Article

01215 ／びばいし

Bibai City

Named for a settler from Niigata.

Miyajima Marsh, name origin

Photo by Dddeco at Japanese Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Shafts

Two shafts, one for exhaust airand one for intake, stand side by side.

The city describes the Mitsubishi Bibai Coal Mine shafts, built in 1923, as the second oldest in Hokkaido. One serves for exhaust and one for intake, and they stand in the Coal Mine Memorial Forest Park. They are a component of a Japan Heritage story.

Built 1923
Second oldest shaft in Hokkaido
Japan Heritage component

02 ／ Station and locomotive

Bibai Railway's Tomei Station remains,with a locomotive built in 1919.

The city says Tomei Station opened in 1948 on the Bibai Railway, and that old advertisements and timetables remain inside. Tank locomotive No. 2 of class 4110, with ten coupled wheels, was built in 1919 and designated a city cultural property on 5 June 1976.

Opened 1948
Built 1919
City Cultural Property No. 4

03 ／ Meteorite

On 4 September 1925,a meteorite fell at Koshunai.

Hokkaido University says it fell at Koshunai, in the former Numakai Town, at 4:30 pm on 4 September 1925 (Taisho 14). The university calls it the only meteorite confirmed in Hokkaido, and the Koshunai meteorite is a city natural monument. The local history museum displays it.

Fell 4 Sep 1925
Hokkaido University: the only one confirmed in Hokkaido
City natural monument

Bibai City 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 May–June 2007)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

About 50 km northeast of Sapporo; four JR Hakodate Line stations.

about 20,000 people

Four JR Hakodate Main Line stations, Koshunai, Minenobu, Bibai and Chashinai, are in the city and appear in the JR Hokkaido timetable for October 2026. The Ministry of the Environment leaflet places Miyajima Marsh about 50 km northeast of Sapporo.

People living here: 20,413people
Area: 277.69km²
Households: 9,434households
Rent (average for rentals): 31,686yen
Healthcare: 3 hospitals ／ 11 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —5 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.

Shape

Borders 6 municipalities.

Bibai City in Japan43.333°N 141.854°E

Territory of Bibai City

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

19.0km

Mikasa City, Naie Town, Iwamizawa City, Urausu Town, Ashibetsu City, Tsukigata Town

Travel times per leg are not published by the municipality, so they are not shown.

Bibai City isthis kind of town.

01Miyajima Marsh, a freshwater lake west of Bibai and a Ramsar wetland, is named for Miyajima Sajiro, who settled from Sanjo, Niigata, in 1891
02The Mitsubishi Bibai Coal Mine has two side-by-side shafts, the second oldest in Hokkaido, and with the Tomei Station and locomotive No. 2 of Bibai Railway it is a Japan Heritage component
03A meteorite that fell at Koshunai in 1925 is the only one confirmed in Hokkaido, says Hokkaido University, and is a city natural monument at the local history museum

See the town as it is now.

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Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Bibai City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

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