Article

01205 ／むろらんし

Muroran City

Built as a terminus, it has a chimney.

Former Muroran Station Building

Photo by Punkssand (CC0)

01 ／ Etomo Peninsula coast

The Ainu name of Cape Chikyumeans “parent cliff.”

The outer coast of the Etomo Peninsula, one of the nationally designated Places of Scenic Beauty known as Pirikanoka, consists of Harukaramoi, Masuichi Beach, Cape Chikyu and Tokkarisho Beach. The city gives the meanings of the Ainu place names as “parent cliff” for Cape Chikyu and “seal rock” for Tokkarisho Beach.

One of the national Places of Scenic Beauty, Pirikanoka
Four sites
Cape Chikyu = parent cliff

02 ／ Jin'ya site

Earthen ramparts 2–3 m high form a square,with a water moat facing the harbor.

The Mororan Jin'ya site, in Jin'ya-cho, is one of the Nanbu Domain jin'ya sites in a nationally designated historic site. Earthen ramparts 2 to 3 m high run in a square around the inner compound, and the moat outside it is a water moat on the front facing the harbor. Behind the inner compound stood a powder magazine surrounded by ramparts.

National historic site (designated in 1934)
Ramparts 2–3 m high
Water moat at the front

03 ／ Place name

Muroran's name is said to come froman Ainu word meaning “small downhill path.”

The city says the name Muroran comes from an Ainu phrase meaning “small downhill path.” The slope in front of a temple in Sakimori-cho is regarded as the place associated with it.

Origin: an Ainu phrase
Means “small downhill path”
Associated slope in Sakimori-cho

Muroran 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 September 2009)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 Sapporo, about 1 h 30 min by express.

about 80,000 people

The Muroran tourism site says the limited express takes about 1 hour 30 minutes from Sapporo Station to Muroran Station, about 1 hour from Minami-Chitose Station, and about 2 hours 30 minutes from Hakodate Station to Higashi-Muroran Station (checked October 2026).

People living here: 82,383people
Area: 81.01km²
Households: 41,766households
Rent (average for rentals): 39,075yen
Healthcare: 7 hospitals ／ 50 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —10 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 2 municipalities.

Muroran City in Japan42.315°N 140.974°E

Territory of Muroran 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

15.3km

Noboribetsu City, Date City

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

Muroran City isthis kind of town.

01The former Muroran Station building in Kaigan-cho, Muroran City, was built as the terminus of the Muroran Main Line, a two-story wooden building with a chimney, and has been a Registered Tangible Cultural Property since 1999
02The outer coast of the Etomo Peninsula is one of the national Places of Scenic Beauty known as Pirikanoka, and the Ainu name of Cape Chikyu means “parent cliff”; the Mororan Jin'ya site is a national historic site with square ramparts
03The name Muroran comes from an Ainu phrase (small downhill path), and the limited express takes about 1 h 30 min from Sapporo Station to Muroran Station

See the town as it is now.

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Muroran City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes