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01459 ／びえいちょう

Hokkaido 上川郡

Biei Town

A stone warehouse with visible quartz.

Oka-no-kura, Biei soft stone

Photo by 663highland (CC BY 2.5)

01 ／ Shirahige Falls

Groundwater seeping from rockbecomes a fall of about 30 m.

The Biei Tourism Association says the name comes from the falls looking like a white beard. Groundwater seeping out between natural rocks flows down, and the association introduces it as a rare "subsurface-flow" waterfall. The Biei River below is cobalt blue.

Drop of about 30 m
Groundwater seeps from rock
Called a "subsurface-flow" fall

02 ／ Blue Pond

Dead larch trees standin the blue water.

The Tourism Association says water collected behind a check dam during disaster-prevention work on Mount Tokachi took on a blue color, and with the standing dead larches formed a fantastic scene. The blue is said to come from rivers of differing makeup mixing. The town lists it among its local resources.

Water behind a check dam
Standing dead larches
One of the town's local resources

03 ／ Landscape ordinance

Biei's landscape ordinance setsscenery as a shared asset of residents.

The "Ordinance to Protect and Nurture Biei's Beautiful Landscape" took effect in 2003 (Heisei 15). The plan covers the whole town, divided into a mountain area and a hill-town area. Larger developments need prior disclosure, briefings and review by the landscape council; development for farming and forestry is excluded.

Ordinance in effect from Heisei 15
Plan covers the whole town
Four landscape nurturing zones

Biei 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 October 2021)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

From Biei Station to Asahikawa Station, about 32 minutes by local train.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town's access page shows, in a JR diagram, about 32 minutes by local train from Biei Station to Asahikawa Station and about 36 minutes to Furano Station (no date shown; checked October 2026). The town has three stations on the Furano Line: Kita-Biei, Biei and Bibaushi.

People living here: 9,668people
Area: 676.78km²
Households: 4,213households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 3 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —1 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 8 municipalities.

Biei Town in Japan43.588°N 142.467°E

Territory of Biei 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

27.9km

Kamifurano Town, Asahikawa City, Shintoku Town, Higashikawa Town, Kamikawa Town, Ashibetsu City, Higashikagura Town, Nakafurano Town

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

Biei Town isthis kind of town.

01The roadside station Oka-no-kura is a farm warehouse of Biei soft stone, whose quartz shows to the naked eye, converted into a shop for local products
02Shirogane has Shirahige Falls, where groundwater drops between rocks, and the Blue Pond, blue water collected behind a check dam
03The landscape ordinance treats scenery as the townspeople's shared asset, and Biei Station to Asahikawa Station takes about 32 minutes by local train

See the town as it is now.

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Biei Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes