Hokkaido Places

Town Hiyama Subprefecture

Assabu 厚沢部町

あっさぶちょう

Assabu is an inland farming and forestry town in southern Hokkaido. It calls itself the birthplace of the May Queen potato in Japan, holds the Guinness record for the world's largest croquette, and has the ruins of Tate Castle, built in 1868 and described by the town as Japan's last Japanese-style castle.

Population (2020 Census)
3,592
Area
460.58 km²
District
Hiyama District (檜山郡)
Official website
www.town.assabu.lg.jp

Known for

  • Birthplace of the May Queen potato (メークイン発祥の地). The Hokkaido Government's Hiyama agricultural trial station (檜山農事試作場) stood in Assabu, and in 1925 it became the first place in Japan to trial-grow the variety. A monument has stood on the local farm co-op (JA) grounds since 1976, and the town celebrated the variety's centenary in 20258910.
  • The world's largest croquette. A 279 kg May Queen croquette was fried at the town's 2022 summer festival and recognized by Guinness World Records on 23 July 202211.
  • Tate Castle ruins (館城跡). The Matsumae Domain built this stronghold in a hurry in 1868, and it fell within weeks. It is a national historic site12.
  • Kitazato (喜多里) shochu. Billed as Hokkaido's first authentic sweet-potato shochu, it is made from Koganesengan (黄金千貫) sweet potatoes and May Queen potatoes grown in Assabu138.
  • Plants at their range limits. Hiba (ヒノキアスナロ) and Japanese white pine (ゴヨウマツ) reach their northern limit here, and Sakhalin fir (トドマツ) its southern limit. The Reku-no-Mori forest trail is one of Japan's "100 Best Walking Trails"1415.
  • "The world's most wonderful depopulated town" (世界一素敵な過疎のまち). This upbeat slogan is behind the town's trial-living houses and the Hoikuen Ryugaku ("nursery-school study abroad") family stays816.
  • Shishimai deer dances (鹿子舞). Hamlet troupes keep up folk dances that the town has designated as cultural properties517.

Sights & activities

Nature & scenery

  • Reku-no-Mori, the Tsuchihashi Nature Observation Forest (土橋自然観察教育林「レクの森」), 緑町18-1, near the roadside station. The town-owned forest covers about 90 ha and holds around 560 plant species, including hiba at its northern limit and Sakhalin fir at its southern limit15. It was selected as one of Japan's 100 Best Walking Trails in 200214. Its best-known tree is "Hiba-jiisan" (ヒバ爺さん, "Grandpa Hiba"), a hiba said to be more than 550 years old12.
  • Taikoyama (太鼓山): see Geography & climate. The old Taikoyama road and the "Midashi no Kasamatsu" pine mark the route the Matsumae lord took to Tate Castle in 186812.
  • Uzura River (鶉川) and Uzura Dam lake. The river is home to the Japanese white pine natural monument, and the lake covers the 1868 Inakuraishi battlefield1220.

Onsen

  • Uzura Onsen "Shiki no Yado" (うずら温泉 四季の宿), 鶉町853. Day baths run 13:00–21:00 and cost ¥400; closed Mondays. It has a hiba sauna and a Cantonese restaurant, Saifūtō (彩風塘)4546. The large bath is closed for renovation from 1 November 2026 to the end of January 2027 (planned)28.
  • Kamisato Onsen (上里温泉), in the Kamisato Fureai Kōryū Center, 上里92. Open 13:00–20:00, closed Mondays, ¥400. It has an open-air bath and a sauna, and was renovated in fiscal 201747. The tourism association separately lists the Gamushi Onsen Ryokan (俄虫温泉旅館) at the same address, with a Japanese-garden open-air bath and a bedrock sauna. Check which of the two is operating before you go19.
  • Tate District Ikoi no Ie (館地区憩いの家), 館町628-3. A small municipal bath with alkaline water. Open 13:00–20:00 (April–October) or 13:00–19:00 (November–March), closed Fridays, ¥38048.

Museums & heritage

  • Tate Castle ruins (館城跡), Shirooka (城丘). The site is roughly a 200 m square. Moat and earthworks survive, including the "Hyakken-bori" moat of about 180 m, along with three wells. Excavations have continued since 2005, and the fiscal 2009 dig found 247 foundation stones, many reddened by the fire that destroyed the castle498. It is also a cherry-blossom spot popular with residents4.
  • May Queen birthplace monument (メークイン発祥之地), behind the JA Shin-Hakodate Assabu branch, on the site of the former trial station8.
  • Former Nanbu family house (旧南部家住宅). A farmhouse built in 1906, framed mainly in hiba. It now houses the Takino-an soba restaurant12.

Outdoor & seasonal activities

  • Uzura Dam Auto Campground "Hacham no Mori" (鶉ダムオートキャンプ場 ハチャムの森), 木間内60-1. Opened in July 1999 as the first auto campground in Hiyama18. The 2026 season runs 24 April–24 September. A four-person cottage costs about ¥9,000–13,800 a night depending on the season. Pets are not allowed, and Hokkaido's accommodation tax applies from April 202650.
  • Reku-no-Mori campsite. Open 24 April–24 November 2026. Bungalows are available until 24 September and must be booked; the free tent sites need only a sign-in sheet51.
  • Park golf. The town's multipurpose park golf course (新町120-1) is open late April to late November, 9:00–21:00 with night lighting, for ¥200 a day52.

Food experiences

  • Farm experiences. There are potato-digging sessions at the Agricultural Promotion Center's fields, and a rental "Fureai" farm plot next to Uzura Onsen4.
  • Takino-an (手打そば処 滝野庵), 滝野517-1. Hand-made soba with tempura of Assabu-grown maitake and, in spring, taranome shoots, served in the thatched Nanbu house53.
  • Campesino (カンペシーノ), 鶉838. An Indian-curry and coffee shop the owner built himself, opened in 2012, with two resident goats54.

Roadside stations (Michi-no-Eki)

Michi-no-Eki Assabu (道の駅あっさぶ)

  • Location: 緑町72-1, 厚沢部町, on National Route 227 near the town hall and the Assabu River. It is about 80 minutes (roughly 60 km) by car from central Hakodate. Reku-no-Mori is close by552256.
  • Hours: The station and the Assabu Bussan Center (あっさぶ物産センター) farm shop open 8:30–18:00 from May to October and 9:00–17:00 from November to April. They close for New Year, 30 December–5 January22. The station closes from 28 September to 7 October 2026 to move into its new building. The new building opens at 14:30 on 8 October 2026. Parking and the 24-hour toilets stay available during the move, and ASSAN stays open. The stamp cannot be collected while the station is closed24. Hours are as of September 2026; check before visiting.
  • Shops & products: Assabu vegetables led by May Queen potatoes, along with asparagus and corn. Processed goods include Kitazato shochu, black-bean tea, sweets and miso. There are wood and pottery pieces by local makers, Oraimo-kun goods, and a service that ships produce anywhere in Japan5522. The new sales building has 1.5 times the old floor space and adds an event space40.
  • Food:
    • Hyakushōya (お休み処百姓屋) sells May Queen croquettes made with Hikoma pork (including a spicy version), fried potatoes and soft-serve ice cream. Its signature is an extra-rich cream-cheese flavor; the town site also recommends its milk soft-serve and chewy croquettes3057. Hyakushōya closed for the 2025–26 winter58. It and a second tenant, "Taikoyama" (たいこ山), close during the September–October 2026 move, so check that they have reopened in the new building24.
    • ASSAN (アッサン), the next-door commercial building, opened on 20 August 2022. It has a large-screen "Michi-no-Eki Theater" (9:00–17:00), Assan Bakery (9:00–18:00, winter 9:00–17:00) and the Ajidokoro Teishaba (味処 停車場) restaurant (10:00–18:00, last order 17:30; winter 10:00–17:00)22.
  • Facilities: The Hokkaido roadside-station site lists 73 car and 8 large-vehicle spaces22. The tourism association lists 71 car, 7 large-vehicle and 5 accessible spaces, 3 of them roofed55. The lot is being enlarged until March 202759. Other facilities:
    • 24-hour toilets, with an accessible toilet and an ostomate facility5522
    • EV chargers, both quick and standard57
    • Free Wi-Fi and digital-signage tourist information57
    • Nursing room and diaper-changing table; credit cards and other cashless payments accepted22
    • A park with a water pond55
    • Opening with the new building on 8 October: large play equipment and container-type disaster-ready toilets (closed in winter). A dog run, the renovated pond and LED lighting are due by March 202759
    • The Assabu Tourism Association office (0139-64-3738)55
  • Notes:
    • Registered on 11 April 1995 as Hokkaido registration no. 19. The original building is made of local hiba. Its sales floor was enlarged in a 2012 renewal (the Hokkaido roadside-station site gives September 2013)2255.
    • Selected in January 2016 as a national "key roadside station" (重点「道の駅」) for fiscal 2015. The plan behind the selection combined migration and trial-living information with tourism for visitors arriving on the Hokkaido Shinkansen60.
    • The redevelopment of the station area is budgeted at ¥871.98 million in fiscal 202661.
    • A Pokémon manhole cover (ポケふた) showing Vulpix, Alolan Vulpix and Wormadam, a design unique to Assabu, was installed at the ASSAN entrance on 6 November 202523.
    • The station is on the Hokkaido Michi-no-Eki stamp rally24.

