Article

01563 ／おうむちょう

Hokkaido 紋別郡

Oumu Town

A tunnel mouth no train reaches, barred.

Oumu Tunnel, unopened rail link

Photo by Kiha261 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ La Luna

In the glass-walled La Luna room,you can wait for sunrise even in deep winter.

La Luna in Oumu Town — Photo by hj695gz (CC BY 3.0)

La Luna, an observation facility at the Sunrise Cape, was completed in December 1992. The town says that in winter, waiting for the sunrise here allows comfortable viewing even in the coldest season. The town says the earliest sunrise in Oumu is at 3:42 a.m. on June 14 and the latest at 7:05 a.m. on January 1.

Completed December 1992
Fully glass-walled lookout room
Sunrise from 3:42 to 7:05 a.m.

02 ／ Exchange with Takeo

A letter sent astray led the post officesof two reversed place names to pair up.

In spring 1985 a letter for the Oumu Town post office went astray to the Takeo post office. On June 16, 1986 the two offices became sister post offices, and the start date reads 61.6.16 even when reversed. Takeo City says children's exchanges followed and reach their 33rd round in fiscal 2026.

Sister post offices on June 16, 1986
Date reads 61.6.16 reversed
Children's exchange: 33rd round in FY2026

03 ／ Oumu Roadside Station

The observation tower that can look like a scallopis, per the town, meant to evoke an airship.

The Oumu roadside station opened in February 1998 as a hall for local training and a transport terminal, and was registered as a roadside station that April. The lookout stands as high as a seven-story building; the town describes it as modeled on an airship, the tourist association on a spaceship.

Height of a seven-story building
Registered as roadside station April 1998
Town: airship; tourist association: spaceship

Oumu 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 August–September 2024)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 in town; the nearest are Nayoro and Engaru.

about 4,000 people
Rural district town

The town names Nayoro Station on the Soya Main Line and Engaru Station on the Sekihoku Main Line as the nearest JR stations. Local buses run Oumu to Okoppe and Mombetsu (Hokumon Bus) and Esashi to Oumu (Soya Bus). Oumu Station, the terminus of the former national railway line from Okoppe, closed on July 15, 1985.

People living here: 4,199people
Area: 636.88km²
Households: 2,052households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 2 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 6 municipalities.

Oumu Town in Japan44.583°N 142.962°E

Territory of Oumu 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

28.4km

Shimokawa Town, Okoppe Town, Esashi Town, Bifuka Town, Nayoro City, Nishiokoppe Village

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

Oumu Town isthis kind of town.

01Wikipedia says Oumu Tunnel lies on the unopened section that the former national railway line from Okoppe planned to extend from its terminus at Oumu toward Esashi; the town says some of the roadbed and facilities were built but the section never opened, and Oumu Station closed on July 15, 1985
02La Luna at the Sunrise Cape was completed in December 1992, and the earliest sunrise in town is 3:42 a.m. on June 14; a misdelivered letter in 1985 led the Takeo and Oumu post offices to become sister offices
03The town describes the Oumu roadside station's observation tower as modeled on an airship and the tourist association as a spaceship; the nearest JR stations are Nayoro on the Soya Main Line and Engaru on the Sekihoku Main Line

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Oumu Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

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