Sumomo no Sato, by Donguri Park, Sarabetsu Village
Article

01639 ／ さらべつむら

Hokkaido 河西郡

Sarabetsu Village

A grove born of village revitalization.

Sumomo no Sato, by Donguri Park

Photo by pakku (CC BY 3.0)

01 ／ Yachi-kanba birch

A shrub thought to be an Ice Age relicis a Hokkaido natural monument.

A report by the Betsukai Town Board of Education says the Yachi-kanba birch (Betula ovalifolia), a Hokkaido endemic, grows in isolated stands only at Sarabetsu and Betsukai in Japan, and was first found in Japan in 1958 in Sarabetsu Village. About 3,650 plants are reported in the 2.7 ha designated area of Sarabetsu Wetland.

  • Hokkaido Natural Monument (1963)
  • Found in Sarabetsu Village in 1958
  • About 3,650 plants in 2.7 ha

02 ／ Upper Sarabetsu Station

Where Upper Sarabetsu Station stood,a monument bears a picture of the station.

Upper Sarabetsu Station in Sarabetsu Village
Photo by 光朝 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The monument's inscription says Upper Sarabetsu Station opened on October 10, 1930, with the Nakasatsunai-Taiki section of the Japanese National Railways Hiroo Line, and closed on February 2, 1987, ending 57 years of history. It adds that Sarabetsu Village erected the monument in 1997.

  • Opened October 10, 1930, per the monument
  • Closed February 2, 1987, per the monument
  • Monument erected in 1997

03 ／ Tractors

Tractors came to Sarabetsu in 1947,the year the village split from Taisho Village.

According to the village, crawler tractors appeared five years after introduction, and from the Showa 40s (1965 to 1974) tractors spread in earnest while the farm horses that had been the mainstay gradually disappeared. In 2015 there were 5.4 tractors per farm household, which the village describes as among the top levels in Japan.

  • Tractors introduced in 1947
  • Crawler type in 1952
  • 5.4 per farm in 2015

Sarabetsu Village from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot August 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

No station: 73 minutes by bus from Obihiro Station.

  • about 3,000 people
  • Rural district town

There is no railway station in the village. The Hiroo Line of Tokachi Bus runs from the Obihiro Station bus terminal to the Sarabetsu stop in 73 minutes with no change. The count uses the slower of the weekday and the weekend-and-holiday timetables. The gateway is the Village Office.

People living here
3,080people
19952020

−3.3% since 2015

3,350 → 3,080

Area
176.9km²

149.82km² of it habitable

2024

Households
1,311households

2.3 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
—
Healthcare
0 hospitals ／ 2 clinics

6.5 per 10,000 people

2023

Area176.9km²Habitable land149.82km² ／ 85%
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.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Sarabetsu Village in Japan42.650°N 143.188°E
TokyoOsakaSarabetsu Village
Sarabetsu Village Office
更別村役場2013
  • to ObihiroLocal bus73min

Travel times follow 十勝バス【60】広尾線（帯広駅バスターミナル〜更別〜広尾）の路線バス時刻表（平日ダイヤ＝PDF jikoku_t60-20250602wd-1.pdf〈題名『60 広尾線(261003修正)』・Last-Modified 2026-10-05〉・土曜・日曜・祝日ダイヤ＝jikoku_t60-20250602we-1.pdf〈『令和７年６月２日改定』・Last-Modified 2026-10-28〉）。帯広駅バスターミナル→更別：土日祝71分・平日73分。更別→帯広駅バスターミナル：平日・土日祝とも76分 (checked 2026-10-29). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities.

Territory of Sarabetsu Village
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)

Sarabetsu Village isthis kind of town.

  1. 01Sumomo no Sato, a plum grove beside Donguri Park, was made by village volunteers as part of a village revitalization effort; about 1,000 plum trees bloom white in late May
  2. 02The Yachi-kanba birch of Sarabetsu Wetland became a Hokkaido natural monument in 1963, and a Betsukai Town Board of Education report says it was first found in Japan in Sarabetsu Village in 1958
  3. 03A monument stands at the site of Upper Sarabetsu Station on the Hiroo Line, and its inscription records an opening in 1930; tractors were introduced in 1947, the year the village split off

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Sarabetsu Village official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes

Similar towns

Next town Hokkaido Taiki Town →A river also named “southwest wind.”