Noboribetsu 登別市

• Noboribetsu (登別): The name comes from the Ainu name of the Noboribetsu River, nupur-pet (ヌプㇽペッ), "dark-coloured (thick-coloured) river". The river is coloured by hot-spring water flowing in from upstream¹⁶. The kanji 登別 ("climb" + "separate") were chosen only for their sound and carry no meaning²³.
• The river's colour: Mogami Tokunai's Ezo Zōshi (蝦夷草紙, 1790) described the Noboribetsu River as cloudy, "as if white powder and Prussian blue had been stirred in". The water comes from the Kusuri-sanbetsu River (クスリサンベツ川), which drains the onsen area. According to the place-name scholar Yamada Hidezō, the Ainu called only the stretch below that confluence nupur-pet. The stretch above it was pekere-pet (ペケレ・ペッ)²⁴.
• Horobetsu (幌別): The city hall district keeps the old municipal name. It comes from Ainu poro-pet (ポロペッ), "big river", the name of today's Iburi-Horobetsu River¹.
• Why the name changed: When Horobetsu became a town in 1951, residents were split between the familiar "Horobetsu" and "Noboribetsu", which was famous nationwide because of the onsen. Horobetsu was chosen at first. Public opinion shifted before the town's 10th anniversary, and the assembly voted to rename it Noboribetsu in 1961¹.
• Competing theories: The sources consulted give no substantially different etymology for Noboribetsu. The differences between them are only in how nupur is translated ("dark-coloured", "thick-coloured" or "deep-coloured")¹²⁵.
• Karurusu (カルルス): This name is not Ainu. It comes from Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary) in today's Czech Republic, because the two spas' radium-bearing waters were thought to be similar¹¹.

• Before the Meiji era: The Ainu names of the rivers and districts (nupur-pet, poro-pet) record the area's Ainu past¹. The sources consulted document no specific archaeological sites. Much older still, a carbonized fir (トドマツ) buried by an eruption of the Kuttara volcano about 43,580 years ago is a city-designated cultural property²⁶.
• 1666: The wandering monk Enkū (円空) carved a hatchet-made Kannon statue. It is now enshrined beside the Jigokudani viewpoint and is a city cultural property¹¹²⁶.
• Matsumae era: The Matsumae domain opened the Horobetsu trading post (ホロベツ場所). Okada Hanbei (岡田半兵衛) became its contractor in 1838¹. Mogami Tokunai recorded Noboribetsu around 1785, and Matsuura Takeshirō stopped at the hot springs around 1845¹¹.
• 1857–1858: Okada Hanbei, an Ōmi merchant who was mining sulphur at Jigokudani, built bathing huts for his workers. In 1858 Takimoto Kinzō (滝本金蔵), a carpenter from Edo, built an inn so that his wife could take the waters for a skin disease. It was the forerunner of today's Dai-ichi Takimotokan hotel, and 1858 is counted as the opening of the resort¹¹.
• 1869–1870: The Meiji government placed Horobetsu District under Katakura Kuninori (片倉邦憲), lord of Shiroishi Castle in the Sendai domain. His first retainers began clearing land at Washibetsu in 1870⁶¹. This link is the origin of today's sister-city tie with Shiroishi, Miyagi²⁷. Katta Shrine (刈田神社) was founded in 1871¹.
• 1880s–1890s: In 1882 a settler arrived from present-day Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture. His memoir, the Jōsō no Ki (丈草の記), is a city cultural property²⁶. In 1886 Hino Aiki (日野愛憙) found the springs that became Karurusu Onsen. His adopted son Hino Kyūkitsu (日野久橘) built a road to them, and the resort opened in 1899¹¹. The Hokkaido Colliery and Railway's Muroran line opened Noboribetsu and Horobetsu stations in 1892. Full-scale sulphur mining at Jigokudani and Ōyunuma began in 1899, although sulphur had been dug at Jigokudani since at least the 1850s¹¹¹.
• Mining boom: The Horobetsu Mine (幌別鉱山) went into full production in 1906, mining gold, silver, copper and sulphur. Its sulphur output was the largest in Japan from 1916 to 1919⁶. The mine closed in 1973¹.
• Tourism infrastructure: In 1905 Karurusu and Noboribetsu Onsen were designated convalescent resorts for soldiers wounded in the Russo-Japanese War, which spread their fame¹¹. A horse-drawn tramway to the onsen opened in 1915, then a steam light railway (1918) and an electric tram (1925)¹¹. The Noboribetsu Primeval Forest became a national Natural Monument in 1924²⁶.
• 1919–1951: Horobetsu, Noboribetsu and Washibetsu villages merged as Horobetsu Village (1919)⁶. From 1942 about 1,450 company houses were built for the Nippon Steel works in neighbouring Muroran¹. The onsen area became part of Shikotsu-Tōya National Park in 1949¹¹. Horobetsu became a town in 1951⁶.
• Postwar growth: The JGSDF Horobetsu camp opened in 1953. The Bear Park opened in 1958¹. The town was renamed Noboribetsu in 1961, and the first Jigoku Matsuri was held in 1964¹¹¹. Noboribetsu became a city on 1 August 1970¹. Two Dō-ō Expressway interchanges opened in 1985–1986¹.
• Theme-park era: Marine Park Nixe opened in 1990. Date Jidaimura and Tenkaen (天華園, closed 1999) opened in 1992. That year tourist numbers peaked at 4.47 million¹²⁸. The resident-register population stood at 59,481 in 1983, the highest figure in the city yearbook's series, which begins in 1982².
• Shocks and recovery: Visitor numbers fell after the 2000 Mt. Usu eruption, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake²⁸. In fiscal 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic cut them by 67%²⁸. In 2016 hot water burst out at Taishō Jigoku (大正地獄), and the activity continued into 2017¹¹. The Oni-hanabi fireworks won the Prime Minister's Award at the Furusato Event Awards in 2020¹¹.
• Recent years: The Nupur tourism exchange center opened at Noboribetsu Port on 1 March 2023²⁵. The Kanto-rera cultural exchange hall (カント・レラ) closed on 30 September 2025²⁹. The Local History Museum reopened after a full renovation on 1 April 2026³⁰.

• Shape and size: A roughly diamond-shaped city⁶, 18.5 km east–west and 22.6 km north–south³¹. Forest (山林) makes up about 14,789 ha of the 21,221 ha land register, roughly 70%³¹.

• Coast and plains: The Pacific coastline runs almost straight⁶ and is mostly sandy beach. There are rocky headlands at Cape Ranbokke (蘭法華岬) in the northeast and Cape Washibetsu (鷲別岬) in the southwest¹. The built-up area runs along a coastal strip from Washibetsu through Horobetsu to Noboribetsu²³.

• Mountains: Mt. Karurusu (1,077 m) and Mt. Raiba (来馬岳, 1,040.1 m) rise in the north. Orofure Pass (オロフレ峠) is on the border with Sobetsu¹⁶. Hiyoriyama (日和山, 377 m) is an active volcano that still steams³². The Japan Meteorological Agency monitors the area continuously as the Kuttara (Noboribetsu) volcano¹.

• Rivers and lakes: The Noboribetsu River (16.8 km) rises below Orofure Pass, passes Karurusu Onsen and takes in hot-spring water from the Kusuri-sanbetsu River²⁴. The Iburi-Horobetsu River is dammed as Muroran's industrial water reservoir (Horobetsu Dam, 1968)¹. Ōyunuma (大湯沼) is a gourd-shaped crater pond about 1 km around, with 130°C sulphur water welling up from its bottom³³. Lake Kuttara (倶多楽湖) is a round caldera lake about 8 km around, with no inflowing or outflowing river. It is reached from Noboribetsu Onsen but lies in Shiraoi³⁴¹.

• Protected areas: The onsen and Karurusu districts are in Shikotsu-Tōya National Park (支笏洞爺国立公園)¹. The Noboribetsu Primeval Forest, about 186 ha of natural forest around Jigokudani, has been a national Natural Monument since 1924³⁵²⁶. The Kiusito Wetland (キウシト湿原) is on the Environment Ministry's list of 500 Important Wetlands¹.

• Climate: The JMA weather station "Noboribetsu" is in Satsunai-chō (札内町), inland at 197 m¹. Its 1991–2020 normals show:

  • an annual mean of 7.4°C, ranging from −4.1°C in January to 19.6°C in August;
  • 1,811 mm of precipitation a year;
  • 454 cm of snowfall a season, with a mean maximum snow depth of 84 cm³⁶.

  The record high is 34.3°C (7 July 2025) and the record low is −19.4°C (17 February 1978). The wettest day on record brought 417 mm of rain (25 September 1983)³⁷. The coast is milder: the Muroran observatory next door averaged 10.8°C in 2025, against 9.1°C at the Noboribetsu station³⁸. The city is designated a heavy-snow area (豪雪地帯)¹.

• Structure: The city's own summary describes two economies: a major tourist city built around Noboribetsu Onsen, and a wing of the Muroran heavy-industrial zone, the most advanced in Hokkaido⁶. The east of the city depends on tourism, fishing and dairy farming. Factories and construction firms line the coast in the centre and west¹.
• Employment: The 2024 Economic Census counted 1,118 establishments with 12,199 employees. The tertiary sector accounted for 10,008 of them (about 82%). Construction employed 1,181 people in 189 establishments, and manufacturing 953 in 55³⁹. Notable local employers include hotel operators Dai-ichi Takimotokan (第一滝本館) and Noguchi Kankō (野口観光), and a Paloma plant (1993)¹.
• Tourism: In fiscal 2025 the city recorded 3,215,914 visitors, including 1,055,153 overnight guests. The peak was 4,467,628 in fiscal 1992²⁸. As of April 2025 the city had 18 hotels and inns with 2,005 rooms and room for 7,367 guests. Fourteen of them (1,926 rooms) are in Noboribetsu Onsen and three in Karurusu⁴⁰.
• Overseas visitors: Foreign guest-nights reached 410,777 in fiscal 2025. Taiwan led with 137,255, then South Korea (116,746) and mainland China (42,779)⁴¹. The record was 518,936 in fiscal 2017⁴¹.
• Fisheries: The Iburi-chūō fishery cooperative (いぶり中央漁協) covers the city's coast¹. In 2024 the city's 37 fishing businesses (83 fishers) landed 2,630 t worth ¥774.5 million. Walleye pollock (すけとうだら), caught mainly by gill-net, made up 1,609 t (¥231 million). Hairy crab (毛がに) brought only 15 t but ¥124.6 million, and hokki surf clams 72 t⁴². The pollock catch is the base of the city's many tarako (pollock roe) products (see Local specialties).
• Agriculture: Farming is small. The 2020 Census of Agriculture and Forestry (農林業センサス) counted 36 farm businesses working 955 ha, nearly all upland and grassland, and 9 dairy farms with 562 cattle⁴³.
• Demographics: The population fell 6.5% between the 2015 and 2020 censuses (49,625 → 46,391)². On the resident register it dropped from 44,564 in September 2023 to 42,900 in September 2025². As of August 2026, 38.8% of residents were 65 or older, and the average age was 53.5⁴.
• Revitalization: Several projects support local business. The Noboribetsu Brand Promotion Council (登別ブランド推進協議会, founded 2009) certifies local products¹⁴⁴. The Enma Yakisoba campaign is run by the Noboribetsu Enma Yakisoba association (登別閻魔やきそばの会) and its member restaurants¹⁹. The Oni-slo electric slow-mobility bus has run in the onsen town since March 2023⁴⁵. The Nupur center at Noboribetsu Port combines tourist information, a city branch office and local-product sales²⁵.

Where to buy brand products: Wakasaimo Honpo Noboribetsu-Higashi (わかさいも本舗登別東店, Naka-Noboribetsu-chō 96-6); the Nupur center (Noboribetsu-minato-chō 1-4-9); the Noboribetsu Brand Shop (のぼりべつブランドショップ, Arnis shopping center 1F, Chūō-chō 4-11)⁴⁴.

Traditions and performing arts: Two local lion dances have been city-designated cultural properties¹²⁶:

• the Horobetsu Mine lion dance (幌別鉱山獅子舞), performed to pray for miners' safety and higher output. It is still designated²⁶;
• the Satsunai kagura lion dance (札内神楽獅子舞). Its designation was lifted on 9 January 2013, after its preservation society was dissolved²⁶.

At Enma-dō in the onsen town, a mechanical float of Enma Daiō, built in 1993 for the 30th Jigoku Matsuri, "passes judgement" at set times. The listed times are 10:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00, 20:00 and 21:00, and the hall may close in bad weather¹³.

Shrines and temples: Katta Shrine (刈田神社) was founded in 1871, the year after the Katakura settlers arrived¹. Kannon-zan Shōkō-in (観音山聖光院) holds a Sacred Kannon by Enkū and 34 Kannon statues by Takamura Tōun, both city cultural properties¹²⁶. The Yakushi Nyorai hall (薬師如来堂, 1861) and the daimoku stone (題目石, 1871) are small sacred sites in the onsen area¹¹⁵⁵.

Museums:

• Noboribetsu City Local History Museum (登別市郷土資料館, Katakura-chō 6-27-2): The building is modelled on Shiroishi Castle. It displays everyday tools from the past, the carbonized Kuttara-eruption fir, records of the Katakura settlers, and Ainu material. Hours are 10:00–17:00 from April to October and 10:00–16:00 from November to March. It is closed on Mondays, the day after national holidays and over the New Year holidays. Adults ¥190³⁰.
• Chiri Yukie Gin no Shizuku Memorial Museum (知里幸恵 銀のしずく記念館): See Ainu heritage.

• Horobetsu Ainu community: Kannari Kizō (金成喜蔵) was an elder of the Horobetsu Ainu and founded the Airin School (愛隣学校)¹. The Kannari and Chiri families produced several leading figures of Ainu culture. Kannari Matsu (金成マツ, Imekanu) was a transmitter of yukar epics¹. Her niece Chiri Yukie (知里幸恵, 1903–1922) was born in Noboribetsu¹⁷. Yukie worked with the linguist Kindaichi Kyōsuke in Tokyo and died there aged 19. Her Ainu Shin'yōshū was published the following year¹⁷. Yukie's brother Chiri Mashiho (知里真志保, 1909–1961) was born in Noboribetsu Village, today's Noboribetsu Hon-chō. He became an Ainu linguist and a professor at Hokkaido University⁵⁶.
• Chiri Yukie Gin no Shizuku Memorial Museum (知里幸恵 銀のしずく記念館, Noboribetsu Hon-chō 2-34-7): Opened on 19 September 2010 with public donations. It is run by the NPO Chiri Shinsha (知里森舎)¹⁸. It displays Yukie's diaries, letters, and facsimiles of the notebooks that became the Ainu Shin'yōshū¹⁸. Related sites include Mashiho's monument at the foot of the Noboribetsu Bridge, inscribed "銀のしずく降れ降れまわりに" ("Silver droplets fall, fall all around"), and Yukie's grave with a monument to Kannari Matsu at Rifuruka (リフルカ)⁵⁷. The museum is open 9:30–16:30, is closed on Tuesdays, and closes for winter from 20 December to the end of February; check its website before visiting⁵⁷.
• Place names: Many local names are Ainu: nupur-pet (Noboribetsu), poro-pet (Horobetsu), pekere-pet (upper Noboribetsu River)¹²⁴. The Nupur center's nickname means "deep-coloured" in Ainu. Its logo uses Ainu patterns, and it displays Ainu costume and sells Ainu crafts²⁵.
• Other facilities: The Local History Museum has Ainu-culture exhibits and an online "Ainu Museum Virtual Guide"³⁰. Yukar-no-sato (ユーカラの里) at the Bear Park reproduces Ainu dwellings and ways of life¹⁶. The national Ainu museum and park, Upopoy, opened in neighbouring Shiraoi in 2020¹¹.

• Shiroishi (白石市), Miyagi — sister city, October 1983: Chosen because the Katakura retainers from Shiroishi Castle pioneered the area²⁷.
• Ebina (海老名市), Kanagawa — sister city, May 2015: The tie grew out of Ebina's own sister-city link with Shiroishi. The three cities signed a disaster-aid agreement in 2010 and a "Triangle Exchange Declaration" in 2011²⁷.
• Kusatsu Onsen (草津温泉), Gunma — sister hot spring, June 1972⁶.
• Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands (USA) — friendship city, November 2006: Saipan junior-high students visit every February and home-stay with local families²².
• Faaborg-Midtfyn, Denmark — friendship city, 2007: The link began because Nixe Castle is modelled on Egeskov Castle there. The two cities exchanged a "Bond of Friendship" in 1997, and Noboribetsu has sent junior-high delegations since 1992²².
• Guangzhou (广州), China — friendship city, 2012: A friendship-exchange promotion pact was signed in 2002 after tourism promotion that began in 2000²².
• Other ties: An exchange declaration with Sapporo's Shiroishi Ward (2016)¹. Tourism friendship agreements with two Taichung (Taiwan) tourism associations (2018), signed at association level¹¹.

• Chiri Yukie (知里幸恵, 1903–1922): Ainu transcriber and translator of kamuy yukar, author of the Ainu Shin'yōshū, born in Noboribetsu¹⁷.
• Chiri Mashiho (知里真志保, 1909–1961): Ainu linguist and Hokkaido University professor, born in Noboribetsu Village⁵⁶.
• Kannari Matsu (金成マツ, Imekanu): Yukar reciter, from Noboribetsu¹.
• Kannari Kizō (金成喜蔵): Horobetsu Ainu elder, businessman and founder of the Airin School¹.
• Takimoto Kinzō (滝本金蔵): Founder of the first onsen inn (1858), the origin of Dai-ichi Takimotokan¹¹.
• Yoshida Brothers (吉田兄弟): Shamisen duo, from Noboribetsu¹²³.
• Nagashima Yū (長嶋有): Akutagawa Prize-winning novelist, from Noboribetsu¹.
• Aihara Kōji (相原コージ): Manga artist, from Noboribetsu¹.