Article

01691 ／べつかいちょう

Hokkaido 野付郡

Betsukai Town

A rancher's home became a relay post.

Former Okuyukiusu Relay Post

Photo by Misei sen (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Okuyukiusu transport facilities

Three eras of transport stand in one place,a JSCE Selected Civil Engineering Heritage.

Okuyukiusu transport facilities in Betsukai Town — Photo by Misei sen (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Beside the former Okuyukiusu relay post (1910-1930) stand Okuyukiusu Station on the national railway's Shibetsu Line (1933-1989) and a stop on the Bekkai Village light railway (1963-1971). In FY2024 the Japan Society of Civil Engineers certified them, calling them the only group where each era's transport system survives in one place.

Relay post, 1910-1930 (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
Okuyukiusu Station, 1933-1989 (town)
Selected Civil Engineering Heritage (FY2024)

02 ／ Todowara

Sakhalin firs eroded by seawaterstand dead on the Notsuke Peninsula.

Todowara in Betsukai Town — Photo by FoxyStranger Kawasaki (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The town says the Notsuke Peninsula is Japan's largest sand spit, about 26 km long, and that at Todowara Sakhalin firs eroded by seawater stand dead. It adds that erosion continues and the view may one day be lost.

Sand spit about 26 km long (town)
Peninsula and bay registered as a Ramsar site, Nov. 2005 (town)
Erosion continues (town)

03 ／ Former Kaitakushi Betsukai Cannery

Part of an 1878 Kaitakushi cannery isBetsukai Historical and Cultural Heritage No. 3.

The town says this is part of a cannery that the Kaitakushi (Hokkaido Development Commission) set up in 1878, and the oldest wooden building left in town. It presents the building as the only surviving cannery the commission set up. After the war it served as a junior high school building, and it is now a Betsukai Fisheries Cooperative storehouse.

Part of a cannery set up in 1878 (Meiji 11)
Town Historical and Cultural Heritage No. 3 (Feb. 4, 2013)
A component of the Japan Heritage story on salmon

Betsukai Town from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot July–November 2023)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

A town 61.4 km east to west and 44.3 km north to south.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town says Betsukai lies in the center of the Nemuro region in eastern Hokkaido, spreading 61.4 km east to west and 44.3 km north to south. It faces the Sea of Okhotsk to the east and borders six municipalities: Nemuro, Shibetsu, Nakashibetsu, Shibecha, Akkeshi and Hamanaka. There is no JR station in the town.

People living here: 14,380people
Area: 1,317.17km²
Households: 6,092households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 6 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —3 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Betsukai Town in Japan43.394°N 145.118°E

to AttokoLocal bus34min

Travel times follow 根室交通公式の路線バス時刻表ページ（https://www.nemurokotsu.com/timetable/）に載る時刻表PDF『中標津空港行き根室⇔中標津ターミナル・空港行きバス時刻表』（2026年3月29日以降）の『厚床駅前』と『町立別海病院』の列を、同社公開の GTFS-JP（gtfs-new.zip・2026-04-01改正）の stop_times・calendar・calendar_dates と突き合わせた。根室発→中標津行き4便の厚床駅前の発→町立別海病院の着は 7:19→7:53・11:24→11:58・12:24→12:58・15:39→16:13 で、どれも34分。平日・土日祝の両方に同じ4便がある＝毎日運転 (checked 2026-10-29). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 6 municipalities.

Territory of Betsukai Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

44.5km

Nakashibetsu Town, Hamanaka Town, Akkeshi Town, Shibecha Town, Shibetsu Town, Nemuro City

Betsukai Town isthis kind of town.

01The former Okuyukiusu relay post, according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, handled relays of people and horses, lodging and freight from 1910 to 1930, and its main building was the home of its operator Yamazaki, who ran a livestock business. It became a national historic site in 2011, and its two-story main building has been a Hokkaido-designated tangible cultural property since 1994
02Okuyukiusu Station on the Shibetsu Line and a stop on the Bekkai Village light railway also remain as town-designated cultural properties, and the Japan Society of Civil Engineers certified the group as Selected Civil Engineering Heritage in FY2024. The former Kaitakushi Betsukai Cannery is part of a cannery set up in 1878 and is the town's Historical and Cultural Heritage No. 3
03Todowara, the town says, is a view on the Notsuke Peninsula of Sakhalin firs eroded by seawater and standing dead. The town lies in the center of the Nemuro region, 61.4 km east to west and 44.3 km north to south. It has no JR station, and its gateway is the town office

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Betsukai Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes