Hokkaido Places

Town Soya Subprefecture

Esashi 枝幸町

えさしちょう

Esashi is the southernmost town in Soya. It has 58 km of Sea of Okhotsk coast and calls itself Japan's top town for horsehair crab (毛がに), in name and in fact.12 Inland is the forested Utanobori (歌登) district, a separate town until the 2006 merger. It has an onsen, dairy farms and winters that have reached −37.9 °C.23

Population (2020 Census)
7,565
Area
1,115.62 km²
District
Esashi District (枝幸郡)
Official website
www.esashi.jp

Known for

  • Horsehair crab (毛がに). Esashi says it lands more horsehair crab from basket traps (かにかご漁) than anywhere else in Japan. The main season starts in late March, after the drift ice leaves.210 In 2024 it landed 210 t, worth ¥1.50 billion.6
  • Esashi scallops (枝幸ほたて). The town calls them Japan's first branded scallop.11 By tonnage and value, scallops are its largest catch: 35,893 t worth ¥8.03 billion in 2024.6
  • Autumn salmon. The tourism pamphlet puts Esashi among the top ten salmon ports in Japan. Its landings sometimes include prized mejika and rare keiji salmon.2
  • Okhotsk culture. Finds from the Menashidomari site (目梨泊遺跡) are a National Important Cultural Property and are shown at the Okhotsk Museum Esashi. The museum counts 204 designated items; the town's introduction page says 319.1212
  • Desmostylus fossils. The town says more fossils of Desmostylus, an extinct marine mammal, have been dug up in Esashi than anywhere else in Japan. The museum displays a replica of a full skeleton found in Utanobori.1122
  • Drift ice and Mt. Mikasa (三笠山). From early February the town ski slope looks down on drift ice. The summit observation pavilion has 360° views.2
  • Coastal scenery. The flat rock shelf at Usutaibe Senjōiwa and the cape at Kitami Kamui Misaki are both in Kita-Okhotsk Prefectural Natural Park.13 The cape is also a national Place of Scenic Beauty.2
  • Hokkaido's first public library (1903). It began with books donated after an 1896 eclipse expedition.4
  • Two onsen hotels. One is by the sea and one in the forest.14

Sights & activities

Nature & scenery

  • Usutaibe Senjōiwa (ウスタイベ千畳岩). As its name ("thousand-tatami rock") suggests, flat rock spreads like tatami mats right to the water's edge. It is a good spot for sunrise over the sea, and it has a small heart-shaped hollow. It is about 5 minutes north of the town center by car on Route 238.2
  • Kitami Kamui Misaki (北見神威岬). The cape sits on the Hamatonbetsu border, and a striped lighthouse from 1962 stands halfway up its cliff.233 The best view is from Kamui Misaki Park beside Route 238, about 20 minutes north of the town center.2 Traces of the old railway bed can still be seen.33 The old cape road (町道神威岬線) usually opens from 1 May to 31 October, but the town says it is closed because of rockfall, with no reopening date.35
  • Mikasayama Observation Pavilion (三笠山展望閣). It stands at 172 m, about 10 minutes from town, and has 360° views of the town and the sea. There is a café lounge on the 2nd floor and a "bell of hope" on the roof deck. Admission is free.2 Hours as of 2026:213
    • May: 10:00–18:00
    • June–August: 10:00–19:00
    • September–October: 10:00–17:00
    • Closed on Mondays (Tuesday if Monday is a holiday). The access road is open only from 1 May to 31 October.
  • Other spots. Hamanasu Beach (はまなす海水浴場) is next to the roadside station.2 Kitako Park has an iris garden (北幸公園ショウブ園).4

Onsen

  • Esashi Onsen at Hotel New Kohrin (ホテルニュー幸林). The hotel is at the foot of Mt. Mikasa.2 It has a large bath, a jacuzzi and a sauna.36 Day bathing costs ¥520 for adults and runs 10:00–22:00 (last entry 21:00).36 The hotel lists the water as an alkaline simple spring, while the town pamphlet gives a calcium-sodium sulfate spring.362 It has four EV chargers (200 V, 6 kW, ¥450 an hour).37
  • Utanobori Onsen at Utanobori Green Park Hotel (うたのぼりグリーンパークホテル). The hotel is about 8 km south of Utanobori. Its natural carbonated spring, a hydrogen-carbonate spring (炭酸水素塩泉), is cold at the source, so it is heated, and it flows straight into a small tub. It is promoted as a skin-smoothing "beauty bath" (美人の湯). There is also a main bath overlooking the garden and a themed bath that changes weekly.382 Day bathing costs ¥520 and runs 10:00–22:00 (15:00–22:00 on Mondays).38 The hotel is part of the Utanobori Kenkō Kaifuku-mura resort area. The resort's Cottage no Sato has three cottages sleeping up to eight each, plus a barbecue center house for up to 64 people.2

Museums & heritage

  • Okhotsk Museum Esashi (オホーツクミュージアムえさし), Mikasa-chō 1614-1, on Route 238.122
    • Exhibits: 204 Okhotsk-culture items that are National Important Cultural Properties; a replica skeleton of Desmostylus (an extinct marine mammal found in Utanobori); a killer-whale skeleton over 7 m long, one of the largest in Japan; and displays on placer gold and the Kōhin North Line.122
    • Hours: 09:00–17:00, free. Closed on Mondays, on the Tuesday of the last week of the month (the next weekday if it is a holiday) and from 30 December to 4 January.12
  • Salmon no Sato (サケの里). A salmon museum in Utanobori with ponds where you can watch salmon.136 Open 1 August–31 October, 09:00–17:00, closed on Mondays.13

Outdoor & seasonal activities

  • Mikasayama Ski Area (三笠山スキー場). The slopes look down on drift ice from early February. There is a long beginner run and a 26° expert run.2
    • Season: late December to late March
    • Hours: 09:30–16:00
    • Night skiing: 17:00–20:30 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
    • When the drift ice arrives, you may also spot clione ("sea angels").2
  • Iyashi no Mori "Omuro" (癒しの森 音夢路). A 3.8 km forest-therapy loop in Utanobori, laid out in 2007. A local group holds free guided walks several times each spring, summer and autumn.2
  • Golf. Minami-Soya Golf Course (南宗谷ゴルフ場) is an 18-hole, par-72 hill course in Utanobori. Foxes, squirrels, hares and deer are often seen there.2
  • Camping. Three campgrounds are free and need no booking; all open 1 June–31 August:392
    • Usutaibe Senjōiwa (seaside)
    • Hamanasu Kōryū Hiroba (next to the roadside station)
    • Fureai no Mori (in the Utanobori forest)
  • Fishing. Anglers crowd the shore in the salmon season.2

Food experiences

  • Crab at Hotel New Kohrin. The hotel's restaurant is Umiake (海朱). Its top dinner plan includes one whole Esashi horsehair crab per person.37
  • Local food elsewhere. The roadside station restaurant serves seafood dishes (see below).10 Kegani-jiru is sold mainly at festival stalls.2

Roadside stations (Michi-no-Eki)

Marine Island Okashima (道の駅マリーンアイランド岡島)

  • Location: Okashima 1978-13 (岡島1978番地13), on National Route 238, about 10 minutes' drive south of central Esashi. It is next to Hamanasu Beach and the free Hamanasu Kōryū Hiroba campground.102 Phone 0163-62-2860.10
  • Hours (as of September 2026 — check before visiting):10
    • Late April–June and October: 09:00–16:30
    • July–September: 09:00–17:00
    • November–late April: 09:30–16:00. The tourism association's page gives 09:30–15:30 instead.40
    • Restaurant: 10:00–14:00 last order (April–October) and 11:00–13:30 last order (November–March), with irregular closing days.10
    • Closed days: every Monday (Tuesday if Monday is a holiday) and over New Year. The station may also close on bad-weather days in winter.102 The tourism association's page lists Monday closures for November–April only.40
  • Shops & products: Esashi seafood and processed goods, including horsehair crab and the Esashi scallop brand. The featured souvenirs are kani-meshi no moto and local honey.10 Local confectionery is also sold.2
  • Food: The restaurant at the back serves ramen, curry and rice bowls.40 Its signature dishes are seafood curry, salmon oyako-don (salmon with salmon roe), seafood ramen (海の幸ラーメン) and crab-omelet ramen (かに玉ラーメン). Hotate curry and seafood champon are also popular.10 At the counter there is soft-serve ice cream and takeaway snacks.40
  • Facilities:
    • Parking: 13 large vehicles and 45 cars.10 Wikipedia also lists 2 accessible spaces.22
    • Toilets: open 24 hours, with bidet seats and an accessible toilet.210
    • Wi-Fi, EV charger, public phone, nursing room and diaper-changing table.102
    • Credit cards and other cashless payment accepted; observation deck.10
    • The facility list includes a campground but no onsen or RV park.10 The campground, Hamanasu Kōryū Hiroba, is behind the station and is free.39
  • Notes:
    • Registered on 16 April 1996 as Hokkaido station No. 28, and opened on 1 September 1996.1022
    • The building is shaped like a ship sailing the Okhotsk, and visitors can climb stairs outside to the "bridge".1022
    • The Michi-no-Eki stamp can be used 24 hours a day, even on closed days.10
    • It hosts the Yokubari Festa every October.32

The nearest other roadside stations are:41

Getting there & around

  • Rail. No railway has served the town since 1985.4 Hotel New Kohrin's directions use Otoineppu Station on the JR Soya Main Line, about 60 minutes away by car.37

  • Car. The town's directions from Sapporo and Asahikawa use the Shibetsu-Kenbuchi IC exit of the expressway. National Route 238 runs the length of the town along the coast.422 Approximate drives:422

    • From Sapporo: 300 km, about 4 h 30 min.
    • From Asahikawa: 160 km. The town site says about 3 h; the pamphlet says 2 h 30 min.
    • From Wakkanai: about 2 h 10 min. The town site gives 110 km; the pamphlet gives 130 km.
    • From Monbetsu: 90 km, about 1 h 30–40 min.

    Hokkaido Route 12 (Esashi–Otoineppu) leads inland.4

  • Long-distance bus. Soya Bus runs the Esashi-gō express via Nakatonbetsu and Otoineppu:4224

    • Sapporo–Esashi: about 5 h 30 min; ¥6,500 one way, ¥11,700 return.
    • Asahikawa–Esashi: about 3 h 35 min; ¥5,000 one way, ¥9,000 return. This service runs jointly with Dohoku Bus via Nayoro and Shibetsu.
    • Bookings: Soya Bus Esashi office, 0163-62-1044.

  • Local buses. Soya Bus runs Esashi–Hamatonbetsu (the replacement for the old railway) and Esashi–Omu.4 The town's community bus runs an Esashi town loop, a route to Utanobori, and a route through Otoshibe toward Omu.43

  • Taxi. Shibiru Hire (0163-62-1088) and Utanobori Hire (0163-68-2520).2

  • Air. The nearest airports are Wakkanai, Okhotsk-Monbetsu and Asahikawa. Flights from Tokyo Haneda take about 1 h 55 min, 1 h 45 min and 1 h 35 min.2

Practical tips

  • When to go:

    • Late March to May for fresh horsehair crab
    • Early July for the Umaimon Festival
    • September–October for salmon and the Yokubari Festa
    • February for drift ice and night skiing above the sea2

  • Tourist information. The Esashi Tourism Association is in the Esashi Bus Terminal at Mikasa-chō 301-7 (0163-62-1205). It also runs an online shop.2

  • Where to stay. There are only a few places:2

    • Hotel New Kohrin
    • Utanobori Green Park Hotel and its cottages
    • Hotel Ōkawa
    • Ōsaki Ryokan
    • Minshuku Tomo

    Since April 2026, Hokkaido's accommodation tax (¥100–500 a night) and a ¥150 bathing tax are charged on top of room rates.37

  • Seasonal closures. The Mikasayama pavilion and its road close from November to April. The museum is closed on Mondays. The Kamui Misaki cape road is closed indefinitely.2131235

  • Winter. Utanobori's yearly low was between −26.1 °C and −30.7 °C in every year from 2020 to 2024.6 Snowfall is heavy, so drive with winter tires and allow extra time on Route 238.

  • Wildlife. The pamphlet mentions foxes, squirrels, hares and Ezo deer around the golf course.2 Watch for deer on the roads. As elsewhere in rural Hokkaido, take bear precautions in the forests and on quiet trails.

  • Check the name. Make sure bookings and navigation point to 枝幸 (Esashi in Soya), not 江差 (Esashi in Hiyama).4

More about Esashi

At a glance
Field Details
Type Town (町)
Subprefecture Soya (宗谷総合振興局). Esashi is its southernmost municipality.2
District Esashi District (枝幸郡)4
Population 7,565 at the 2020 Census, in 3,515 households.56 The preliminary 2025 Census count is 7,025, down 7.1%, while households rose to 3,590.5 The Hokkaido resident-register figure is 6,979 on 31 August 2026, including 398 foreign residents.7 The town's homepage shows 6,980 people (3,343 men, 3,637 women) in 3,873 households for August 2026.8 The two former towns together had 10,509 people in 2000.6
Area 1,115.62 km² (GSI, 1 April 2026). This is a reference value because part of the boundary with Hamatonbetsu is still undetermined.9 The town says it is the 9th-largest municipality in Hokkaido.1 It measures 42.4 km east–west and 53.0 km north–south.6
Density About 6.3 people/km² (August 2026 register ÷ GSI area); 6.8/km² at the 2020 Census
Municipal history Four villages were created in Esashi District in 1878: Esashi, Tonbetsu, Utanobori and a fourth written 礼文. On 1 April 1909 they merged into Esashi Village. Tonbetsu split off in 1916. The village became first-class in 1923. Utanobori split off in September 1939. Esashi became a town in October 1947. On 20 March 2006 it merged with Utanobori Town as equals to form the present Esashi.4
Neighboring municipalities Hamatonbetsu and Nakatonbetsu (Soya); Bifuka and Otoineppu (Kamikawa); Omu (Okhotsk)4
Symbols There are two of each. Trees: Japanese rowan (ナナカマド) and Yezo spruce (エゾマツ). Flowers: beach rose (ハマナス) and Amur adonis (フクジュソウ). Birds: gull (カモメ) and wagtail (セキレイ). The town flag and emblem were adopted on 20 March 2006.4
Mascot Esasshī (えさっしー). It was chosen in a 2011 public contest that drew 187 entries from 146 people. The design is by Shiozaki Ayumi, a designer in Osaka Prefecture, and the choice was announced on 27 December 2011.4 Some express buses to Esashi carry the character's livery.2
Official website https://www.esashi.jp/ (Japanese)8

Name origin

The town takes its name from an Ainu word for a cape. The Hokkaido Government's list of Ainu place names gives two readings for this town:15

  • e-sa-us-i (エサウシイ), "place where the head is attached to the beach", meaning a cape. This is Yamada Hidezō's reading. The town website says the same, and the tourism pamphlet gives エサウシ ("cape").152 Esashi in Hiyama has the same origin.15
  • esas, "kelp". Nagata Hōsei linked the name to kelp growing on the offshore reefs. Chiri Mashiho rejected this: in the north kelp was called sas, never esas.15

The list rates the entry at confidence level A and concludes that the cape reading is the most natural one, as with similar names elsewhere.15 A third kelp reading in the list, Matsuura Takeshirō's esas-us ("where there is kelp to eat", from a story of Ainu surviving a famine on kelp), is listed under Esashi in Hiyama, not this town.15

Utanobori (歌登) comes from ota-nupuri (オタヌプリ), "sand mountain". This was a sand hill about 1 km northwest of the mouth of the Horobetsu River. The Utanobori Town History says it was once a fort. The name first belonged to the river-mouth area, outside the later town of Utanobori, and was kept after the boundaries changed (confidence level A).15

History
  • Prehistory. Before the Ainu period, people of the Okhotsk culture lived on this coast. The best-known site is Menashidomari (目梨泊), and its finds are a National Important Cultural Property. Finds from the Horonaipo site (ホロナイポ遺跡) are a Hokkaido-designated cultural property.412
  • Edo period. The town's official history (枝幸町史) begins its account in the Jōkyō era (1684–1688).16
  • Early Meiji. In 1872 the whole of Esashi District had just 36 households and 153 people. Two Western travellers passed through: Thomas Blakiston left Esashi on 21 October 1869, and the American geologist Benjamin Lyman left on 22 September 1874.17 The four villages were created in 1878, and a joint village office opened in Esashi in 1891.4
  • 1896 eclipse. Observers from Japan and abroad came to Esashi for the total solar eclipse of 9 August 1896.4 One party, from Amherst College, was led by the astronomer David Peck Todd.184 It was cloudy on the day. Todd was grateful for the townspeople's help, so he and his wife Mabel Loomis Todd kept sending encyclopedias and literature for years, more than 1,000 volumes in all. In 1903 these books became Hokkaido's first public library.4
  • 1897. Utanobori dates its founding to this year, when the Higaki Farm (桧垣農場) opened on the upper Horobetsu plain.19
  • 1898–1900 gold rush. Placer gold was found in 1898 on the upper Usotan'nai River, a tributary of the Tonbetsu River. Tonbetsu was then one of the four villages run from the joint office in Esashi. The field was promoted as "the Klondike of the East". By one account, 16,000 prospectors worked there and on the Peichan River. In 1900 a nugget of 768.75 g was dug up, the largest ever found in Japan.17 These gold fields are now in Hamatonbetsu and Nakatonbetsu. The Okhotsk Museum Esashi has an exhibit on Esashi placer gold (枝幸砂金).12
  • 1909–1947. The four villages merged into Esashi Village in 1909. Tonbetsu split off in 1916 and Utanobori in 1939.4 On 11 May 1940 a forest fire spread into the town, destroying 470 houses and killing 16 people. The library burned too.4 Esashi became a town in 1947, and Utanobori became a town on 1 January 1962.419
  • Railways. A settlers' light railway from Kotonbetsu reached Utanobori in December 1929 and Esashi in September 1930. It was later run by Utanobori and closed in 1971.20 JNR's Kōhin North Line (興浜北線) opened on 10 July 1936, running 30.4 km from Hamatonbetsu to Kitami-Esashi. Its tracks were removed in 1944, and it reopened in December 1945.21 Two planned links never opened: the Bikō Line (美幸線) from Bifuka, and a line south to Omu. The Kōhin North Line closed on 1 July 1985, and the Bikō Line on 17 September 1985.21
  • 1978–2006. The library was rebuilt in 1978.4 The roadside station opened in 1996 and Esashi Onsen in 1998.224 The two towns merged on 20 March 2006.2
  • Recent years. The 1996 sister-city tie with Sollefteå, Sweden, ended in 2019.23 The Esashi Crab Festival, held for more than 50 years, was renamed the Okhotsk Esashi Umaimon Festival. The July 2026 edition was the third under the new name.224 The town marked 20 years since the merger in 2026.25

Geography & climate
  • Setting. Esashi lies about 300 km from Sapporo and 180 km from Asahikawa. Its eastern side runs for about 58 km along the Sea of Okhotsk. The ground is mostly steep. The highest point is Mt. Hakodake (函岳, about 1,129 m), and 81% of the town is forest.6 Flat land lies along the central and southern coast and in the middle valleys of the Kitami-Horobetsu (北見幌別川) and Tokushibetsu (徳志別川) rivers, and these areas are dairy country.6
  • Settlements. The Esashi town center is on the northern coast, and Utanobori is about 17 km inland. There are eight settlements along the coast, from Menashidomari in the north to Otoshibe (音標) in the south.6 There is one local port and two fishing ports.1
  • Capes and parks. The coastal capes are Kamui, Menashidomari, Usutaibe and Otoshibe.4 Usutaibe Senjōiwa and Kitami Kamui Misaki became part of Kita-Okhotsk Prefectural Natural Park (北オホーツク道立自然公園) in 1968.13 Forest covers 90,652 ha, about half of it national forest.6
  • Coastal climate. The Kitami-Esashi weather station on the coast averages 6.3 °C a year. January averages −5.5 °C and August 19.1 °C. Average snowfall is 562 cm a season, and the typical deepest snow is 104 cm.26 The record high is 35.0 °C (31 July 2000) and the record low −26.4 °C (12 February 1947). The deepest snow on record is 231 cm (March 1958). 2025 set records for the most days at 25 °C or above (60) and at 30 °C or above (12).27
  • Inland climate. Utanobori is colder and snowier. It averages 5.3 °C a year, and the average February low is −16.1 °C. Average snowfall is 841 cm a season.28 Its record low is −37.9 °C (17 February 1978) and its record high 35.4 °C (26 July 1989). Snow reached 214 cm on 4 March 2018.3 The town says temperatures can span as much as 70 °C between summer and winter.1 The whole town is a designated special heavy-snowfall area (特別豪雪地帯).4
  • Drift ice reaches the shore from early February.2

Economy & industry

  • Workforce. The 2020 Census counted 4,196 workers. Fishing employed 16.0% of them, farming 9.1% and manufacturing 13.2%, and 390 of the 555 manufacturing workers were women. Overall, 26.5% worked in primary industries.6

  • Fisheries. The 2024 catch was 47,768 t, worth ¥14.53 billion. By value it breaks down as follows:6

    • scallops: ¥8.03 billion
    • salmon: 1,951 t, ¥1.96 billion
    • horsehair crab: ¥1.50 billion
    • other species: ¥3.04 billion

    The peak year was 2022, at ¥18.98 billion. Salmon has swung sharply, from 7,188 t in 2022 down to 1,951 t in 2024. There were 280 fishing businesses in 2023.6

  • How the main catches are fished. Scallops are grown on the seabed in four zones. Seed scallops go into one zone each year and are harvested three years later as four-year-olds (the 4輪採制 rotation). Frozen raw adductors (玉冷) and dried adductors (干貝柱) are also sold abroad.2 Crab boats keep only horsehair crab that are full of meat and kani-miso (tomalley).2 Salmon are caught in set nets.2

  • Dried sea cucumber. Esashi's dried sea cucumber is sold as Hokkai kinko (北海キンコ). A 2015 newspaper report, cited on Wikipedia, calls it the largest producer in Japan.4

  • Dairy and forestry. There were 10,537 dairy cattle and 110 farm households in 2020, on 8,647 ha of farmland, mostly pasture. Milk output was 52,360 t in FY2024, down from 58,615 t in FY2021.6 The town also has forestry and timber processing.2

  • Tourism. The town counted 186,900 visitors in FY2024. The figure was 206,900 in FY2023 and 127,000 in FY2021.6

  • Town finances. General-account revenue was ¥13.3 billion in FY2024. Local allocation tax from the national government made up 40.9%. Donations, the budget line that includes furusato nozei, brought in ¥1.15 billion (8.6%).6

  • Population decline. In 2024 there were 35 births and 108 deaths in the town, and 319 people moved out while 178 moved in.6 The population fell about 28% from 2000 to 2020.6

Local specialties
Specialty Category Details & where to get it
Esashi horsehair crab (枝幸毛がに) Seafood In season from mid-March to early May.2 The furusato page says until late May.29 Raw crab sashimi is only possible when crab arrives fresh. Sold at the roadside station and as a furusato gift.210
Kegani-jiru (毛がに汁) Signature dish The pamphlet calls it the town's best-known local dish: a soup with whole pieces of crab and the kani-miso (tomalley) dissolved into the broth. It sells out fast at festival stalls.2
Esashi scallops (枝幸ほたて) Seafood In season June–October. Eaten as sashimi, or sold as frozen adductors and dried adductors.2
Autumn salmon, ikura, suji-ko, aramaki, salmon toba Seafood & processed In season September–October. Local processors make salted whole salmon (新巻鮭), dried salmon strips (鮭トバ), salmon roe (イクラ) and roe still in its sac (筋子).2
Hokkai kinko (北海キンコ) Dried sea cucumber Esashi's dried sea cucumber brand4
Honey Farm produce Three honeys from the Utanobori Jusanjo (歌登授産所) work center, including shikoro honey. The pamphlet says shikoro can only be gathered in the Soya region.2 Shikoro and thistle (あざみ) honey are furusato gifts.29
Utanobori mountain products Preserves & snacks The Utanobori Jusanjo packs bamboo shoots, bracken and butterbur. It also makes Utanobori jam and Utanobori dango, made from local potatoes and pumpkin.2
Hotate curry, kani-meshi no moto Dish & packaged food Scallop curry is a popular dish at the roadside station restaurant. Kani-meshi no moto, a mix for crab rice, is one of the station's featured souvenirs.10
Local sweets Confectionery Umiake manjū (海明けまんじゅう) from Nozaki Kashiten. Kani-matsuri senbei (かに祭りせんべい) and Mejika no Mai (メジカの舞) from Shōkadō. Fruit tarts from Pâtisserie Hiraoka.30
Furusato nozei gifts Gifts Scallops, crab, salmon, ikura, honey and hotel stays11

Culture & festivals
Event When Highlights
Esashi Umi-ake Kegani Matsuri (枝幸海明け毛がにまつり) Late March Held when the crab season opens, to taste the first crab2
Okhotsk Esashi Umaimon Festival (オホーツク枝幸うまいもん祭り) First Sunday of July, with an eve event on Saturday This is the renamed Esashi Crab Festival (枝幸かにまつり). It is held at Usutaibe Senjōiwa, with seafood stalls, a crab speed-eating race and a prize draw. Entry is free, and shuttle buses run from the parking areas.231 The local YOSAKOI team Musōren Esashi (夢想漣えさし) performs.2 The 3rd festival, on 4–5 July 2026, marked 20 years since the merger.2425
Utanobori Summer Festival (うたのぼりサマーフェスティバル) Mid-August Games, events and fireworks over Utanobori2
Esashi Nōryō Bon Odori (えさし納涼盆踊り) Summer (the pamphlet gives no date) Bon dance with food stalls and prize bingo2
Yokubari Festa (よくばりフェスタ) First Sunday of October (4 October 2026, 10:00–14:00) Held at the roadside station. It features a "scallop catcher" game with fishing rods, a scallop-shucking contest, salmon grabbing and seafood sales.23132
New Year Festival (ニューイヤーフェスティバル, 開運祭) Night of 31 December into New Year's Day Held in Utanobori since 1983. People carry a lucky-fortune mikoshi decorated with a hay bale through the town. At the countdown they set the bale alight, and fireworks follow. It takes place in Penkenai Riverside Park, next to Utanobori Hachiman Shrine.2
  • Performing arts. The YOSAKOI team Musōren Esashi won the grand prize at Sapporo's YOSAKOI Soran Festival in 2010, 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2019.4 Town-designated cultural properties include the Kami-Otoshibe lion kagura dance (上音標獅子神楽) and the torii gate and votive plaques (ema) of Itsukushima Shrine.4
  • Museum and library. The Okhotsk Museum Esashi covers local history and nature, and the town library carries on the 1896 story (see History).124

Ainu heritage
  • Place names. Several local names are Ainu in origin: Esashi (e-sa-us-i, "cape"), Utanobori (ota-nupuri, "sand mountain") and Penkenai (辺毛内), which Wikipedia glosses as "upper river".154 The Ainu name of Kitami Kamui Misaki is Kamuy-etu, "cape of the gods".33
  • Kitami Kamui Misaki. In 2010 the cape was designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty.17 It is one of the sites grouped as Pirikanoka ("beautiful shape"), a set of Ainu-named landscapes across Hokkaido.3334
  • Sites. The Horobetsu River mouth chashi (幌別川川尻チャシ), an Ainu hilltop enclosure, is a town cultural property.4 The Utanobori Town History says the Otanupuri sand hill that gave Utanobori its name was once a fort.15
  • Facilities. No dedicated Ainu cultural center or living-tradition program was found in the town. The Okhotsk Museum Esashi's prehistory displays focus on the Okhotsk culture.12

Sister & friendship cities
  • Ukiha, Fukuoka Prefecture — friendship city (友好都市) since 31 October 2009. Contact began in 1995. The former town of Ukiha (浮羽町) was planning a town-promotion project based on the folktale Saru Kani Gassen ("The Crab and the Monkey"). It asked Hokkaido to recommend a town famous for crab, and Hokkaido suggested the former Esashi, which the town calls Japan's top town for catching and selling horsehair crab.44
  • Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture — exchange partner. Ties began in 2002 with an exchange memorandum between the former Utanobori and the former Ikitsuki (生月町, now part of Hirado). Both belonged to the "Nai-nai Summit" (ないないサミット), a group of municipalities with neither a national highway nor a railway.45
  • Former: Sollefteå, Sweden. Sister city from 4 November 1996. The tie was dissolved on 19 November 2019 after Sollefteå cited the cost of exchanges.23

Notable people
  • Murakami Tomohiko (村上智彦, 1961–2017). Born in Utanobori. He was a rural physician who rebuilt the hospital of Yubari as the Yubari Medical Center after the city went bankrupt.46

Sources

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

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