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01233 ／だてし

Date City

By a spring, stone tools were honored.

Kitakogane, ritual water site

Photo by Indiana jo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Zenkoji site

Of the shogunate's three temples in Ezo,the main hall keeps its old form.

Zenkoji site in Date City — Photo by 高野博文 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Zenkoji site is a national historic site. Zenkoji was one of three temples the Edo shogunate set up in Ezo in the early 19th century, ranked first, according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs. The present main hall is thought to date from 1836, going by its ridge tag.

National historic site
One of three temples
Main hall thought to date from 1836

02 ／ Former Date residence garden

A garden ringed by earthworks and a riverholds a Sendai-style farmhouse.

The former Date residence garden, a Date City historic site, is ringed by earthworks and a river, and the path from the gate to the house bends in a crank shape. In it stands the former Mitobe house, a national important cultural property in the Sendai style, moved from Hagiwara-cho.

Ringed by earthworks and a river
Crank-shaped path from the gate
Former Mitobe house: national important cultural property

03 ／ Town names from poems

Twenty poemsgave the town its names.

The city board of education says town names came from 20 poems written by Sato, a teacher who moved from Watari. The poem for Umemoto-cho runs: "Blooming out of the lingering snow, in no hurry to fall, the plum's rooted bough."

20 poems
Written by Sato, a teacher from Watari
Half of the town names remain

Date 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 April–September 2022)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

Sapporo to Datemombetsu Station: about 1 h 30 min by limited express.

about 30,000 people

The city's access page gives an estimated 1 hour 30 minutes by JR limited express from Sapporo Station to Datemombetsu Station, and 1 hour 50 minutes from Hakodate Station (checked October 2026).

People living here: 32,826people
Area: 444.21km²
Households: 14,844households
Rent (average for rentals): 42,851yen
Healthcare: 3 hospitals ／ 27 clinics

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

Population from 2010 onward (municipal boundary changed).2006-03-01 に編入合併（大滝村）。2010年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —8 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 9 municipalities.

Date City in Japan42.472°N 140.865°E

Territory of Date 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

49.7km

Sobetsu Town, Kimobetsu Town, Shiraoi Town, Chitose City, Muroran City, Sapporo City, Noboribetsu City, Toyako Town, Rusutsu Village

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

Date City isthis kind of town.

01Kitakogane Shell Mounds in Date City, Hokkaido, are a national historic site and a World Heritage component, known for a ritual water site where stone dishes and grinders found near a spring were given memorial rites
02The Zenkoji site was one of three temples set up in Ezo by the shogunate, and the former Date residence garden, ringed by earthworks and a river, holds the former Mitobe house, a national important cultural property
03Some town names come from 20 poems by Sato, a teacher from Watari, and Datemombetsu Station is about 1 h 30 min from Sapporo by limited express

See the town as it is now.

FacebookPage ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Date City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes