Article

01664 ／しべちゃちょう

Hokkaido 川上郡

Shibecha Town

A town's cattle pasture, 360° horizon.

Tawadaira, town rearing pasture

Photo by Soica2001 (Public domain)

01 ／ Kottaro Wetland Viewpoint

Beside gravel Road 1060,a viewing deck stands on a hill.

The Shibecha Museum writes that Hokkaido Road 1060, a gravel road, is the only one crossing the Kushiro Wetland, and places the viewpoint on a hilltop beside it. The tourism portal introduces it as a viewpoint with an unobstructed view of the wetland, free of man-made structures.

On a hilltop beside Road 1060 (gravel)
Has a viewing deck
Unobstructed view (tourism portal)

02 ／ The 799 m peak

Mist from Lake Mashu drifts ontoan 799 m peak, and alpine plants bloom.

The 799 m peak in Shibecha Town — Photo by Neptune8 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Ministry of the Environment writes that mist from Lake Mashu drifts over on the wind, so alpine plants bloom higher than the peak's actual elevation, from spring to autumn. The tourism portal introduces it as part of Akan-Mashu National Park and a representative mountain of Shibecha.

Elevation 799 m
Part of Akan-Mashu National Park
Shibecha's representative mountain (tourism portal)

03 ／ Former Toro Post Station

The post station building went up in 1885as a fishing hut of logs.

The Shibecha Museum says a post station (ekiteisho) was a semi-official lodging, a system unique to Hokkaido. The Toro station was set up in 1890 and closed in 1928 as the railway opened. Restoration of the interior to its post-station state finished at the end of January 2023.

Set up in 1890
Closed in 1928
Restoration finished January 2023

Shibecha 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

From Kushiro Station to Shibecha Station, about an hour.

about 7,000 people
Rural district town

The town's access page says Shibecha Station is about an hour from Kushiro Station (no date shown; checked October 2026). The town covers 1,099.37 km², 58.9 km east to west and 60.5 km north to south.

People living here: 7,230people
Area: 1,099.37km²
Households: 3,248households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 1 clinic

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

Children waiting for childcare: —5 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.

Shibecha Town in Japan43.303°N 144.601°E

Territory of Shibecha 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

61.7km

Akkeshi Town, Teshikaga Town, Tsurui Village, Kushiro Town, Betsukai Town, Nakashibetsu Town

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

Shibecha Town isthis kind of town.

01Tawadaira Observatory sits inside the town's rearing pasture, which the tourism portal introduces as a place with a "360° horizon." The pasture has 1,279 ha of sloping grazing land and boards up to 2,700 dairy cattle in summer
02The Kottaro Wetland Viewpoint stands on a hill beside Road 1060, and mist from Lake Mashu drifts onto a peak of 799 m
03The former Toro Post Station is a log building put up in 1885 as a fishing hut, and the town is about an hour from Kushiro Station

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Shibecha Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes