases of metamorphism in the pelitic granulites is attributed to discrete episodes of supra‐subduction‐zone magmatism (late Eocene, c. 37 Ma) and back‐arc extension (early Miocene, 24–19 Ma). Consequently, we suggest that the Hidaka metamorphic belt has undergone two phases of metamorphism, which represent two pulsed and separated thermal events. Moreover, we relate the granulites facies metamorphism to the underplating of mafic magma and lithospheric thinning during the opening of the Japan Sea at 24–19 Ma, which is attributed to slab rollback and trench retreat processes in NE Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]