Hokkaido Places

Town Nemuro Subprefecture

Nakashibetsu 中標津町

なかしべつちょう

Nakashibetsu is a dairy town on the Konsen Plateau with about two dairy cows for every resident1. A Hokkaido Heritage grid of windbreak forests runs across its pasture and is best seen from the Kaiyodai lookout2. It is also eastern Hokkaido's air gateway and shopping hub3, and the preliminary 2025 census counted more people here than in Nemuro City, the subprefecture's only city4.

Population (2020 Census)
23,010
Area
684.87 km²
District
Shibetsu District (標津郡)
Official website
www.nakashibetsu.jp

Known for

  • Dairy farming: 249 farms kept 44,623 dairy cattle on 1 August 20261. The town produced 212,153 t of raw milk in 2024, after a record 219,125 t in 202214.
  • Kaiyodai (開陽台): a 270 m plateau that the town calls its landmark. Pasture described as a "green carpet" spreads below it2, in a 330° panorama3. Motorcyclists have called it the "riders' holy land" since the 1980s15.
  • Grid windbreak forests (格子状防風林): forest belts 180 m wide and 648 km long in total, listed as Hokkaido Heritage. Astronaut Mamoru Mohri filmed them from the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 2000216.
  • Milk Road (ミルクロード): a straight, rolling road (Route North 19) to Kaiyodai. Scenic Byway Hokkaido chose it as one of its 15 "excellent roads"17.
  • Yoroushi Onsen (養老牛温泉): a quiet hot-spring hamlet about 27 km from the town centre, where Blakiston's fish owls are sometimes seen18.
  • Cheese and milk: Snow Brand Megmilk's Nakashibetsu plant makes Nakashibetsu Gouda and Sakeru string cheese. JA Nakashibetsu sells its own milk, and small farm makers produce cheese and yogurt19.
  • Nemuro Nakashibetsu Airport (根室中標津空港): billed by the tourism association as Japan's easternmost airport20, with flights to Tokyo Haneda and Sapporo21.
  • Film locations: parts of Kazoku (1970), A Distant Cry from Spring (1980), a 1984 Tora-san film and Tsuribaka Nisshi 20 Final (2009) were shot here22.

Sights & activities

Nature & scenery

  • Kaiyodai Observatory (開陽台展望館), Mataochi 2256-1713, about 15 minutes by car from the town centre or the airport:
    • Open 29 April–1 November, 10:00–16:30; the rooftop is always open.
    • Exhibits on the windbreak forests, and telescopes.
    • Parking for about 50 cars and 6 buses. There is no public transport to it.
    • The Kaiyodai Ranch to the west covers roughly 100 Tokyo Domes. It grazes about 1,000 dairy cows from early June to late October and has a 2,600 m walking path.
    • "Square sun" mirages are sometimes seen from here2.
    • It can be windy even on clear days13.
  • Milk Road (Route North 19): the best view of the straight road is from the lay-by near the Kaiyodai entrance17.
  • Mt Moan (モアン山, 356.69 m): a giant 牛 ("cow") character is cut into its slope along Prefectural Road 150. Visitors may climb it outside the grazing season, from early November to late May60. JA Kenebetsu staff and local farmers made the 100 m × 60 m character in 200512.
  • Kutekun Falls (クテクンの滝): the town's largest waterfall, about 25 m tall. It is reached by a 3 km, roughly 60-minute wade up an unmaintained stream, so proper stream-walking gear is essential61.
  • Ura-Mashu Observatory (裏摩周展望台): a lower viewpoint on Lake Mashu that is said to be fogged in less often. The town's page refers visitors to Kiyosato Town's website32.

Onsen

  • Yoroushi Onsen: calcium-sulphate sodium-chloride water (含石膏食塩泉) at 85°C. It marked its 100th year in 201618. The inn association lists one operating inn, Yuyado Daiichi (湯宿だいいち, Yoroushi 518)5762.

  • Town-centre onsen: the town has five hot-spring facilities in its centre63, all offering day bathing62:

    • Toyo Grand Hotel
    • Hotel Maruei Onsen main building
    • Hotel Maruei Onsen Tawarabashi
    • Hotel Moan
    • Nakashibetsu Hoyosho Onsen Ryokan

    A boxed set of bath powders, "Six Tabiyu", recreates the town's six springs62.

Museums & heritage

  • Nakashibetsu Town Museum (Maruyama 2-15; free; 15 minutes' walk from the Transport Center)54:

    • April and March: 10:00–17:00
    • May–September: 9:00–17:00
    • October: 9:00–16:00
    • November–February: 10:00–16:00
    • Closed Mondays, the day after public holidays and over New Year

    The Midorigaoka Annex is currently closed all year54.

  • Railway Materials Room (鉄道資料室): in the Nakashibetsu Transport Center, on the site of the old station. The station was the junction of the T-shaped Shibetsu Line. Ask at the Akan Bus counter to see it, 7:15–17:00 on weekdays and 7:45–16:00 at weekends and on holidays, but not 12:10–13:10. A monument marks the station scene in Kazoku64.

Outdoor & seasonal activities

  • Hiking:

    • Mt Musa: 5.6 km and about 2.5 hours one way.
    • Mt Shibetsu: 6 km and about 3 hours one way.

    Both access roads are rough and unpaved30.

  • Hokkaido Dream Forest Park (北海道立ゆめの森公園): beside the airport, partly on the old runway. It opened in July 2000 and was complete by July 200165. Its egg-shaped visitor centre has indoor play, open 9:00–17:00 daily except over New Year. There are 115 parking spaces, plus more than 250 in a second lot66.

  • Midorigaoka Forest Park (緑ヶ丘森林公園): 57 ha, about 3 km north of the centre. It has a campground (free entry; bungalows ¥3,800–4,000), a 36-hole park-golf course, a bird-watching centre and 6 km of trails67. Its Sakura no Sato grove blooms in May68.

  • Hoshi no Furusato Kaiyō no Oka (ほしのふる里 開陽の丘): a private flower park opened in 2008, open July–October, 9:00–17:00. It has a small campground with bungalows69.

  • Tours and rentals from the tourism association in 202670:

    • horizon cycling with pizza-making using local cheese
    • windbreak-forest horse trekking
    • soba-making
    • a town photo walk
    • fat-bike rental (May–November) and bicycle rental (1 April–15 November)
    • riding at Mutsu Farm (ムツ牧場)
    • canoe bird-watching

  • White Canvas Studio: a private photo shoot on a snow-covered field, planned to start in winter 2027 and run from early January to early March71.

  • Airport runway walk: a guided, early-morning 2 km walk on the runway (29 August in 2026)20.

Food experiences

  • Café Kaiyōdai, inside the Kaiyodai Observatory, is known for its "happiness honey soft-serve", made with local milk and honey from the Shiretoko area. In 2026 it opens 10:30–16:00 and is closed on Mondays2.
  • milcream (Yoroushi 200-2) is Yamamoto Farm's soft-serve stand. It opens 10:00–11:30 and 13:30–16:00, with irregular closures, and closes from about late October until just before Golden Week. A soft-serve in a cone baked on site costs ¥500, and there is an olive-oil topping72.
  • Hands-on making: cheese and sausages at the Livestock Food Processing Training Center in Kenebetsu7314.

Roadside stations (Michi-no-Eki)

No Michi-no-Eki is located in Nakashibetsu. The official Hokkaido list has no station in the town74. The nearest ones are:

  • Odaitō (道の駅おだいとう): in Betsukai, on Route 244 near the Notsuke Peninsula75:
    • Open 9:00–17:00 from May to October and 9:00–16:00 from November to April. Closed 31 December–5 January (as of September 2026; check before visiting).
    • Serves a jumbo-scallop burger set with milk and sells "triangle milk" cartons, which the station says are the only ones left in Japan.
    • Has an EV charger.
  • Mashū Onsen (道の駅摩周温泉): in Teshikaga74.
  • Papas Land Satsuru (道の駅パパスランドさっつる): in Kiyosato74.
  • Shiretoko Rausu (道の駅知床・らうす): in Rausu74.
  • Swan 44 Nemuro (道の駅スワン44ねむろ): in Nemuro74.

Getting there & around

  • Air: Nemuro Nakashibetsu Airport is 5 minutes by car from the town centre33. Daily flights21:

    • ANA to New Chitose: 3 flights (about 1 hour)
    • HAC to Sapporo Okadama: 2 flights (about 50 minutes)
    • ANA to Tokyo Haneda: 1 flight (about 1 hour 40 minutes)

    Schedules change with the season21. Flight times are from the tourism association7677. The airport has rental-car offices and a tourist information desk7678. Its car park gets very full during long holidays21.

  • Rail: the town has had no railway since 198911. Travellers take JR to Kushiro or Shibecha and change to a bus there79. Sapporo to Kushiro takes about 4 hours by JR76.

  • Buses: the town's bus page lists these routes79:

    • Akan Bus: Utoro–Rausu–Shibetsu–Nakashibetsu–Kushiro Station
    • Akan Bus: Shibetsu–Nakashibetsu–Nishi-Shunbetsu
    • Nemuro Kōtsū: airport to Nemuro
    • Hokuto Kōtsū and Nemuro Kōtsū (joint overnight bus): Nemuro–Betsukai–Nakashibetsu–Sapporo

    Approximate times76:

    • Sapporo: about 8 hours
    • Kushiro: 2 hours 20 minutes
    • Shibecha: 1 hour 20 minutes
    • Rausu: 1 hour 30 minutes
    • Nemuro: 1 hour 40 minutes
    • Airport to town: 9 minutes

    Town-run buses serve Yoroushi, Musa and Mataochi76.

  • Road: National Route 272 links the town with Kushiro. The prefectural road was upgraded to a national route in 1969 and fully opened in 197110. A monument on the Route 272 bypass marks the 145°E meridian11. Driving from Sapporo takes roughly 6–7 hours (unverified).

Practical tips

  • Seasons: Kaiyodai's building is open late April to early November. Cattle graze the Kaiyodai Ranch from early June to late October2. The summer festival falls on the second weekend of August, the Potato Festival in early September and the Winter Festival in early February45.
  • Visitor information: the Nakashibetsu Tourist Information Centre is at Higashi 14-jō Kita 1-chōme 1. It opens 8:30–17:00. It closes at weekends and on holidays, but from May to October only on holidays48. It posted a temporary-closure notice on 19 August 2026, so call first (0153-77-9733)80. The airport has its own desk (Kitanaka 16-9)78.
  • Getting around: a car is close to essential for Kaiyodai, Yoroushi and the trailheads. The town recommends a car, rental car or taxi (hire) for Kaiyodai2.
  • Bears and deer: both mountains are bear habitat. Carry bells, and bear spray if possible, and sign the trailhead register. The trailhead roads are rough. Mt Shibetsu has no phone signal, and Mt Musa has signal only in places30. On opening days, set off by 11:0046. At Kutekun Falls the stream drowns out bells, so the association suggests blowing a whistle61. Sika deer are common; the town culled 880 in FY202414.
  • Winter: storms can shut roads. A 2014 "bomb cyclone" kept roads closed long enough that milk had to be discarded14, and a March 2013 blizzard killed five people11.

More about Nakashibetsu

At a glance
Field Details
Type Town (町)
Subprefecture Nemuro (根室振興局)
District Shibetsu District (標津郡)
Population 23,010 at the 2020 Census (11,339 men, 11,671 women; 10,577 households), down 764 from 20155. The preliminary 2025 Census count was 21,785, down 5.3%4. The town's resident register showed 21,741 on 31 August 2026 (10,737 men, 11,004 women; 11,620 households)1. The prefecture's register for 1 January 2026 gives 22,022, of whom 377 were foreign residents6
Area 684.87 km² (GSI, 1 April 2026)7. The town is about 42 km east–west and 27 km north–south8. English Wikipedia gives 684.98 km²9
Density About 33.6 people/km² at the 2020 Census and 31.7/km² in August 2026, calculated from the figures above
Municipal history Part of Shibetsu Village (標津村) until it split off as Nakashibetsu Village on 1 July 1946. It became a town on 1 January 19508. In April 1955 it took in the Toyooka (豊岡) and Kyōwa (協和) districts from Betsukai Village10. A planned merger with Rausu, whose land does not touch Nakashibetsu's, was dropped in December 2004 after about 60% voted against it in a referendum1112
Neighboring municipalities Shibetsu and Betsukai (Nemuro); Shibecha and Teshikaga (Kushiro); Kiyosato (Okhotsk)12
Symbols Tree: white birch (シラカバ). Flower: Ezo gentian (エゾリンドウ). The emblem, chosen from public entries for the 1950 start of town status, shows three fans around the character 中. Each fan is a stylised katakana シ, ベ or ツ8. The town lists no town bird; English Wikipedia's common cuckoo is unverified9
Mascot No official town mascot was found. The tourism association sells stickers of a cow character, Mirukyan-chan (みるキャンちゃん)13
Official website https://www.nakashibetsu.jp/

Name origin
  • Nakashibetsu (中標津) joins the Japanese 中 (naka, "middle") to Shibetsu (標津). Shibetsu is a kanji spelling of the Ainu si-pet (シペッ), "big river"8. The town centre lies on the middle reaches of the Shibetsu River. The Hokkaido Government's Ainu place-name list gives this explanation its highest confidence rating (level A)23.
  • What si-pet means: the town museum reads si as "true, real, big" and pet as "river", so the name means "the main stream". Kami-Shibetsu (上標津), upstream, is the same kind of Japanese–Ainu hybrid24.
  • A competing reading: sipe-ot (シペオッ), "where salmon teem", is also recorded. Nagata Hōsei rejected it because it would have been pronounced sipot. Yamada Hidezō thought si-pet more likely. The list rates si-pet at level B25.
  • Settler-era names: Tawarabashi, Kaiyō, Kyōwa, Toyooka and Nishitake were named after settlement began. Kaiyō (開陽), "opening to the sun", was chosen by settlers around 1918 when a school was founded24.

History
  • Prehistory: Jōmon pottery shows people living here about 6,000 years ago. Epi-Jōmon, Satsumon and Ainu-period people followed26. The town has 71 known archaeological sites, mostly on sheltered ground near the Shibetsu, Musa and Tōhoro rivers27.
  • 1801: Habuto Masayasu, Fukui Yoshimaro and their party walked from Shibetsu up the Shibetsu River to Shibecha. They stayed at Tarumappu, a stream in the present town centre10.
  • 1810: an Ainu footpath along the Shibetsu and Keneka rivers was widened into the Shari Mountain Road (斜里山道) between Shibetsu and Shari. Travellers rested at "Taworimafu", the present town centre, and spent their first night at "Chirai-wattara", near the Pon-Mataochi confluence. The road could not be used in winter because of blizzards. It was abandoned in 1885, when the New Shari Mountain Road, the forerunner of Route 244, opened288.
  • 1874–1901: the American geologist Benjamin Smith Lyman surveyed Yoroushi's hot springs in 1874, and M. S. Day carried out a triangulation survey in 1875. Land was chosen for settlement in 1889, and the survey plots opened in 190110.
  • 1911: a group from Tokushima Prefecture led by Inui Sadatarō (乾定太郎) broke the first ground at Tawarabashi. By 1918 the Nakashibetsu plain had 400 households and 1,731 settlers10.
  • 1916–1917: Nishimura Takeshige began developing Yoroushi Onsen18. In October 1917, settlers worked four days and nights to build a bridge over the Shibetsu River for Hokkaido Governor Tawara Magoichi. He then ordered a proper bridge, named Tawarabashi after him24.
  • 1923–1937: dairy cows arrived at Musa and Kaiyō in 1923. A milk-collection plant opened at Musa in 1925, the same year a colonial tramway reached Nakashibetsu from Attoko. Building of the Nemuro branch of the Hokkaido Agricultural Experiment Station began in 1927. Severe crop failures in 1931–32 led to a 1933 five-year plan that moved farming from grain to dairy. Nakashibetsu Station opened in 1934, and the Shibetsu Line was completed in 19371014.
  • 1941–1945: the Army built an airfield at Kenebetsu in 1941 and the Navy one at Nakashibetsu in 1943. Both were bombed in 194510.
  • 1962–1965: Mayor Ozaki Yutaka named the plateau "Kaiyodai" on 11 February 1962, at a town ski meet held to mark a new NHK TV relay station24. Its lookout opened in August 1962, and Nakashibetsu Airport opened in July 196510.
  • 1974–1982: the national New Dairy Village project (新酪農村建設事業) was carried out14. The population passed 20,000 in December 197710.
  • 1989–1997: JR closed the Shibetsu Line in April 1989 and replaced it with buses. A new airport opened that July. Jet flights to Tokyo began in 1990, and a 2,000 m runway opened in 199711.
  • 1994: the Hokkaido East Offshore Earthquake (M8.1, shindo 6) seriously injured 5 people and lightly injured 122. Damage totalled about ¥9.5 billion11.
  • 2001–2013: the windbreak forests became Hokkaido Heritage in 2001. Snow Brand's new Nakashibetsu plant opened in 2007. A blizzard in March 2013 killed five people11.
  • 2014–2018: Japan's first milk-promotion ordinance took effect on 1 April 2014. In 2016, three typhoons in one week pushed the Shibetsu River past its flood-warning level. During the 2018 Hokkaido blackout, the town's dairy farmers had to discard about 500 t of milk14.
  • 2020s: milk output passed 200,000 t for the first time in 202014. Meiji is building a large dairy plant in Kenebetsu, due to start production in March 202729. The preliminary 2025 Census counted 21,785 people in Nakashibetsu and 21,201 in Nemuro City4.

Geography & climate
  • Landforms: the north of the town is hill country joined to the Chishima volcanic belt. It slopes gently south to the flat Konsen plain8. The town centre sits on river terraces of the Shibetsu River, at about 50 m above sea level12. Forest covers 33,026 ha, about 48% of the town's 68,487 ha (share calculated)14.
  • Mountains: Mt Musa (武佐岳, 1,005.2 m) is one of Hokkaido's 100 famous mountains. Its summit looks over the windbreak grid to Kunashiri and the Notsuke Peninsula. Mt Shibetsu (標津岳, 1,061 m) looks toward Lake Kussharo and Mt Shari30. Samakke-nupuri (サマッケヌプリ山, 1,063 m) is the highest peak listed for the town12.
  • Rivers: the Shibetsu River is 77.9 km long and drains 671 km². It rises on Mt Shibetsu, on the Nakashibetsu–Kiyosato border, and reaches the Sea of Okhotsk north of the Notsuke Peninsula31. Other rivers in the town include the Musa, Mataochi, Keneka and Tōhoro12.
  • Windbreak grid: the forest belts follow the settlement plots proposed by Kaitakushi adviser Horace Capron. They are among Japan's 100 landscapes of people and nature (人と自然が織りなす日本の風景百選)12. The Hokkaido Heritage listing covers Nakashibetsu, Betsukai, Shibetsu and Shibecha. The belts also shelter wildlife and serve as its corridors16.
  • Parks nearby: the town's tourism pages include the Ura-Mashu Observatory on Lake Mashu, in Akan-Mashu National Park32. The town counts three national parks within about 100 km of the airport (Shiretoko, Akan and Kushiro Shitsugen). Abashiri Quasi-National Park and three prefectural parks are also in range: Notsuke-Fūren, Akkeshi and Shari-dake33.
  • Climate: the town describes its climate as inland, averaging about 20°C in summer and −10°C in winter, with little snow for Hokkaido8. JMA 1991–2020 normals give an annual mean of 5.8°C (January −6.6°C, August 18.3°C). Precipitation averages 1,183.8 mm, snowfall 433 cm and sunshine 1,681.2 hours a year34. The records are 36.5°C (26 May 2019) and −32.9°C (25 February 1978). The deepest snow on record was 156 cm on 4 March 2015, and the wettest month was August 2016, with 666 mm35.

Economy & industry
  • Dairy: most of the town's raw milk goes into natural cheese36. Farm output was ¥31.9 billion in 2024, and raw milk accounted for ¥26.9 billion of it (about 84%). Farm households fell from 354 in 2010 to 286 in 2024. Over 2010–2023 the average dairy herd grew from about 129 to 158 head. The town-run public ranch took in about 804 cattle a day in FY202414.
  • Crops (2024): pasture covered 18,478 ha and silage maize 2,265 ha. Among food crops, buckwheat covered 772 ha and potatoes 378 ha14. Daikon and broccoli, introduced in 1998 and 2003, are shipped to Kantō, Kansai and Kyūshū19. In 2015 a cooperative built a shiitake facility at the closed Kaiyō Elementary School, designed for 240 t a year14.
  • Processing and research: the town has Snow Brand Megmilk's Nakashibetsu plant, the Hokkaido Research Organization's Dairy Research Institute and the Hokkaido Nakashibetsu Agricultural High School. Its two farm cooperatives are JA Nakashibetsu and JA Kenebetsu14.
  • New dairy plants: Meiji began building a plant in the Kenebetsu district in April 2024 to replace its old Nishishunbetsu plant. It will cost about ¥48 billion and handle 430,000 t a year, with production due from March 2027. Snow Brand Megmilk began a ¥46 billion expansion of its Nakashibetsu cheese plant in May 2026. It will handle 300,000 t of raw milk a year, with production due in the first half of FY202829.
  • Regional hub: the subprefecture describes Nakashibetsu as a town of industry and commerce, with large and small shops, and as eastern Hokkaido's air gateway3. Japanese Wikipedia puts the town's shopping catchment at 40,000–100,000 people. It also notes the geographer Katō Kōji's "Nakashibetsu model" of a regional hub that also houses workers for nearby towns12.
  • Tourism: the town recorded 263,300 visits in FY2025, up 6.0% on the year before. Of these, 87,900 visitors came from outside Hokkaido and 58,200 stayed overnight. Foreign overnight guests numbered 3,291, staying 4,765 guest-nights in total37.
  • Revitalisation: furusato nozei donations reached a record ¥255.9 million from 14,253 gifts in FY2025, and about ¥1.17 billion since the scheme began. FY2025 spending included projects for the town's 80th anniversary (開町80年) and an 80-year town history38. New farmers can get a ¥4 million start-up grant and interest-free loans of up to ¥10 million36.

Local specialties
Specialty Category Details & where to get it
Nakashibetsu Milk (なかしべつ牛乳) Dairy JA Nakashibetsu milk, pasteurised at 85°C for 15 minutes. Sold at A-Coop Nakashibetsu, Tobu South Hills and the airport Green Shop, and in Tokyo at Hokkaido Dosanko Plaza Yurakucho. The same dairy makes coffee milk, cream cheese and yogurt19
NA2MILK (なかしべつ牛乳プレミアム) Dairy Billed as Japan's first milk with only A2 β-casein. It comes from selected herds on the town's JGAP-certified farms19
Yoroushi Pasture Milk (養老牛放牧牛乳) Dairy From Yamamoto Farm in Yoroushi. The cows graze outdoors except at milking and get no grain feed. The milk is non-homogenised and pasteurised at low temperature19, and holds organic JAS certification39
Nakashibetsu Gouda (中標津ゴーダチーズ) and Sakeru Cheese Cheese Made at Snow Brand Megmilk's plant, which produces the smoke, bacon, chili and roast-garlic Sakeru flavours. Gouda is sold at A-Coop and the airport Green Shop19
Brique de Nakashibetsu (ブリック・ド・ナカシベツ) Cheese A washed-rind cheese aged at least two months by La Laiterie Nakashibetsu (Kitanaka 9-17), which also makes drinking yogurt, Greek yogurt and ice cream1940
Takeshita Farm cheeses (竹下牧場) Cheese Mozzarella, Maribo and ricotta made from Holstein and Brown Swiss milk. Sold at A-Coop Nakashibetsu "Aruru" and ushiyado1941
Mirufu-chan (みるふちゃん) Dairy "Milk tofu" curdled with vinegar from Kubo Farm milk in Kenebetsu. Sold at A-Coop Kenebetsu and the airport Green Shop19
Hakushaku (伯爵) and Musamaru (ムサマル) potatoes Crop Hakushaku is the Waseshiro variety, bred at the Konsen agricultural station in the town. Only tubers with at least 15% starch are sold under the name. Musamaru, named after Mt Musa, is sold only from Nakashibetsu. Both are sold October–December. A-Coop sells a potato shōchū called Hakushaku in September19
Kaiyō Kuro-ushi (開陽黒牛) and Milky Pork (ミルキーポーク) Meat Kaiyō Kuro-ushi is an aged Wagyu × Holstein cross sold in limited amounts through JA. Milky Pork comes from pigs fed whey from cheese-making, raised by Pig Farm Ōyama19
Shiretoko Donut (シレトコドーナツ) Sweets Baked rather than fried, with local milk, the maker's own honey and salted caramel. Sold at Gelato Shiretoko, Café Kaiyōdai and A-Coop "Aruru"1942
Shibetsu Yōkan (標津羊羹) Sweets Bean jelly of Hokkaido kintoki beans and beet sugar from Shibetsu Yōkan Honpo (Kawanishi 7-2)43, which also makes a milk manjū19
Cheese Bretonne (チーズブルトンヌ) Sweets A galette from Manryōya made with Nakashibetsu Gouda19. The subprefecture lists it among the town's specialties3
Other products Various Omoi no Take (想いの茸) shiitake, Hokkaido Yuki-ichigo strawberries grown year-round (mostly white varieties), Shiretoko goat milk (Inui Farm, April–December) and Botan buckwheat flour from Sobaya Wakamori19
Furusato nozei gifts Gifts Kaiyō Kuro-ushi cuts, Milky Pork sets, NA2MILK, Yoroushi Pasture Milk, Yuki-ichigo and Nakashibetsu Omoide Kitchen retort sauces from long-running local restaurants4413

Culture & festivals
Event When Highlights
Kaiyodai opening event 29 April Quiz rally and free Nakashibetsu Milk for the first 150 visitors (2026)13
Mt Shibetsu mountain opening (標津岳山開き) First Sunday of June45 In 2026 (7 June), the first 100 hikers back down got a town onsen ticket and free milk46
Mt Musa mountain opening (武佐岳山開き) Second Sunday of June45 The same for the first 200 hikers down in 2026 (14 June)46
Nakashibetsu 330° Kaiyodai Marathon (なかしべつ330°開陽台マラソン) July Held since 200912
Nakashibetsu Shrine Festival (中標津神社例大祭) 19–21 July Annual shrine festival47
Gurutto Nakashibetsu Ride (ぐるっと中標津ライド) July (19 July 2026) A 73 km cycling tour, not a race, via Kaiyodai. Aid stations serve soft-serve, and riders get local cheese as a souvenir48
Nakashibetsu Summer Festival (なかしべつ夏祭り) Second Saturday–Sunday of August About 6,000 lanterns hang around a bon-dance tower. There is YOSAKOI dancing and a parade, with fireworks the Friday before49. The town says the lanterns may be the most at any festival in Japan45
Nakashibetsu Riders Meeting August (23 August 2026) Held on the old airport runway. A Nakashibetsu Shrine priest blesses bikes, and there is a slow-balance "ipponbashi" contest50
Jagaimo Hakushaku Festival & Fureai Hiroba (じゃがいも伯爵まつり＆ふれあい広場) Early September Potato digging, stalls and a stage on the old runway. About 13,000 people came on 7 September 20254551
Yoroushi Onsen Festival (養老牛温泉まつり) First Sunday of October Hot-spring hamlet festival12
Nakashibetsu Winter Festival (なかしべつ冬まつり) Early February Close to 30 snow sculptures45, a giant snow slide and fireworks52. The 50th festival was held on 1–2 February 202553. Sources disagree between the first weekend347 and the second52
  • Origins of the summer festival: it began as a merchants' festival, first held in August 1956 according to the town's chronicle10 and in 1957 according to the tourism association49. It was renamed the Nakashibetsu Summer Festival in 200049.
  • "Toast with milk": under the 2014 ordinance, the town urges people to make the first toast at any gathering with local milk51.
  • Museums and heritage: the Nakashibetsu Town Museum (中標津町郷土館) opened in 197154. A C11 209 steam locomotive from the Shibetsu Line is displayed outside it from May to October. Its frog-motif pottery (蛙意匠の土器) is a town cultural property55. The Midorigaoka Annex (緑ヶ丘分館) occupies the agricultural station's 1928 wooden display hall, moved and restored in 1982. It became a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 200956. The Kitamura house in Kami-Musa, formerly the Tsuchida Ryokan, was the town's first registered building, in 200711.
  • Film: the town's location guide covers Kaiyodai and the old Nakashibetsu Station from Kazoku (家族) and the old Kami-Musa Station from A Distant Cry from Spring (遙かなる山の呼び声). Yoroushi Onsen appears in Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Yogiri ni Musebu Torajirō (男はつらいよ 夜霧にむせぶ寅次郎), and the airport in Tsuribaka Nisshi 20 Final22.

Ainu heritage

  • Archaeology: Satsumon-period pit dwellings survive at the Tōhoro River Site 10 (当幌川10遺跡). There is an Ainu-period chashi (fort) on the Tōhoro River27.

  • Routes: the Shari Mountain Road began as an Ainu footpath. The town translates its stop "Chirai-wattara" as "pool where itō (Sakhalin taimen) gather"8.

  • Yoroushi: the inn association says Ainu people used the spring for about 400 years57. The prefectural list records three readings of the name and rates the entry at level B58:

    • i-oro-us-i, "place where one always soaks it in water". Yamada linked it to people from the Nijibetsu kotan who soaked elm and nettle bark in the hot water to free the fibres for attus cloth. The list thinks this reading the most natural.
    • e-or-us-i, "where a mountain's end juts into the water".
    • iwor-us-i, "river in the hunting grounds".

    Nishimura first wrote the name as 養老趾 before settling on 養老牛24.

  • Other Ainu place names: Mataochi (俣落) is mata-ot-i, "river where [salmon] crowd in winter"; the list rates it level C59. Musa (武佐) may be mosa, "nettle", but its meaning is uncertain (level C)59. Tōhoro (当幌) is linked to to, "lake". Kenebetsu (計根別) probably comes from kene-o-ika, "where one crosses the alder river"24.

  • No dedicated Ainu cultural facility in the town was found in the sources consulted.

Sister & friendship cities
  • Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture: friendship city since July 1992. Exchanges include youth sports, camps, neighbourhood associations and school visits81. An exchange and holiday-lodging agreement came first, in July 199111.
  • No international municipal partner was found. The town's Rotary Club signed a sister tie with the Rotary Club of Buyeo, South Korea, in 199411.

Notable people
  • Masanori Hata (畑正憲, "Mutsugoro"), author and animal expert, set up Mutsu Farm in the town12. It still offers horse riding70.
  • Tsubasa Hasegawa (長谷川翼), speed skater, competed at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and received the town's honour award11.
  • Satoru Sudo (須藤悟), para ice hockey player, competed at the 2018 PyeongChang Paralympics and received the town's honour award11.
  • Kōsuke Endō (遠藤幸佑), former rugby player, is from the town and received its citizens' honour award12.
  • Akari Harajima (原嶋あかり), voice actress, is from the town12.

Sources

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

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