Getting there & around

  • By car: About 1 hour 15 minutes from Hakodate on National Route 227 (大野国道)14, a distance of about 57 km5. About 4 hours 30 minutes (240 km) from Sapporo, and about 12 minutes (13 km) from Esashi5. About 1 hour 30 minutes from Hakodate Airport and 3 hours 30 minutes from New Chitose Airport16. Hokkaido prefectural roads 29 (Kamiiso–Assabu), 67 (Yakumo–Assabu) and 460 (Otobe–Assabu) link the town to its neighbors5.
  • By bus: Hakodate Bus route 610 runs from Hakodate Bus Center to Esashi Terminal via Hakodate Station, Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station, Uzura and Assabu562. The fare from Hakodate Bus Center to Assabu is ¥2,00063. The tourism association gives about 1 hour 50 minutes from Hakodate Station and 50 minutes from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, based on an older timetable14.
  • By rail: The town has no railway. The nearest stations are Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto (Hokkaido Shinkansen and Hakodate Main Line) and Yakumo (Hakodate Main Line). The Shinkansen extension to Sapporo will pass under the town through the Oshima Tunnel (渡島トンネル), with no station in Assabu564.
  • Ferry: Route 610 continues to Esashi and stops at Ubagami-chō Ferry-mae (姥神町フェリー前) near the ferry terminal5. Ferries to Okushiri Island leave from Esashi; see Okushiri.
  • Getting around: Local bus lines have been cut back. The Tate and Inami lines were abolished, and a shared bus for Esashi High School students runs in their place61. The town also runs a paid ride service for areas without public transport, which general users can book as well1061. Visitors realistically need a car. A local taxi company operates in town (俄虫タクシー)5.

Practical tips

  • Best seasons:
    • Spring for cherry blossoms at Tate Castle and azaleas on Taikoyama48
    • July for the summer festival and camping31
    • Late September to October for new-crop May Queen, harvest events and autumn color29438
  • Timing in autumn 2026:
    • The roadside station is closed 28 September–7 October and reopens on 8 October, with events on 10–12 October2444
    • Uzura Onsen's large bath is closed from 1 November 2026 to the end of January 2027 (planned)28
  • Closing days:
    • Uzura Onsen and Kamisato Onsen close on Mondays
    • Tate Ikoi no Ie closes on Fridays454748
  • Tourist information: The Assabu Tourism Association is at the roadside station (0139-64-3738, weekdays 8:30–17:15)55.
  • Winter: The town is a heavy-snow area, and snow has reached 161 cm at Uzura. Allow for winter driving on Route 227526.
  • Brown bears: The town posts sightings on its "Higumap" bear map. It advises carrying food and trash out, not going into the hills alone, making noise as you walk, and turning back if you see droppings or tracks65. Before entering Reku-no-Mori, sign the entry register at the exhibition hall and check the patrol notes. Some wooden bridges on the trail are damaged15.
  • Deer and bears in farmland: Brown bears and sika deer damage crops, and the town subsidizes electric fences against them10.

More about Assabu

At a glance
Field Details
Type Town (町)
Subprefecture Hiyama (檜山振興局)
District Hiyama District (檜山郡)
Population 3,592 (2020 National Census)1. 3,099 (2025 Census, preliminary)1. 3,107 people in 1,732 households on the resident register, foreign residents included (31 August 2026)2
Area 460.58 km² (GSI, as of 1 April 2026)3
Density About 6.7 people/km² (August 2026 register); 7.8/km² at the 2020 Census
Municipal history Gamushi village office (俄虫村戸長役場) opened in May 1876. Assabu Village (厚沢部村) was formed in April 1906 under the second-class village system. Town status came on 10 March 19634. The town has never merged with a neighbor.
Neighboring municipalities Hiyama: Esashi, Kaminokuni, Otobe. Oshima: Hokuto, Kikonai, Yakumo, Mori5
Symbols Tree: Japanese black pine (クロマツ). Flower: azalea (ツツジ)6. No town bird was found. The flag and emblem were adopted on 30 March 19685.
Mascot Oraimo-kun (おらいも君), a May Queen potato character. A local citizens' group created it in 1984, and it was named in a 1985 public contest from 56 entries. The "Oraimo family" also includes his wife Satsuki, daughter Poteko and son Hazeru, who was "born" on 1 March 20197
Official website https://www.town.assabu.lg.jp/

Name origin

The name comes from Ainu, but the original form is disputed. Two derivations are cited by the town's tourism association and by a regional agricultural research institute:

  • At-sam (アッ・サム): "elm bark" plus "beside", so "beside the elm bark" (楡皮・のそば)8. The tourism association instead reads it as "place where elm bark is dried" (楡皮・干す処)14.
  • Hacham-pet (ハッチャム・ベツ, also ハチャム・ベツ): "sakuradori river" (桜鳥・川), where hacham is the Ainu name of a bird written 桜鳥814. The Uzura Dam auto-campground, "Hacham no Mori", is named after this word18.

Other local names also come from Ainu. The Gamushi (俄虫) district, the old name of the town-center area5, is said to come from kamuy-us-i, "place with many bears"19. "Assabu" is often listed among southern Hokkaido's hard-to-read place names5.

History
  • Prehistory. In 1977, during work on Uzura Dam, workers found the Inakuraishi rock-shelter site (稲倉石岩陰遺跡). A rescue excavation the next year turned up more than 2,000 Jōmon pottery and stone artifacts, and the site now lies under the reservoir20. Work around the Hoido-ana rock shelter (ホイド穴) produced Esan-culture (恵山文化, Epi-Jōmon) artifacts. The "Assabu whale" fossil (アッサブクジラ), a whale or sea cow thought to be about 7 million years old, was found around 194012.
  • Edo period. In 1678 (Enpō 6) the Matsumae Domain opened the area's hiba forests to logging. Woodcutters (杣夫, somafu) came from Honshu, took up farming on the side, and began clearing the river valleys48. The Haitanaiyama natural forest (羽板内山天然林) was protected as a Matsumae tomeyama (留山, restricted forest) and survives as today's Reku-no-Mori12.
  • 1868: Tate Castle. In the 9th month of Meiji 1, the Matsumae Domain suddenly decided to move its seat from Fukuyama (now Matsumae) about 80 km north to Tate village in Assabu218. The Esashi merchant Sekikawa Heishirō (関川平四郎) kept a diary of the building work, which reached its ridgepole ceremony on the 24th day of the 10th month21. On the 12th day of the 11th month, a surprise attack by former-shogunate forces drove the defenders out of Inakuraishi. On the 15th the castle fell and burned, and the domain lord fled by sea to Tsugaru20125. The domain kept Tate as its seat and renamed itself Tate Domain (館藩) until the domains were abolished in 18715.
  • Meiji settlement. The area came under the Hokkaido Development Commission (開拓使) in 1872, and the Gamushi village office opened in May 18764. Assabu Village was formed in April 19064. The sources consulted do not name the prefectures early settlers came from.
  • Taishō and early Shōwa. In August 1919, a former Matsumae retainer put up the Hekketsu-hi (碧血碑) memorial to the domain's war dead at Inakuraishi. May Queen trials began in 1925129. The Uzura River Japanese white pine stand was made a national natural monument in 1928. In 1934 the landowner Terada Shōki (寺田省帰) sold his estate to its 49 tenant farmers12.
  • Postwar decline. The population peaked at 10,651 in the 1960 Census. It fell by 2,612 over the next decade, and in 1970 the town was designated a depopulated area4.
  • Revitalization era. Michi-no-Eki Assabu was registered in 199522. Uzura Dam, begun around 1969, was finished in 200120. Tate Castle ruins became a national historic site in 200212. Sapporo Shuzei Kogyo opened its shochu distillery in October 20068. The 2009 "wonderful depopulated town" ordinance and the town-owned development company followed8. In 2022 the ASSAN facility opened at the roadside station (20 August)22 and the record croquette was fried (23 July)11.
  • Recent events. Heavy rain in August 2025 caused landslides, river flooding and sediment damage to farmland10. KitchHike (キッチハイク), the company that runs Hoikuen Ryugaku, moved its headquarters from Tokyo to Assabu on 14 November 202523. The year 2026 marks 150 years since the 1876 village office, and a new roadside-station building opens on 8 October 20261024.

Geography & climate
  • Setting. Assabu lies in southeastern Hiyama and has no coastline. It borders Yakumo and Mori to the north, Kaminokuni and Kikonai to the south, Otobe and Esashi to the west, and Hokuto to the east5. Forest covers 37,629 ha of the town's 46,042 ha (about 82%), and about 80% of that forest is national forest4.
  • Rivers. The Assabu River (厚沢部川) gathers the Uzura (鶉川), Anoro (安野呂川) and Tate (館川) rivers and winds through paddy country. It is known locally for ayu (sweetfish) fishing85.
  • Taikoyama (太鼓山, 145.9 m). This hill in the middle of town has azaleas in spring and good autumn color. Stamp on the summit and the ground booms like a drum (taiko), which is said to give the hill its name. Nobody has explained why812.
  • Uzura Dam (鶉ダム). An irrigation rock-fill dam, 52.2 m high and holding 10 million m³20.
  • Natural monument. The Uzura River Japanese white pine northern-limit zone (鶉川ゴヨウマツ自生北限地帯) was designated in 1928 over 1,200 ha. Since a partial release in 1951 it covers 360 ha12.
  • Settlements (31 March 2025). Shinmachi, the core of the town center, had 302 households (567 people), Akanuma-chō 318 (565), Tate-machi 208 (357) and Uzura-chō 153 (274)4.
  • Climate. The AMeDAS station at Uzura (鶉, 53 m) gives these 1991–2020 normals: annual mean 8.2 °C, January mean −3.7 °C, August mean 21.2 °C, precipitation 1,357.8 mm, total snowfall 586 cm, and an average deepest snow in February of 81 cm25. Records are 35.0 °C (10 August 2023), −24.8 °C (29 January 2012) and a snow depth of 161 cm (19 February 2018)26. The town is a designated heavy-snow area (特別豪雪地帯)5.

Economy & industry
  • Farming. Farming is the town's main industry. The Assabu branch of JA Shin-Hakodate (JA新はこだて) reported sales of about ¥3.012 billion for 2025, up about ¥165 million. The increase came mostly from high rice prices, while heat damage cut the quality and yield of many other crops10. The 2020 agricultural census counted 209 farm households, down from 615 in 1990, working 3,553 ha (1,557 ha paddy, 1,980 ha upland fields)4. Besides rice and May Queen potatoes, the main crops are Hikari black soybeans (光黒大豆), daikon, corn, melons, stem-grown asparagus (立茎アスパラガス) and broccoli8.
  • Farm support. The town's Agricultural Promotion Center (農業活性化センター, 1992) runs crop trials, soil testing and seedling supply8.
  • Forestry and wood. Wood-products makers account for 6 of the town's 7 factories with four or more staff, and 77 of their 83 workers4.
  • Shochu. Sapporo Shuzei Kogyo (札幌酒精工業) began trial Koganesengan sweet-potato plantings with three Assabu farm households in 2003, and opened its Assabu distillery in October 2006. Next to the distillery, the farm company Noir (ノアール) built a biogas plant that turns shochu lees into methane and liquid fertilizer. The methane and the distillery's cooling water heat a large greenhouse8.
  • Commerce. The town has 30 wholesale and retail businesses with annual sales of ¥3.109 billion (2021 Economic Census)4.
  • Population and jobs. The population fell 66.3% between 1960 and 2020. The share of people aged 65 and over was 42.9% in 2020 and is now above 45%410. The national population institute (IPSS) projects about 1,664 residents in 20504. In 2020 the town had 1,889 workers: 32.3% in primary, 17.0% in secondary and 50.7% in tertiary industries4.
  • Revitalization. In March 2009 the town passed its "wonderful depopulated town" basic ordinance (素敵な過疎のまちづくり基本条例). That September it set up the wholly town-owned company Sutekina Kaso-zukuri Co. (素敵な過疎づくり株式会社). Four "chotto kurashi" (ちょっと暮らし) trial-living houses, built by the local construction association in February 2010, have been in use since April 2010. In fiscal 2011 the company received the President's Award of the National Federation for the Promotion of Depopulated Areas (全国過疎地域自立促進連盟会長賞) in the national commendations for revitalizing depopulated areas8. Hoikuen Ryugaku, which has run in earnest since fiscal 2022, lets families from elsewhere stay, typically for a week, while their child attends the town's Hazeru certified childcare center (認定こども園はぜる)416. The town works with a local power company, Hacham (ハチャム), and plans to use the national "decarbonization leading area" program to expand wind and solar power10.
  • Furusato nōzei. Hometown-tax donations reached 2,336 gifts worth ¥42.92 million in fiscal 2024 and 1,001 gifts worth about ¥22.1 million in fiscal 20252728. The fiscal 2025 total is the town's own figure (¥22.098 million); the Furusato Choice page lists ¥22,998,1002827.
  • Tourism. No official visitor count for the town was found.

Local specialties
Specialty Category Details & where to get it
May Queen potatoes (メークイン) Crop The town's signature crop: long, smooth and waxy, holds its shape in stews. Sold at the roadside station. Hometown-tax gifts include 10 kg boxes of May Queen or Kitaakari and 5 kg mixed boxes of the two, all shipped from late September929
May Queen croquettes Signature dish At Hyakushōya (百姓屋) in the roadside station: croquettes of Assabu May Queen and Hikoma pork (ひこま豚), a southern-Hokkaido pork brand, including a spicy version30. The giant version is the summer festival's centerpiece31
Kitazato (喜多里) Shochu Authentic otsu-type shochu made from Assabu's Koganesengan sweet potatoes and May Queen potatoes, with a soft sweet-potato aroma13. The range has also included separate shochu from May Queen, from two-row barley (Assabu and Imakane) and from Minamikayabe kelp8. A five-bottle set is sold at the station22
Hikari black soybeans (光黒大豆) Crop Large black soybeans made into black-bean tea (黒豆茶)32 and "Assabu no Mame" (あっさぶの豆) sweet beans. The latter comes in a limited Tamafukura-soybean version and has local "grandma's tales" printed on the back33
Meika Assabu (銘菓あっさぶ) Sweet Baked cake of white bean paste kneaded with May Queen, from the Kuraya confectionery (厚沢部菓子工房 KURAYA). It won the top honor (全菓博栄誉大賞) at the 23rd National Confectionery Exposition, Morioka, 199834. Kuraya (本町90-2, closed Sundays) also sells black-bean roll cakes, black-bean pudding and black-bean senbei35
Popcorn and don-gashi Snacks Domestic popping corn from the Assabu Agrist Club (あっさぶアグリスト倶楽部)36. Tamura Foods' "Amafubuki" puffed corn (きみどん) and puffed rice (こめどん)37
Miso, tomato juice, dried vegetables, ezo maitake Processed foods Tsurunoko-soybean miso (つるの子大豆みそ), country-style kōji miso (田舎作り糀味噌), "Zeitaku" tomato juice (贅沢とまとのジュース), dried vegetables, dried sweet potato and Ezo maitake mushrooms (蝦夷舞茸)38
"Mori no Okurimono" (森の贈物) Craft Bath sachets of local hiba chips that give a forest scent39
May Queen potato chips Snack Made to mark the May Queen centenary in 202510
Hardwood cutting boards Craft / hometown-tax gift Handmade boards of Hokkaido hardwood, offered as hometown-tax gifts29

Culture & festivals
Event When Highlights
Shishimai Exchange (鹿子舞交流会) January (18 January 2026) The town's deer-dance troupes perform together at Ayumi Kōryū Hall (あゆみ交流ホール)40
Tate Castle Ruins Festival (館城跡まつり) June (36th festival on 14 June 2026) Children's dances, a singing show, balloon art, children's taiko, food trucks and a flea market at Tate Elementary School41
Uzura Tug-of-War Festival (うずら綱引き祭) June (first held 2024) Tournaments of five-person teams in men's and women's/junior-high divisions, with cash prizes. Held on the plaza in front of the Uzura training center (鶉町225-4)4243
Assabu Furusato Summer Festival (あっさぶふるさと夏まつり) July (21st festival on 18 July 2026) The giant May Queen croquette fry, karaoke and dance, a water slide, grilled ayu, and a mochi-maki rice-cake scramble at the end. Held in the town-hall parking lot, with shuttle buses31
Parent-child river fishing contest (親子体験フェスタinあっさぶ川 川釣り大会) July Family fishing event on the Assabu River43
JA Shin-Hakodate Harvest Thanksgiving Festival (大収穫感謝祭inあっさぶ) October (13th festival on 3 October 2026) Harvest fair at the JA Assabu branch grounds, with new-crop rice and vegetables and an all-you-can-stuff bag of May Queen2843
Roadside station reopening events 10–12 October 2026 Free oraimo-yaki, salt-boiled May Queen, a cardboard maze, a "potato catcher" crane game, vegetable capsule toys, and a prize draw with 100 kg of May Queen as a top prize44
Town Culture Festival (町民文化祭) November Residents' arts festival43
  • Deer and lion dances. The town has designated four deer dances as intangible folk cultural properties: Anoro (安野呂, Takino), Kami-Gamushi (上俄虫, Kamisato), Tsuchihashi (土橋, Tomie) and Tōro (当路)5. The town says Kami-Gamushi came from Fukushima in Mutsu Province during the Bunka era (1804–18). Tsuchihashi borrows kagura footwork, and Tōro is danced from a half-crouch and derives from the "Donba" deer dance at the river mouth. The Miwa Gongen lion dance (美和権現獅子舞) belongs to a separate tradition17.
  • Heritage monuments. The Hekketsu-hi (碧血碑, 1919), a memorial to the domain's war dead, was moved when its site on the Inakuraishi battlefield was flooded by Uzura Dam lake12.
  • Museums. No general museum was found in the town's or tourism association's listings. The forest exhibition hall at Reku-no-Mori is currently unstaffed and closed15.

Ainu heritage

Little Ainu heritage is documented in Assabu, and the town has no Ainu cultural facility. The clearest traces are place names: Assabu itself (at-sam or hacham-pet), Gamushi (kamuy-us-i, "many bears") and Hacham no Mori81918. Older sub-district names such as アイヌノ沢 ("Ainu valley") and 蝦夷岱 ("Ezo plateau") were dropped in the 1960 place-name reform5. Earlier occupation shows up at the Jōmon-era Inakuraishi rock shelter and the Esan-culture (Epi-Jōmon) finds at Hoido-ana2012.

Sister & friendship cities
  • Formal sister cities: None found5.
  • Shoufeng Township (寿豊郷), Hualien County, Taiwan. The two signed a friendship exchange agreement (友好交流協定) in March 2023 to cooperate on tourism, agriculture and regional revitalization. An eight-member delegation led by Mayor Masahide Sato (佐藤正秀, mayor since 2023)66 visited in November 2025, and a Shoufeng delegation is expected in Assabu in 20264010.
  • Kyushu Women's University (九州女子大学). The town signed a cooperation agreement with the university at a ceremony in Fukuoka in fiscal 2008. This is a university partnership, not a city pairing7.

Sources

Numbers in the text link to these sources. Figures as of 23 September 2026

  1. 令和７年国勢調査速報 北海道の人口・世帯数（要計表に基づく人口・世帯数の集計） — 北海道総合政策部計画局統計課 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  2. 厚沢部町公式ホームページ（トップページ「厚沢部町の世帯数・人口」） — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  3. 令和8年全国都道府県市区町村別面積調（4月1日時点） — 国土地理院 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  4. 厚沢部町過疎地域持続的発展市町村計画 — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  5. 厚沢部町 — Wikipedia 日本語版 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  6. 町章・町花・町木 — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  7. 厚沢部町イメージキャラクター「おらいもファミリー」 — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  8. あのマチこのムラ・地域おこし活躍中 No.64 厚沢部町の事例 — 一般社団法人 北海道地域農業研究所 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  9. 特産品 メークイン — 厚沢部町観光協会／素敵な過疎づくり株式会社 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  10. 令和8年度町政執行方針 — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  11. Largest croquette — Guinness World Records EN accessed 2026-09-23
  12. あっさぶの文化財 — 厚沢部町教育委員会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  13. 特産品 芋焼酎・じゃがいも焼酎「喜多里」 — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  14. 厚沢部町について — 厚沢部町観光協会／素敵な過疎づくり株式会社 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  15. 土橋自然観察教育林（レクの森） — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  16. 保育園留学｜北海道 厚沢部町認定こども園はぜる — 保育園留学（株式会社キッチハイク） JA accessed 2026-09-23
  17. 厚沢部町の鹿子舞と獅子舞 — 厚沢部町教育委員会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  18. 鶉ダムオートキャンプ場 ハチャムの森 — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  19. 俄虫（がむし）温泉 俄虫温泉旅館 — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  20. 鶉ダムについて — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  21. 館城はなぜ築かれたのか？ — 厚沢部町教育委員会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  22. あっさぶ（道の駅を見る） — 北の道の駅（北海道地区「道の駅」連絡会） JA accessed 2026-09-23
  23. 広報あっさぶ 744号（2025年12月号） — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  24. 「道の駅あっさぶ」新施設への移転に伴う、臨時休業のお知らせ — 北の道の駅 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  25. 鶉（檜山地方） 平年値（年・月ごとの値） — 気象庁 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  26. 鶉（檜山地方） 観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値） — 気象庁 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  27. 北海道厚沢部町｜自治体・ふるさと納税情報 — ふるさとチョイス JA accessed 2026-09-23
  28. 広報あっさぶ 753号（2026年9月号） — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  29. 北海道厚沢部町のふるさと納税 お礼の品ランキング — ふるさとチョイス JA accessed 2026-09-23
  30. 百姓屋 — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  31. 第21回『あっさぶふるさと夏まつり』は7月18日（土曜日）に開催です！ — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  32. 特産品 黒豆茶 — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  33. 特産品 あっさぶの豆 — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  34. 特産品 銘菓あっさぶ — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  35. 厚沢部菓子工房 KURAYA — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  36. 特産品 ポップコーン — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  37. 特産品 どん菓子 — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  38. 買う（観光） — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  39. 特産品 入浴剤「森の贈物」 — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  40. 広報あっさぶ 745号（2026年1月号） — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  41. 【イベント情報】6月14日（日）は第36回「館城跡まつり」が開催されます！ — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  42. 第１回うずら綱引き祭のお知らせ — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  43. イベント情報（2026年のイベントスケジュール） — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  44. 「道の駅あっさぶ」リニューアルオープン＆イベント開催のお知らせ — 北の道の駅 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  45. うずら温泉 四季の宿 — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  46. うずら温泉 — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  47. 上里温泉（上里ふれあい交流センター） — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  48. 館地区憩いの家 — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  49. 日本最後の和式築城の概要 — 厚沢部町教育委員会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  50. 2026年度鶉ダムオートキャンプ場「ハチャムの森」ご予約・ご利用案内 — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  51. 2026年度レクの森キャンプ場開設のご案内 — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  52. 厚沢部町多目的交流広場パークゴルフ場 — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  53. 手打そば処 滝野庵 — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  54. カレーとコーヒーの店 カンペシーノ — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  55. 道の駅あっさぶ — 厚沢部町観光協会 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  56. 道の駅あっさぶ — Wikipedia 日本語版 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  57. 道の駅あっさぶ — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  58. 「道の駅あっさぶ」リニューアルに伴う施設の移転、臨時休業のお知らせ — 北の道の駅 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  59. 広報あっさぶ 750号（2026年6月号） — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  60. 平成２７年度重点「道の駅」の選定について（記者発表資料） — 国土交通省 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  61. 広報あっさぶ 748号（2026年4月号） — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  62. 路線図・運行エリアについて — 函館バス JA accessed 2026-09-23
  63. 610系統 運賃表 — 函館バス JA accessed 2026-09-23
  64. 北海道新幹線（新函館北斗・札幌間）工事進捗状況 — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  65. ヒグマについて — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23
  66. 町長のプロフィール — 厚沢部町 JA accessed 2026-09-23