Article

01632 ／しほろちょう

Hokkaido 河東郡

Shihoro Town

Pupils of two towns link arms in stone.

Exchange Monument, former Sakura School

Photo by 萩原進 (CC BY 3.0)

01 ／ Mino House

A farmhouse of Gifu's Mino region was rebuiltfor the 90th year, the tourist association says.

The town says Shihoro's full-scale settlement began in March 1898, when 43 households of a land-clearing company formed in Gifu Prefecture entered Naka-Shihoro. The tourist association introduces the park at the town's birthplace as holding the Mino House, rebuilt to mark 90 years of settlement, and a monument inscribed with the settlers' names.

43 households in 1898
Rebuilt for the 90th year (tourist association)
Monument with settlers' names

02 ／ Former Shihoro Station

Shihoro Station on the Shihoro Line, opened in 1925,is kept as it was.

At Shihoro Transport Park, the station building and grounds of Shihoro Station on the former Japanese National Railways Shihoro Line are kept as they were. The line opened in 1925 and closed 62 years later, in 1987. An information sign tells the line's history, and freight cars stand at the platform.

Opened 1925
Closed 1987
Building and grounds kept

03 ／ Firefly Park

In a park with a breeding pond,Heike fireflies appear from late July.

The firefly park has a breeding pond, and the town says Heike fireflies can be seen from late July to early August. The tourist association announced the 2026 viewing event for 24 July to 2 August and asks visitors to stay out of the park outside that period to protect the fireflies.

Firefly breeding pond
Heike fireflies
Late July to early August

Shihoro 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

50 minutes by bus from Obihiro Station.

about 6,000 people
Rural district town

There is no railway station in the town. The fastest daily local bus from the Obihiro Station bus terminal to the Shihoro waiting-room stop takes 50 minutes (Takushoku Bus timetable, revised 1 December 2025). The gateway is the town office.

People living here: 5,848people
Area: 259.19km²
Households: 2,524households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 2 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —3 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.

Shihoro Town in Japan43.168°N 143.241°E

to ObihiroLocal bus50min

Travel times follow 拓殖バス『上士幌線・音上線全停留所の時刻表』（2025年12月1日版の PDF。https://www.takubus.com/app/download/11558496179/上士幌.pdf 。拓殖バス公式の時刻表ページ https://www.takubus.com/路線バス時刻-路線図/時刻表ページ/ の『上士幌・音上線』から）と、十勝バス『49 上士幌線・51 ぬかびら線（平日ダイヤ）』（2026年10月3日修正〔PDF のファイル名の表題に261003修正〕の PDF https://www.tokachibus.jp/pdf/rosen/jikoku_t49-20250602wd2-1.pdf ）・『同（土日祝ダイヤ）』（令和7年6月2日改定 https://www.tokachibus.jp/pdf/rosen/jikoku_t49-20250602we2.pdf ）。士幌町公式『路線バスについて』（https://www.shihoro.jp/detail.php?content=1450 ）が、この十勝バスの2つの PDF と拓殖バスの時刻表ページへリンクする。2026-10-29 に PDF を表（画像）として目で読んだ (checked 2026-10-29). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities.

Territory of Shihoro 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

19.1km

Otofuke Town, Kamishihoro Town, Shikaoi Town, Honbetsu Town, Ikeda Town

Shihoro Town isthis kind of town.

01The exchange monument in Shihoro Town stands for the exchange begun in 1992 between the Sakura elementary schools of Shihoro and of Sakura City, Chiba; its inscription calls the right figure a Shihoro pupil and the left a Chiba pupil, and artscape links both schools to the Hotta family
02Shihoro began in 1898 with 43 households of a land-clearing company from Gifu Prefecture; the tourist association says the Mino House in Naka-Shihoro was rebuilt, and the station building and grounds of Shihoro Station on the Shihoro Line are kept at Shihoro Transport Park
03Heike fireflies can be seen at the firefly park from late July to early August, and the fastest daily local bus from the Obihiro Station bus terminal to the Shihoro waiting-room stop takes 50 minutes, as the town has no railway station

See the town as it is now.

Facebookshihorotown ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Shihoro Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes