Hokkaido Places

Town Iburi Subprefecture

Atsuma 厚真町

あつまちょう

Atsuma is a farming town that follows the Atsuma River from forested hills south to the Pacific. It grows more haskap berries than any other place in Japan, has the most rice paddy in Iburi, and draws surfers to its short coast. It was also the epicentre of the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake, the first earthquake in Hokkaido to reach seismic intensity 7.123

Population (2020 Census)
4,432
Area
405.38 km²
District
Yufutsu District (勇払郡)
Official website
www.town.atsuma.lg.jp

Known for

  • Haskap (ハスカップ): Atsuma has Japan's largest haskap plantings and harvest. It grew 30 ha in 2020, and the town aims for 40 tonnes a year.1 Its own varieties, Yūshige (ゆうしげ) and Atsuma Mirai (あつまみらい), are shipped only at 12° Brix or higher. "Atsuma-grown Haskap" (厚真産ハスカップ) became a regional collective trademark in 2024.14 Taking the two varieties out of the town is restricted.15
  • Epicentre of the 2018 earthquake: On 6 September 2018 an M6.7 quake reached intensity 7 at Kanuma (鹿沼) in Atsuma. This was the first intensity 7 recorded in Hokkaido.3 It killed 37 people in the town and collapsed 3,236 ha of hillside.16
  • Rice: Rice is the main crop, and Atsuma has long been the leading rice district in Iburi.17 About 1,473 ha were planted in 2020.1 The rice is sold as Sakura-mai (さくら米) and Atsuma-mai (厚真米).6
  • Tomato-Atsuma Power Station (苫東厚真発電所): This 1.65 GW thermal plant shut down in the 2018 quake. With transmission-line faults, the shutdown blacked out all of Hokkaido 18 minutes after the shock. It was the first island-wide blackout, and it affected 2.95 million households.16 The coast also has Tomakomai East Port and oil stockpile bases.17
  • Hama-Atsuma surfing: About 60,000 surfers a year come to the Hama-Atsuma coast (浜厚真海岸), one of Hokkaido's top surf spots.18
  • Archaeology from the Jōmon to early Ainu times: Digs for the Appolo Dam (厚幌ダム) found the oldest Japanese mirror yet found in Hokkaido, made in Kyoto around 1150. They also found Ainu ritual sites about 1,000 years old.1920
  • Azuma Jingisukan (あづまジンギスカン): marinated lamb sold by the Ichihara butcher shop since 1968. Its name keeps the older local pronunciation, "Azuma".2122
  • Local ventures: Since 2016 the town's Local Venture School has trained would-be founders. By 2024 about 30 of them had taken start-up posts as regional revitalization cooperators.23

Sights & activities

Nature & scenery

  • Hama-Atsuma coast (浜厚真海岸): Surfers line up in their cars before dawn. The tourism association also recommends the sunsets over the water.18 The town streams a beach live camera.50
  • Appolo Dam (厚幌ダム): A 516 m long trapezoidal CSG dam in a quiet mountain valley; the tourism association lists it for dam touring.2816 The older Atsuma Dam (1970) is about 5 km upstream.16
  • Uryū Ranch viewing deck (宇隆牧場, Uryū 158-1): Built in 2022. On clear days it looks out over the Pacific to Mt. Tarumae, Mt. Fuppushi, Mt. Yōtei and Mt. Eniwa. Public opening was planned for FY2025, so check that it is open before going.51
  • Forest walks: Walking paths through the town's environmental conservation forest (環境保全林).28 The town's walking map also includes a cliff of ancient oyster shells at Sakuraoka (桜丘).52

Onsen

  • Kobushi-no-Yu Atsuma (こぶしの湯あつま, Hongō 229-1): Radon bath, open-air bath, bubble bath, utase shower bath, cold plunge and sauna (sauna 10:00–21:00). Day bathing is 10:00–22:00 and costs ¥530 for adults and ¥270 for children.53 It has hotel rooms and six "moving house" timber cabins. The restaurant serves Atsuma butadon and jingisukan set meals, and two EV chargers are free to use.54

Museums & heritage

  • Karumai Site Research Office (Karumai 205-2): Hands-on archaeology and folk collections. It is open 9:00–17:00 on weekdays and closed on weekends and holidays; entry is free.47 A 360° virtual tour is on Akarenga (あかれんが), a Hokkaido history and culture portal.47
  • Former Yamaguchi House (旧山口邸, Toyosawa 240-79, Forum Village): An Echizen-style farmhouse (越前造) that was moved and rebuilt in FY2021. It is open Saturday to Monday and holidays, 11:00–15:00. The hamburg-steak restaurant MAJIKA (真鹿) operates inside.27
  • Kissa Kanro (喫茶 寒露, Omotemachi 51-8): A café in a moved Taishō-era farmhouse with waku-no-uchi (枠の内) framing and a high open ceiling. Open 10:30–17:00, closed Sundays and Mondays.34
  • Monuments: These include the monument to Aoki Yohachi at Hama-Atsuma Shrine, a stone marking where Atsuma's paddy farming began, and the Matsuura Takeshirō monument in Tomisato.522

Outdoor & seasonal activities

  • Haskap picking (late June–late July): The town gives this season and counts nine picking farms;55 the tourism association lists ten.32 They include:

    • Habiu Farm (頗美宇農園, Takaoka 455), about 5,000 bushes
    • Doi Haskap Farm (土居ハスカップ農園, Asahi 35)
    • Haskap Farm Yamaguchi (Uryū 163-5), with a natural-farming field

    MAFF counts about 15 farms offering picking.15

  • Other farm experiences:

    • Kokuwa picking, late September to early October56
    • Potato digging, mid-August to late September. It is for groups of 20 or more, with jingisukan and bath packages available.37
    • Rice-paddy ownership: a 100 m² plot costs ¥27,500, with 100 plots available. Owners sow in mid-April, plant in late May and harvest in early October, and the Nanatsuboshi rice is delivered in November. If the crop fails, 30 kg of brown rice is guaranteed.36

  • Park golf: Three free courses: Kami-Atsuma (18 holes), Shinmachi (18) and Hongō Ikoi-no-Mori (12). The two 18-hole courses are open from 15 April to 15 November, and the 12-hole course until 31 October, from sunrise to sunset.57

  • Camping: Ōnuma Campground (大沼野営場, Koinuma)58 is on a lotus pond. It reopened after a full renovation on 28 September 2024. Adults pay ¥1,350 a night plus a site fee of ¥2,500–4,000.5918 The barbecue house at the Hongō specialty-products square holds about 80 people. It is open from late April to October, and reservations are required.60

  • Other:

    • smelt (wakasagi) ice fishing with rental gear on Mikazuki-numa
    • a buggy circuit certified by the Japan ATV association
    • a football ground with natural- and artificial-turf pitches at Hama-Atsuma Nohara Park (浜厚真野原公園)
    • watching horse logging (馬搬)28
    • the all-weather Atsuma Star Dome, with a 2,400 m² sand-filled artificial-turf arena61

  • Disaster learning: The tourism association runs guided tours of the 2018 earthquake area and an evacuation-shelter simulation.62

Food experiences

  • Kobushi-no-Yu runs hands-on sessions making sausages, tomato juice, soba and ice cream.63
  • FORT by THE COAST (Hama-Atsuma 472-7): A restaurant run by an egg farm in a converted farm warehouse, with about 50 seats and a dog run. It serves egg dishes, curry, pasta and pizza. Open 11:00–20:00, closed Mondays and the second Tuesday.34
  • Kane-Naka Nakajima Shokudō (カネナカ 中島食堂, Kyōmachi 23): Founded in 1910 and reopened in 2017 by the fifth-generation owner. It serves hand-cut soba, Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 15:00 or until sold out.34
  • Kakurenbō (かくれん坊, Kami-Atsuma 252-20): Known for its seafood "Hamakko ramen". Soft-serve comes in haskap, kokuwa and silver vine (matatabi).34
  • Bakeries and cafés: Boulangerie Pellant (Honchō 2), where a French baker makes Parisian breads, and Onigiri 88 Café (Ueno 218-5), run by a farm family.34

Roadside stations (Michi-no-Eki)

No Michi-no-Eki is located in Atsuma. The official list of Hokkaido roadside stations has no station in the town.64 The nearest ones are:

  • Mukawa Shiki-no-Yakata (道の駅むかわ四季の館): Miyuki 3-3-1, Mukawa, east along the coast. See Mukawa.64
  • Abira D51 Station (道の駅あびらD51ステーション): Oiwake Kashiwagaoka 49-1, Abira, to the northwest. See Abira.64
  • Utonai-ko (道の駅ウトナイ湖): Uenae 156-30, Tomakomai, to the west. See Tomakomai.64
  • Yūbari Meroad (道の駅夕張メロード): Momijiyama 526-19, Yubari, to the northeast. See Yubari.64

Inside the town, Kobushi-no-Yu Atsuma serves much the same purpose. It has a restaurant, day bathing, local specialty sales and two free EV chargers, and is open daily.5422 Other useful stops:

  • A-Coop Atsuma (Nishikimachi 10-2), for frozen haskap. Summer hours are 9:00–19:00, and it is closed on Sundays.22
  • Hamanasu Club convenience store (Omotemachi 21), open 7:00–23:00 every day.22

Getting there & around

  • By car: The town gives these distances and times:9

    • Sapporo: 65 km, about 90 minutes
    • New Chitose Airport: 27 km, 35 minutes
    • Tomakomai: 34 km, 45 minutes
    • Shūbun Ferry Terminal: 17 km, 25 minutes

    The Hidaka Expressway has an Atsuma IC. National Route 235 runs along the coast, and prefectural roads such as Route 10 (Chitose–Mukawa) cross the town.2

  • By bus: Atsuma Bus (あつまバス), based in the town, links the town centre with:9

    • New Chitose Airport: 47 min, ¥1,110
    • Minami-Chitose Station: 50 min, ¥1,160
    • Chitose Station: 1 hour, ¥1,200
    • Tomakomai Station: 1 hour, ¥1,100
    • Hayakita Station: 16 min, ¥490
    • Mukawa Station: 30 min, ¥810

    Dōnan Bus serves the Kami-Atsuma and Hama-Atsuma stops.65

  • By rail: Hama-Atsuma Station (浜厚真駅) on the JR Hidaka Line is 22.7 km from Tomakomai. It is an unstaffed station with a single platform, well away from the town centre.25 The nearest station to the centre is Hayakita (早来) on the Muroran Main Line, in Abira.2

  • By ferry: Shin Nihonkai Ferry sails from the Shūbun Ferry Terminal (Hama-Atsuma 17-6) at Tomakomai East Port.2 Approximate crossing times:9

    • Akita: about 12 hours
    • Niigata: about 19 hours
    • Tsuruga: about 20 hours (about 34 hours on some sailings)

  • By air: New Chitose Airport is the nearest airport.9

  • Getting around: The town's on-demand bus "Meguru-kun" (めぐるくん) is only for registered residents, so visitors need a car.66 The local taxi firm is Atsuma Hire (あつまハイヤー).2

Practical tips

  • When to go: The haskap season is short: two to three weeks from late June. Picking may end early, so phone the farm first.32 Other times worth planning around are:
    • the Inaka Matsuri (late June)43
    • kokuwa picking and Kamuinomi (early October)5645
    • Atsu-Marché (early October)46
    • the snow tug-of-war (January)41
    • the lantern festival (February)42
  • Visitor information: Atsuma Tourism Association (厚真町観光協会), Hongō 305-2, tel. 0145-29-7711. It handles farm experiences, tours and souvenirs.5567
  • Brown bears: The town reports bear signs and sightings and asks people to stay out of the nearby woods. In the hills, carry a bell or radio, go in groups and never leave food outside. Check the Higumap sighting map (ひぐまっぷ) for the latest reports.68
  • Quake-damaged hills: The tourism association's haskap page warns that some roads are rough and carry frequent construction traffic from the 2018 recovery works. At picking farms, do not park on the road.32
  • Tsunami: At Hama-Atsuma, learn the evacuation sites on the town's tsunami hazard map before you go.50
  • Winter: Snow is light by Hokkaido standards,3 but nights are very cold; the record low is −27.5 °C.30
  • Opening days: The Karumai office is closed on weekends and holidays.47 Several restaurants close on Sundays, so check the tourism association's list before you go.34

More about Atsuma

At a glance
Field Details
Type Town (町)
Subprefecture Iburi (胆振総合振興局)
District Yufutsu District (勇払郡)
Population 4,432 at the 2020 Census, down 8.4% from 4,838 in 2015.4 The preliminary 2025 Census count was 4,159. That is a fall of 6.2%, against 4.6% for Hokkaido as a whole.5 The town's resident register showed 4,244 people in 2,190 households at the end of August 2026.6 The Hokkaido Government's register figure for 1 January 2026 was 4,218, including 73 foreign residents.7
Area 405.38 km² (GSI, April 2026). This is a reference value because part of the boundary with Tomakomai and Abira is undetermined.8 The town and the 2020 Census use 404.61 km².94 The town is 17.3 km east–west and 32.5 km north–south, with 6.5 km of coastline.9
Density About 10.5 people/km² (4,244 residents on 405.38 km²). It was 11.0/km² at the 2020 Census.4
Municipal history In August 1873 three Ainu villages, Atsumafuto (厚真フト村), Shufun (シユフン村) and Tsukehe (ツケヘ村), were combined to form Atsuma Village (厚真村). A fourth village, Tonika (トニカ村), appears to have been absorbed before 1876.10 It became a second-class village in 1906 and a first-class village in 1915.2 It became a town in January 1960.11 No later mergers are recorded.
Neighboring municipalities Iburi: Tomakomai (west), Abira (northwest), Mukawa (east). Sorachi: Yuni (north), Yubari (northeast).2
Symbols Tree: kobushi magnolia (コブシ). Flower: Kaempfer's azalea (ヤマツツジ). Bird: Japanese bush warbler (ウグイス). Town animal: the Atsuma dog (厚真犬). The emblem was adopted in 1954 and the flag in 1968.2
Mascot Atsumaru-kun (あつまるくん). Its design was chosen by a public vote from 763 entries. The name was announced at the Inaka Matsuri in June 2013, and the costume first appeared on 18 August 2013 at the town sports day.122 A haskap sits on its head, a rice ball on its chest and a surfboard on its back.2 Hello Kitty × Atsumaru-kun goods went on sale in February 2019 to support earthquake recovery.13
Official website https://www.town.atsuma.lg.jp/

Name origin
  • All theories trace the name to Ainu, but they differ on the source word:
    • ar-tomam (アットマム), "the wetland over there". On this theory it changed to Atoma and then Atsuma. A signboard beside the Atsuma River presents it as the leading theory.212
    • at-oma-p (アトマプ), "the place where the ohyō elm is". The ohyō elm (オヒョウニレ, Ainu at) was the preferred source of fibre for Ainu attush bark cloth.24 Japanese Wikipedia says the name is too old to settle between these two theories.2
    • atsumato (アツマト), "a marsh where reeds grow thick". The Nipponica and Britannica encyclopedias give this reading.1711
  • Atsuma or Azuma? When the town was created in 1960 it registered the reading Atsuma. Many older residents still say Azuma, and the Atsuma River and Atsuma Dam are officially read Azuma.21 Explorer Matsuura Takeshirō (松浦武四郎) visited in 1858. His diary says Azuma was the common name but Atsuma was the correct one. One linguist attributes the z to a Hokkaido dialect habit of voicing k and t sounds inside a word.21
  • In the late Edo period the area was part of the Yūfutsu trading post (ユウフツ場所). Separate Atsuma and Kami-Atsuma posts had existed before that.11

History
  • Paleolithic and Jōmon: Microblade cores about 14,500 years old show that people camped here in the Paleolithic.2 In December 2016 the town had 138 recorded archaeological sites. Only Tomakomai and Shinhidaka had more in Iburi and Hidaka.20 Some Jōmon pottery here glitters with quartz from Furano Basin clay. It shows that an inland route over the mountains existed about 6,000 years ago.20 About 5,100 years ago the area held a settlement with large houses and a mound of deer bones (シカ塚), the only one known in Hokkaido.2
  • Satsumon period and medieval trade: In 1959 a 12th-century Tokoname (常滑) jar from Aichi was found at Uryū (宇隆). It probably came through the Ōshū Fujiwara of Hiraizumi, whose power rested partly on northern trade goods such as deer hides and eagle feathers.20 Graves from about 800 years ago held a Kyoto mirror, coil ornaments from the Asian mainland and a gilt-fitted dagger of a Kamakura-shogunate retainer. Lacquerware with stamped patterns from about 700 years ago is the only example known in Hokkaido.19
  • Ainu era and Edo contact: At the Nitappunai site (ニタップナイ遺跡) in Tomisato, an Ainu kotan (village) from around Shakushain's War (1669) has been excavated. It contained sake vessels of the kind used by daimyō and wealthy merchants.2 In 1800 retainers of the Nanbu domain, among them Morita Kanjūrō (森田勘十郎), moved to Hama-Atsuma. This is counted as the start of Wajin (ethnic Japanese) settlement.2
  • Meiji settlement: In 1870 Aoki Yohachi (青木与八) and others from Mishima District, Niigata, settled at Hama-Atsuma. The town dates its farming history from that year.2 In August 1873 three Ainu villages were merged into Atsuma Village. They held 29 households and 134 people between them.10 Group settlers arrived from about 1895 and opened up the valley.17 The sources consulted do not say which prefectures these groups came from.
  • Rail and roads: On 1 October 1913 the Tomakomai Light Railway opened Atsuma Station (then read Azuma) on the coast. It is now Hama-Atsuma Station on the JR Hidaka Line.25 From 1922 the Hayakita Tramway (早来軌道) ran from Hayakita to the town centre. It closed on 27 March 1951 and was replaced by buses, the forerunner of today's Atsuma Bus.2 Atsuma became a town in 1960.11
  • Industrial coast: The Atsuma Dam (厚真ダム) was completed in 1970.16 From 1980 the coast was developed as part of the Tomakomai Eastern Industrial Area. Tomakomai East Port and the Tomato-Atsuma Power Station opened in 1980, and oil stockpile bases started work in 1983.172 The Atsuma IC on the Hidaka Expressway opened on 6 July 1998.2
  • Population: The town had 7,916 people in 1970.26 At the end of August 2018, just before the earthquake, it had 4,671. By the end of March 2023 it had 4,355, a fall of 316 (6.8%), as residents moved away after the earthquake and births fell.3
  • 2018 earthquake: The M6.7 quake struck at 3:07 a.m. on 6 September 2018, 37 km deep.3 Thirty-six people died in Atsuma, 19 of them in Yoshino, and one later death was ruled disaster-related. Most victims lived on river terraces below slopes that collapsed. In all, 922 buildings, about one in five in the town, were destroyed, and more than 80% were damaged. A landslide blocked the Hidaka-Horonai River for about 1,100 m.16 An intensity 6-lower aftershock hit on 21 February 2019.3
  • Recovery and renewal: Building the Appolo Dam required about 15 years of excavation from 2002, and the dam was completed in 2018.2016 Ainu-period finds from the dam sites became a town cultural property on 25 November 2022.19 Old farmhouses are being moved and restored; the former Yamaguchi house was finished in FY2021.27 The haskap trademark was registered in 2024.14

Geography & climate

  • Atsuma is in eastern Iburi, at the southern end of the lowland belt across central Hokkaido.9 Its territory is almost exactly the basin of the Atsuma River (厚真川). The river rises on the southern slopes of Mt. Yūbari and runs 52.3 km to the Pacific, draining 382.9 km².162 The town centre (本町) is on its middle reaches. The railway and National Route 235 follow the coast through Hama-Atsuma.2

  • Most of the town is low. The north is hills and mountains of 170–400 m.3 The highest point is Momijiyama (紅葉山, 640 m), followed by Sashu-dake (佐主岳, 618.6 m). Other rivers include the Ukuru (ウクル川), Hidaka-Horonai (日高幌内川), Chikeppe (知決辺川) and Karumai (軽舞川).2

  • Dams and lakes: The Atsuma Dam (1970) reservoir covers 93 ha. About 5 km downstream, the Appolo Dam (2018) has a 516 m crest and a 303 ha reservoir holding 47.4 million m³.16 Appolo is a trapezoidal CSG dam, only the third of this type in Japan.28 Small lakes dot the lower Atsuma River area, among them Ōnuma (大沼) and Mikazuki-numa (三日月沼).218

  • Land use (2023 tax register): Forest covers 124.6 km² (30.9%), paddy 33.3 km² and fields 26.1 km². Most of the 194.7 km² listed as "other" is protection forest.3 The tourism association says about 70% of the town is forest.28 In the 2018 quake, 3,236 ha of hillside collapsed. That was 75% of the collapsed slopes in Atsuma, Abira and Mukawa combined.16

  • The sources consulted mention no national, quasi-national or prefectural natural park in the town.

  • Climate: Summers are fairly cool and winter snow is light by Hokkaido standards.3 JMA's Atsuma station is at Asahi (朝日), 20 m above sea level.2 Its 1991–2020 normals are:

    • annual mean temperature 7.0 °C (January −6.7 °C, August 20.5 °C)
    • annual precipitation 1,028.4 mm
    • annual sunshine 1,735 hours29

    The station does not record snowfall.29 Its records are a high of 34.4 °C (12 August 2024) and a low of −27.5 °C (24 January 1996).30

Economy & industry

  • Workforce: In 2020, 797 people worked in primary industry, 337 in secondary industry, 1,258 in services and 13 in unclassified work, 2,405 in all. The total had been 2,787 in 2015. Farm households fell from 402 to 340 over the same period.3

  • Farming: Farm output was estimated at ¥8.5 billion in 2015. It peaked at ¥9.5 billion in 2017 and fell to ¥7.7 billion in 2019. The town plan blames quake-recovery works, which took farmland, and heavy damage to broiler farms.1 The 2020 plantings were:

    • rice: 1,473 ha
    • field crops (wheat, beans, sugar beet and potatoes): 1,664 ha
    • vegetables and fruit: 233 ha, including 30 ha of haskap1

    Most soybeans are very small-seeded varieties grown for natto.3 Farms also raise beef and dairy cattle and pigs. Broilers are raised, processed and packed in one integrated chain.6 Nippon White Farm (日本ホワイトファーム), part of the NH Foods group, has a site here.2

  • Forestry and fishing: The large northern forests produce shiitake mushrooms and charcoal. On the coast, surf-clam (hokki) fishing leads. Fishers are also working to secure scallop grounds and release young shishamo and matsukawa flounder.36 Only eight fishing businesses were counted in 2018.3

  • Energy and port: The coast is part of the Tomakomai Eastern Industrial Area. It has:

    • the Tomato-Atsuma Power Station (1,650,000 kW)16
    • national and joint oil stockpile bases17
    • the Shūbun Ferry Terminal of Tomakomai East Port, with Shin Nihonkai Ferry sailings to Honshu9

  • Demographics: At the 2020 Census, 36.5% of residents were 65 or older. Children made up 12.8%, above the Hokkaido average of 10.8%. The number of under-15s rose by 35 from 2015 to 2020 even as the total population fell.4 Japanese Wikipedia notes years of net in-migration and suggests several reasons: mild weather, closeness to Tomakomai and New Chitose Airport, housing lots for sale and generous child-rearing and relocation support.2

  • Revitalization: The Local Venture School (ローカルベンチャースクール) started in 2016. Through 2024, about 30 participants were taken on as start-up regional revitalization cooperators (起業型地域おこし協力隊). The 2018 course was postponed but still held after the earthquake.23 Furusato nozei (hometown tax) donations came to ¥472.9 million from 9,998 gifts in 2024, compared with ¥519.1 million from 17,400 gifts in 2020.31

Local specialties
Specialty Category Details & where to get it
Haskap (厚真産ハスカップ) Fruit Fresh berries are in season for only two to three weeks, from late June.32 Yūshige is the sweeter variety and Atsuma Mirai the tarter. Berries are hand-sorted and must reach 12° Brix.14 Frozen berries are sold all year at A-Coop Atsuma (Aコープ厚真店, Nishikimachi 10-2).32
Haskap onigiri (ハスカップおにぎり) Local dish A rice ball filled with salt-pickled haskap, used like umeboshi. The town calls it Atsuma's "soul food".14 Restaurant Kobushi in Kobushi-no-Yu sells a pair of rice balls, one haskap and one nanban miso, for ¥440.33
Haskap sweets and sushi Sweets Haskap jelly with no synthetic colouring (JA Tomakomai Kōiki), jam made by Doi Farm, and haskap cotton candy.22 Takasushi (髙寿司, Kyōmachi 23) serves a limited haskap sushi, a gunkan roll with rock salt.34
Azuma Jingisukan (あづまジンギスカン) Meat Lamb in the shop's own marinade, made by Ichihara Seinikuten (市原精肉店) since 1968. The shop is at Omotemachi 3 and opens 10:00–18:00, closed Tuesdays.2221
Atsuma butadon (あつま豚丼) Local dish Free-range Atsuma pork grilled over Atsuma charcoal, on Sakura-mai rice, in a bowl made by a local potter. It costs ¥1,320 and is served only at set times at Restaurant Kobushi.3334
Sakura-mai and Atsuma rice (さくら米・厚真米) Rice Sakura-mai is graded strictly on grain size and protein.35 Visitors can grow their own Nanatsuboshi rice in the rental-paddy programme (see Sights).36
Potatoes (ジャガイモ) Vegetables A leading crop, mainly May Queen and Kitaakari, shipped from August to September.35 Groups can dig their own (see Sights).37
Beiaiton pork (米愛豚) Meat A local brand of pork raised on feed mixed with rice. Try it at Shokukūkan Yururi (食空間ゆるり, Nishikimachi 5-1).34
Free-range eggs Eggs Fertile eggs from floor-raised hens at Kobayashi Farm (テンアール小林農園), whose shop is at Hama-Atsuma 472-7.22
Hokki, shishamo, matsukawa Seafood Large, rich-tasting hokki surf clams and shishamo smelt. Matsukawa flounder is a luxury fish sold locally as "king flounder" (王鰈).38 Megumi Suisan (めぐみ水産) in Hama-Atsuma serves ramen made with shishamo and chicken stock.34
Ofukuro miso (おふくろみそ) Condiment Additive-free miso made from local rice koji and soybeans. There is also a chili version, ofukuro nanban miso (JA Tomakomai Kōiki).22
Kakehashi (かけ橋) Sake A special junmai sake made from Atsuma-grown Suisei (彗星) sake rice. It is brewed by Iwate Meijo in the sister city of Ōshū and sold by the tourism association.22
Kokuwa wine (こくわワイン) Wine A dry wine made from kokuwa (hardy kiwi, サルナシ) by JA Tomakomai Kōiki.22
Shiitake and smoked foods Forest products Meaty shiitake grown on local mizunara logs by Tanoshii (たのしい). The Thmey smokehouse (燻製工房Thmey) smokes over Atsuma charcoal with woodworkers' shavings and haskap prunings.22
Crafts Crafts Taniko Leather (Shinmachi 433, open Fri–Sat), Mokkōbō TANAKA cutlery, morinov hardwood signs, and WOOD IKOR lacquerware made with Sapporo soft stone.22
Rice-flour gelato Sweets Gelato made with Nanatsuboshi rice flour at the café of Machinaka Kōryūkan (まちなか交流館, Kyōmachi 12-1), a community hub that also runs a sheltered workshop.39
Furusato nozei gifts Gifts Meat leads, with 428 listed gifts (223 pork, 152 chicken). There are also 104 rice gifts, 34 egg gifts and 23 smoked products (Furusato Choice, September 2026).40

Culture & festivals
Event When Highlights
Atsuma International Snow Three-Rope Tug-of-War (あつま国際雪上3本引き大会) Fourth week of January (next date not yet announced) A tug-of-war sport invented in Atsuma. Three ropes are pulled at once, and a team wins a set by taking two of them; how many people pull each rope is up to the team. Held at the Hongō Kashiwa Park ball field.4142
Lantern Festival & Star Festa (ランタンまつり・スターフェスタ) February About 5,000 ice lanterns around Kobushi-no-Yu, with "lantern-yaki" jingisukan. The finale burns the zodiac character of the year into the snowfield, with fireworks.422
Atsuma Inaka Matsuri (あつま田舎まつり) Late June (53rd festival held 28–29 June 2025) The town's biggest event, held in Omotemachi Park. It has an ondo dance parade, stage shows and food stalls. Visitors also borrow charcoal grills free of charge for "sōgen-yaki" (meadow grilling) of jingisukan.4342
Haskap Day (ハスカップの日) 7 July Registered in 2021 by Atsuma's haskap growers with JA Bibai and the Haskap Association. The date falls in the harvest, and the "two flowers, one fruit" plant is linked to the Tanabata lovers.14
Ainu culture tour with the town curator September (27 September 2026) A free day trip from Hama-Atsuma to Horonai. It includes an easy climb to the Sakuraoka chashi (fort) site. Book through the tourism association.44
Kamuinomi & Icharpa (カムイノミ・イチャルパ) First Sunday of October (4 October 2026) A prayer of thanks to the gods and a memorial for the ancestors, led by the Atsuma Ainu Association. The Tomakomai and Mukawa preservation societies perform traditional dances. Held at the small park on the right bank of the Appolo Dam; free.45
Atsu-Marché (あつマルシェ) Early October, 10:00–15:00 Harvest market in the square in front of Kobushi-no-Yu. New rice, vegetables, seafood products, food stalls, old farm machinery and working vehicles.46
  • Performing arts and rites: Town-designated cultural properties include Horonai Kagura (幌内神楽) and the netsu-okuri ("fever-sending") rite with its drums in Karumai (ねつ送り及び太鼓).2
  • Shrines and temples: Designated properties include:
    • the shrine building and former main hall of Atsuma Shrine (厚真神社, Shinmachi), and its portable shrine
    • the lion head of Horonai Shrine
    • the waniguchi gong of Hama-Atsuma Shrine
    • the main halls of the temples 専厚寺 (Sakuraoka), 正楽寺 (Karumai) and 真正寺 (Omotemachi), and the grove at 正楽寺
    • the lantern-floating rite of 興隆寺 (Kyōmachi)2
  • Museums: The Karumai Site Research Office (軽舞遺跡調査整理事務所) is in the former Karumai Elementary School, which closed in 2010. It has been used since 2012 to store and show finds.20 Visitors may handle Jōmon pottery and stone tools, play old records and rest in a room of a relocated farmhouse. Entry is free.47 The town library (公民館図書室) lends books from reading rooms in the Yukuri care centre (総合ケアセンターゆくり) and at Kōnan Kaikan (厚南会館).48 Japanese Wikipedia also lists a planetarium at the Youth Centre (青少年センター); whether it still operates is unverified.2

Ainu heritage
  • Archaeology: Atsuma's Ainu past is unusually well documented by excavation. At the Appolo Dam sites, ritual hearths about 1,000 years old held burnt Satsumon pottery, a Sue-ware jar from Aomori, a bronze bowl made on the Korean Peninsula and carbonized millet dumplings. They are thought to be an early form of today's kamuinomi ceremony.19 Graves from about 800 years ago held Hokkaido's oldest Japanese mirror, an autumn-grass-and-birds mirror (秋草双鳥鏡) made in Kyoto around 1150.20 It lay with coil ornaments from the mainland on the chest of a woman of about twenty. The set is thought to be a forerunner of the Ainu tamasai necklace, and no necklace had been found in its worn position before.20 Other graves held a silver-decorated quiver and a 400-year-old Ezo sword (蝦夷太刀).19
  • Designation: A group of 329 items from the Kamihoronai-Moi (上幌内モイ), Kamihoronai 2 and Onikishibe 2 (オニキシベ2) sites became a town tangible cultural property on 25 November 2022. Most can be seen by appointment at the Karumai office (tel. 0145-28-2733).19 The office also keeps an iron arrowhead about 900 years old, traded from the Amur region of the Russian Far East; the town says it is the only one found in Japan. It also holds a dugout canoe about 500 years old. Both appear in an English-language documentary, Hokkaido's Near-Forgotten Ainu People, Who Thrived In Nature.19
  • Place names: Several local names contain Ainu ru, "path". Examples are Merukunnai (メルクンナイ) on the upper Atsuma River and Opiraruka (オピラルカ, 帯裸加) on the Hobetsu side, whose name is analysed as o-pira-ru-ka, "river mouth – cliff – on the path". Both mark low passes that Ainu used as mountain routes.202 A 1957 reform of district names replaced many Ainu-derived names, such as Chikeppe, Furenai and Shufun, with new Japanese ones. Horonai (幌内) and Karumai (軽舞) survive.2
  • Records: In 1873 Atsumafuto had 15 Ainu households (68 people), Shufun 8 households (34) and Tsukehe 6 households (32). Tonika (トニカ村), with 11 households (40), appears to have been absorbed before 1876.10
  • Living traditions: The Atsuma Ainu Association (厚真アイヌ協会) holds kamuinomi and icharpa every October.45 Its members teach an inau (willow prayer-stick) making workshop, which includes a visit to the town's special storehouse for Ainu artifacts.49 The town has also run an Ainu-culture guide course, and its curator leads a tour that takes in the Sakuraoka Chashi site.4744

Sister & friendship cities
  • Ōshū, Iwate Prefecture (奥州市): Atsuma became a sister city of the former Maesawa Town (前沢町) on 18 June 1983. Maesawa is now part of Ōshū.2 The Kakehashi ("bridge") sake is made from Atsuma rice at a brewery in Ōshū.22
  • No international sister city was found.

Notable people
  • Shikainami Kōichirō (四海波好一郎): former sumo wrestler.2
  • Ōgaki Takashi (大垣崇): former track and field athlete.2
  • Saitō Shigenobu (斉藤滋宣): mayor of Noshiro, Akita, and a former member of the House of Councillors.2
  • Kihara Naohiko (木原直彦): literary scholar and the first director of the Hokkaido Museum of Literature (北海道立文学館).2

Sources

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

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