Article

01631 ／おとふけちょう

Hokkaido 河東郡

Otofuke Town

Toll: 2 sen/person, 4/horse, 8/cart.

Old toll bridge, Tokachi Bridge

Photo by pakku (CC BY 3.0)

01 ／ Avenue

The ranch's birch avenue, 1.3 km long,is among the town's 10 designated notable trees.

The birch avenue on the Tokachi Ranch of the National Livestock Breeding Center is 1.3 km long. In 1990, as one of the projects marking the 90th anniversary of the town's founding, 10 notable trees and fine woods were designated. The town calls it a sightseeing spot. The ranch began as the Tokachi Stallion Station, created in 1910.

1.3 km long
One of 10 notable trees and woods
Tokachi Stallion Station, created 1910

02 ／ Structural soil

The town writes that fossil soil from a cold ageforms 331 mounds in one place.

The Tokachi mounds are structural soil designated a town cultural property. The town's map says they are fossil soil formed in a cold period 2,000 to 4,000 years ago, and that 331 earth-dumpling-shaped mounds, 1 to 1.5 m across and 0.5 to 1 m high, have been confirmed. It writes that the name comes from their first discovery in Japan in Tokachi.

331 mounds (town's map)
1 to 1.5 m across, 0.5 to 1 m high
Town cultural property

03 ／ Station site

When a new unstaffed station was set up,residents contributed about 800,000 yen.

This station on the former JNR Shihoro Line was opened in December 1956 as an unstaffed station. Walking to the next station meant crossing the track and a railway bridge, which was very dangerous, so residents asked for a new one. The town writes that they contributed about 800,000 yen. The Shihoro Line closed in 1987.

Unstaffed station opened December 1956
About 800,000 yen from residents
Shihoro Line closed in 1987

Otofuke 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–November 2023)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: 27 minutes by bus from Obihiro Station.

about 40,000 people
Rural district town

There is no railway station in the town, and the Shihoro Line was closed in 1987. The Otofuke Line of Tokachi Bus takes 27 minutes by the fastest daily service from Obihiro Station Bus Terminal to Otofuke Town Office (Tokachi Bus timetable revised June 2, 2025, checked October 29, 2026). The town's site introduces Tokachigawa Onsen as a Moor (plant-based) hot spring, chosen as a Hokkaido Heritage in November 2004.

People living here: 43,576people
Area: 466.02km²
Households: 18,362households
Rent (average for rentals): 46,246yen
Healthcare: 4 hospitals ／ 17 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —9 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.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Otofuke Town in Japan42.994°N 143.198°E

to ObihiroLocal bus27min

Travel times follow 十勝バス株式会社の路線バス時刻表PDF『【41】音更線（平日ダイヤ）往路・復路』『【41】音更線（土曜・日曜・祝日ダイヤ）往路・復路』（令和7年6月2日改定。tokachibus.jp の時刻表ページから 2026-10-29 に取得）。往路（帯広駅バスターミナル⑤→音更役場前）は平日・土日祝とも14便、どれも27分。 (checked 2026-10-29). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 6 municipalities.

Territory of Otofuke 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

26.8km

Shihoro Town, Shikaoi Town, Ikeda Town, Obihiro City, Memuro Town, Makubetsu Town

Otofuke Town isthis kind of town.

01By the town's cultural property map, Tokachi Bridge began as a private toll bridge built in 1905 by supporters on both banks, and was replaced in 1996 by the cable-stayed New Tokachi Bridge
02The birch avenue (1.3 km long) is one of the town's 10 notable trees and woods, and the Tokachi mounds (structural soil) are a town cultural property
03A station on the former JNR Shihoro Line was opened as an unstaffed station in 1956 at residents' request, and residents contributed about 800,000 yen at the time

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Otofuke Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes