Article

01481 ／ましけちょう

Hokkaido 増毛郡

Mashike Town

Hokkaido Heritage: widest wooden grade school.

Former Mashike Elementary School

Photo by 禁樹なずな (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Former Maruichi Honma House

Fire-resistant stone and clay-walledbuildings keep the merchant's core.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs lists it as the Former Honma Residence, an Important Cultural Property. The main house behind the shop was begun around 1894 and finished by 1902. The wares storehouse and others survive. The Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau says its stone exterior is soft stone from the Mashike and Hamamasu shore.

Important Cultural Property, 2003
Main house completed by 1902
Exterior of local soft stone

02 ／ Mashike Lighthouse

Every 16 seconds, white and redlight flash out to sea in turn.

According to the Japan Coast Guard, Mashike Lighthouse was first lit on December 25, 1890. Its characteristic is an alternating white and red single flash, one of each every 16 seconds. The light stands 46.0 m above sea level and reaches 18.5 nautical miles (white) and 16.0 (red).

First lit December 25, 1890
Alternating white and red flash, every 16 s
Light 46.0 m above sea level

03 ／ Ofuyu

Once called an isolated land,Ofuyu's coast seen from 135 m.

Coming from the Sapporo side on Route 231, Ofuyu is the gateway to Mashike. The town says there was a time when it was called an isolated land. From the 135 m lookout you see a coast of continuous cliffs and, on clear days, the Shakotan Peninsula and Teuri and Yagishiri islands.

Lookout at 135 m
Coast of continuous cliffs
Clear days: Shakotan Peninsula and Teuri Island

Mashike 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–September 2025)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

No station; about 2 hr 15 min by bus from Sapporo.

about 4,000 people
Rural district town

There is no railway station in the town. The town says the Engan Bus takes about 2 hours 15 minutes from Sapporo (one round trip a day, no change) and about 30 minutes from Rumoi. Check days and times with the bus company.

People living here: 3,908people
Area: 369.72km²
Households: 1,878households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 5 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 5 municipalities.

Mashike Town in Japan43.856°N 141.525°E

Territory of Mashike 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

24.3km

Hokuryu Town, Ishikari City, Rumoi City, Shintotsukawa Town, Uryu Town

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

Mashike Town isthis kind of town.

01The former Mashike Elementary School is a wooden school building of 1936 on a hill, one of the Hokkaido Heritage Mashike historic buildings. Hokkaido Heritage calls it the widest of the wooden elementary and junior high school buildings left in Hokkaido; it was used until fiscal 2011
02The Former Maruichi Honma House is a merchant house and Important Cultural Property, Mashike Lighthouse was first lit in 1890, and Ofuyu has a 135 m lookout over a coast once called an isolated land
03The town has no railway station; the Engan Bus runs from Sapporo in about 2 hr 15 min (town website)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Mashike Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes