Okushiri 奥尻町

The name comes from Ainu. The town explains it as Ikushun-shiri (イクシュン・シリ), later shortened to Iku-shiri (イク・シリ). Iku means "over there" and shiri means "island," so the name means "the island over there."¹ The Hokkaido Government's list of Ainu place names gives two readings, both meaning "island across the water" (向島):²²

• i-kus-un-sir (イクシウンシリ), "the island that lies beyond there," recorded by Nagata Hōsei (永田方正).
• i-kus-ta-mosir (イクシタモシリ), "this island beyond there," recorded by Matsuura Takeshirō (松浦武四郎). He explained that it was named because it lies across the water when seen from Kumaishi (熊石) on the mainland.

Japanese Wikipedia mentions another theory, a corruption of wokoshiri (ヲコシリ, "the opposite island").⁶ The spelling "Okushiri" (オクシリ) first appears in Arai Hakuseki's (新井白石) Ezo-shi (蝦夷志) of 1720.⁸

• Prehistory: People lived on the island about 8,000 years ago, in the Initial Jōmon period, and many Jōmon sites and artifacts have been found. The town describes a magatama found here as one of the largest ever found in Japan;¹ the chōjigashira magatama (丁字頭勾玉), a town-designated cultural property, is shown at the Tsunami Museum.⁴
• Okhotsk and Satsumon cultures: Okushiri marks the southern limit of the Okhotsk culture. At the Aonae Sand Dune site (青苗砂丘遺跡) on the southern tip, five dwelling sites were found, along with signs of hunting Japanese sea lions and gathering abalone. The Satsumon-period Aonae site (青苗遺跡) yielded iron tools and beads, probably traded from Kofun-period Honshu.⁶
• 660: One theory holds that Heroben-no-shima (弊賂弁嶋), where Abe no Hirafu (阿倍比羅夫) attacked a Mishihase stronghold, was Okushiri.⁶
• 1454: According to local tradition, Takeda Nobuhiro (武田信広), founder of the Matsumae clan, was driven ashore here by a storm on his way to Ezo.⁶⁸²³ In one local legend, a fisherman named Saitō Sanpei (斉藤三平) cooked him the first sanpei-jiru.²¹
• 1767: Taguchi Kyūbei moved to the island to fish, and the number of permanent settlers grew after that. The town's pages write his name two ways, 田口久兵衛 and 田口九兵衛.¹⁵
• 1831: Islanders enshrined Benzaiten at Miyazu (宮津) to pray for good catches. The site had once been a guard post that watched for escaping convicts.²⁴
• Meiji era: The island became Okushiri District in 1869, and a headman's office opened in 1879.¹ Herring fishing was the island's main industry until the end of the Meiji era (1912).¹ From 1885 to 1890 the headman banned alcohol, with fines, to stop fishermen from drinking through lean seasons. Five shōchū flasks made in Echigo between 1860 and 1902 were dug up at the Aonae site in 1976–77 and put on public display in 2017. Three had been broken into small pieces, and a curator suggested this was done on purpose, either by enforcers making an example or by residents hiding evidence.²⁵ Inaho Lighthouse was built in 1891 on the reef-strewn northern cape.²⁴ The four villages merged into Okushiri Village in 1906.¹
• 1926: A private hydroelectric plant on the Shiogama River (塩釜川) was the start of the island's electricity supply.²⁶
• 1946: Former residents of Kunashiri, forced out after the war, settled at Kamuiwaki on the west coast.²⁴ The town's chronology records 280 settlers arriving on 22 August 1946.²⁷
• 1960: The population peaked at 7,908.¹ On 20 April the whole island was included in the new Hiyama Prefectural Natural Park.²⁸
• 1966–1967: Okushiri became a town on 1 January 1966. A regular ferry service began in 1967.⁸
• 12 July 1993: At 22:17 an M7.8 earthquake struck at a depth of 34 km off southwest Hokkaido.⁴ The first tsunami wave reached the island 2–3 minutes later. It ran up to 29 m at Monai (藻内), and some estimates say 31 m. Inaho, Hatsumatsumae (初松前) and Aonae were almost wiped out. A cliff collapse in the Okushiri district buried a hotel and a restaurant and killed 29 people. Fire then swept through Aonae until the next morning.¹² The town counted 172 dead, 26 missing and 437 houses destroyed.²⁹
• 1993–1998: Recovery was funded largely by donations from across Japan. The town set up a ¥9 billion reconstruction fund, built seawalls and raised land, and moved residents of Aonae Cape to higher ground. The cleared site became Tokuyō Memorial Green Park (徳洋記念緑地公園).³⁰ "Complete recovery" was declared in March 1998.⁸
• 1999: A new ferry, the Avrora Okushiri, entered service on 14 April. On 19 August the Emperor and Empress visited to see the rebuilding. It was their second visit; the first was on 27 July 1993, two weeks after the disaster.³¹
• 2001: The Okushiri Island Tsunami Museum opened.⁴
• 2006–2008: The airport runway was extended from 800 m to 1,500 m in FY2006.¹ The Okushiri Winery was completed in October 2008.³²
• 2017: The present ferry, the Calanthe Okushiri, entered service in May.³³ Hokkaido's first geothermal power plant on an outlying island opened in July. It produces 250 kW.³⁴
• 2018–2021: The summer ferry to Setana was suspended after the FY2018 season.⁶ Salmon farming began in 2021.³⁵
• 2022: On 1 November the town was chosen as a national Decarbonization Leading Area (脱炭素先行地域), one of 20 selected in that round.³⁶ It declared itself a Zero Carbon City on 6 December.³⁷
• 2023–2024: The island's "Three Great Festivals" ended in December 2023. They were replaced from July 2024 by a single summer event, the Okushiri Marugoto Festival.³⁸³⁹ A new town hall opened in May 2024.⁶
• Recent: The Tsunami Museum and the Okushiri Island Tsunami Storytellers (奥尻島津波語り部隊) were certified as NIPPON Disaster Prevention Heritage (NIPPON防災資産). The national scheme was created in May 2024.⁴⁰

• Location: Okushiri lies off the southwest of Hokkaido, 61 km northwest of Esashi and 42 km southwest of Setana. The shortest crossing, about 17 km, is to the former Taisei Town.¹ The island is shaped roughly like a trapezoid, long from north to south.²⁸

• Landforms: The island is made of granite terraces. Rivers cut across them, so there are many waterfalls. The east coast has more flat land, while the west coast is mostly cliffs, where hot springs come up. Sulfur was once mined here.¹²⁸

• Mountains: The highest peak is Kamui-yama (神威山, 584 m). An Air Self-Defense Force radar station stands on its summit. Second is 勝澗山 (427.7 m), where perlite is mined, and third is Mt. Tamashima (球島山, 369.3 m), which has a lookout.¹⁹¹

• Forest and water: About 71.4% of the island is forest, and more than 60% of that forest is old-growth beech. Because beech forest holds so much water, the rivers rarely run dry.¹⁹ Houses and other buildings take up only about 0.5% of the land.¹⁹

• Parks: The whole island is in Hiyama Prefectural Natural Park (檜山道立自然公園), which was designated on 20 April 1960 and covers 17,013 ha across six towns.²⁸

• Wildlife: Unlike the Hokkaido mainland, Okushiri has no brown bears, no foxes and no venomous snakes. Deer once lived here but have disappeared. Hares, raccoon dogs and ring-necked pheasants live in the forests. Hazel grouse were released on Kamui-yama in 1985 and still breed there. Escaped farm mink have gone wild and now threaten local wildlife.⁴¹ Steller's sea eagles and white-tailed eagles visit the Nagahama coast in winter.²⁴

• Climate: The island has a maritime climate. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) station at Inaho recorded the following normals for 2000–2020:⁴²

  • Annual mean temperature 10.3 °C
  • January mean −0.4 °C
  • August mean 22.5 °C
  • Annual precipitation 920.1 mm
  • About 1,698 hours of sunshine a year

  Japanese Wikipedia calls this the mildest winter in Hokkaido,⁶ but the claim is doubtful: the JMA station at Matsumae on the mainland has almost the same January mean (−0.5 °C) and slightly milder December and February normals (1.9 °C and −0.1 °C, 1991–2020).⁴³ The winery credits the warm Tsushima Current (対馬暖流).¹⁵

• Records: The station has recorded a high of 32.8 °C (10 August 2023), a low of −11.0 °C (24 January 2023), and a peak gust of 37.8 m/s from the west (6 December 2012).⁴⁴ English Wikipedia gives older records of 33.2 °C (1999) and −13.4 °C (1996), probably from an earlier observing period.⁴⁵ The town's summary gives an older annual mean of 11.0 °C and precipitation of 1,748 mm.¹ No official snowfall statistics are published for this station.⁴²

• Fisheries: Fishing has long been the core industry. The island was once called the "island of dreams" and the "treasure island." Herring was the main catch until the end of the Meiji era. Today the main fisheries are offshore squid and atka mackerel (hokke), and shore fishing for sea urchin and abalone.¹
• Catch value: The value of the catch fell from about ¥1.058 billion in 1998 to about ¥661 million in 2016.¹ In 2024 it was ¥413 million, out of ¥2,439 million for all of Hiyama.³ Fishers are ageing and operations are getting smaller, so the town is turning to farmed fisheries.¹
• Aquaculture: An abalone seed-rearing centre opened in 1999 and uses hot-spring water to speed the growth of young abalone.¹ Salmon farming started in 2021. The fish are landed in June and sold as "Awayuki" (淡雪).³⁵
• Fishing ports: There are six fishing ports plus a branch harbour. Aonae is a Class 3 port and Kamuiwaki a Class 4 port; Inaho, Miyazu, Akaishi and Matsue are Class 1.¹
• Agriculture: In 2018 there were 19 farm households, growing rice and raising beef cattle.¹ The town calls its paddy landscape the only one on any of Hokkaido's outlying islands.⁴⁶ Only a few head of Okushiri Wagyu (おくしり和牛) are shipped each year.⁴⁷
• Wine: Okushiri Winery Co. was founded in 2007. Wild mountain grapes were first planted in 1999, and the winery made its first shipment on 10 April 2009.³² About 65,000 vines grow on some 27 ha. The varieties are Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Zweigelt, Kerner and yamabudō (wild grape).¹⁵ Its Pinot Gris 2014 won silver in the European-varieties category at the Japan Wine Competition 2015.⁴⁸
• Other industries: Perlite is the only mineral still mined. Manufacturing is small, mostly seafood processing: three plants shipped ¥15.13 million of goods in 2014.¹
• Jobs (2015 Census): Of 1,347 workers, 11.2% were in farming, forestry and fishing, 12.7% in construction and manufacturing, and 76.1% in services and other tertiary work.¹
• Tourism: The town's summary says about 50,000 visitors a year, mostly in summer, down from about 56,000 before the earthquake.¹ Hokkaido's survey counted only 25,400 visits in FY2024, the fewest of any town in Hiyama.³ The two figures come from different years and methods.
• Population: The population has fallen from 7,908 in 1960 to 2,024 in 2026, about a quarter of the peak.¹⁷ In the 2020 Census, 41.4% of residents were 65 or older and only 6.8% were under 15.¹
• Energy: The island's power comes mainly from the 4,000 kW Okushiri diesel plant, the 170 kW Hoya-ishi River hydro plant and an independent 1,210 kW diesel plant.²⁶ The 2017 geothermal plant uses hot water from 1,600 m underground and sells 200 kW of its 250 kW to Hokkaido Electric, enough for about 3% of the island's households.³⁴ Under its decarbonization plan, "Sustainable Island Okushiri," the town is expanding renewable energy with national support.³⁶

• Three Great Festivals (奥尻三大祭): These were the Sai-no-Kawara Festival (22–23 June), the Murotsu Festival (third weekend of July) and the Nabetsuru Festival (last Saturday of August).¹ They were ended on 1 December 2023 because of a lack of volunteers, an ageing population and events that had become stale.³⁸
• Shrines and temples: They include Miyazu Benten-gū (宮津弁天宮, a town-designated cultural property), 澳津神社 in Okushiri, and Aonae Kotoshironushi Shrine (青苗言代主神社). Among the temples are 乾清寺 and 圓満寺 in Okushiri and 耕養寺 and 日潮寺 in Aonae.⁶
• Designated cultural properties: Hokkaido has designated the Aonae Sand Dune site (historic site), pottery and bone tools from the Aonae site, and the historical chronicle Shinra no Kiroku (新羅之記録). The town has designated Nabetsuru Rock (scenic spot), the chōjigashira magatama and the Tokuyō Monument.⁶
• Museums: The Okushiri Island Tsunami Museum is the main one; see Sights & activities.⁴ The history and folk exhibit at the Inaho Fureai Training Center (in the former Inaho Elementary School) is closed for FY2026 because the building is old.⁶³

The island's name comes from Ainu, and two early readings are recorded (see Name origin).²² The archaeology room at the Okushiri Island Tsunami Museum shows finds from the Initial Jōmon period through the Okhotsk and Satsumon periods.⁴ The Satsumon culture is generally seen as ancestral to later Ainu culture (general context). The Aonae Sand Dune site is the southern limit of the Okhotsk culture, whose people hunted sea mammals and gathered abalone.⁶ The sources consulted did not document Ainu-period settlements (kotan), a present-day Ainu community or any Ainu cultural facility on the island.

• Awaji City (淡路市), Hyōgo Prefecture — domestic sister city since 24 March 1996. The link was first made with the former Hokudan Town (北淡町), at the epicentre of the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. The two towns bonded over recovering from disaster: Okushiri sent a six-person medical team to Hokudan in February 1995, and the two towns signed the agreement a year later.⁶³¹
• International: None found.

• Satō Yoshinori (佐藤義則): A pitcher born on Okushiri. He was the first-round draft pick of the Hankyu Braves (now the Orix Buffaloes) and won 165 games in 22 seasons. He was Rookie of the Year and led the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA. He threw a no-hitter, the oldest pitcher to do so at the time. Later he was a pitching coach for Orix, Hanshin, Nippon-Ham, SoftBank and Rakuten.¹
• Asō Naoko (麻生直子): A poet from Okushiri. Her poem is carved on the Jikūshō tsunami memorial.²⁴