Soya 宗谷総合振興局

The 2020 Census figures total 62,140.⁵ The preliminary 2025 counts are Wakkanai 30,068, Sarufutsu 2,506, Hamatonbetsu 3,039, Nakatonbetsu 1,415, Esashi 7,025, Toyotomi 3,431, Rebun 2,179, Rishiri 1,768, Rishirifuji 2,140 and Horonobe 2,012. Only Esashi had more households than in 2020.⁹ Each municipality's file gives its latest resident-register figure.

• Position: The subprefecture is in the far north of Hokkaido. It faces the Sea of Japan to the west and the Sea of Okhotsk to the east. Rumoi and Kamikawa lie to the south and Okhotsk to the southeast, and Sakhalin lies across the Soya Strait to the north.¹ Cape Soya, at 45°31′22″N, is the northern tip of the Hokkaido mainland.¹⁵ Cape Crillon, the southern tip of Sakhalin, is about 43 km away.¹
• Landforms:¹
  • In the north, the Soya Hills (宗谷丘陵) run through the middle. The broad Sarobetsu Plain lies to the west, and the Tonbetsu plain with Lake Kutcharo to the east.
  • The south is mostly mountains. Flat land is found only along the rivers, which run down to the Sea of Okhotsk.
  • Rishiri Island is almost round, with Mt. Rishiri (1,721 m) in the middle. Rebun is long, narrow and hilly.
  • The bureau's map marks two inland peaks: Mt. Hako (函岳, 1,129 m) and Mt. Poronupuri (ポロヌプリ山, 841 m).
  • Mt. Hako stands where Esashi meets Bifuka and Otoineppu in Kamikawa. Apart from Mt. Rishiri, no mountain north of it is higher.¹⁷
• Wetlands:
  • The Sarobetsu Plain covers 216 km² in Toyotomi and Horonobe. Japanese Wikipedia calls it Japan's largest raised bog. It was listed under the Ramsar Convention on 8 November 2005.¹⁸
  • Lake Kutcharo in Hamatonbetsu is a brackish lagoon about 30 km around, cut off from the sea about 5,500 years ago. It is Hokkaido's 10th-largest lake, with an average depth of only 1.5 m. It was listed under the Ramsar Convention on 6 July 1989, with 1,607 ha.¹⁹ The subprefecture notes that it was Japan's third Ramsar site.¹⁵
• Land use: Forest covers about 326,000 ha, 6% of Hokkaido's forests. It is mainly Sakhalin fir (トドマツ) and Ezo spruce, with a high share of natural forest; only about 30% is planted. There is no Hokkaido-owned forest in the subprefecture.²⁰ Farmland covers 62,012 ha, and about 90% of it is pasture.³
• National park: Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park was designated a quasi-national park on 10 July 1965 and a national park on 20 September 1974. It covers 24,512 ha of land in one city and five towns: Wakkanai, Rebun, Rishiri, Rishirifuji, Toyotomi and Horonobe.²¹
• Climate: The bureau describes a cool climate with strong winds all year, which suit wind power.⁵
  • Inland, the mountains and rivers give a wide range between summer and winter.⁵ At Utanobori in inland Esashi, JMA has recorded −37.9 °C (17 February 1978) and 35.4 °C (26 July 1989), and snow 214 cm deep (4 March 2018).²²
  • The Sea of Japan side is fairly mild in winter but windy. At Wakkanai the 1991–2020 normals are 7.0 °C for the year, −4.3 °C in January and 19.5 °C in August, with 1,109.2 mm of precipitation and 477 cm of snowfall.⁵²³
  • The Okhotsk side has a wider range because of the seasonal winds and the drift ice.⁵ At Kitami-Esashi the normals are 6.3 °C for the year, −5.5 °C in January and 19.1 °C in August.²⁴
  • Summer brings alpine and wetland flowers to Rishiri, Rebun and the Sarobetsu Plain.⁵ The bureau's flower calendar runs from May to September.¹⁵

• Jōmon people: Graves at the Funadomari site (船泊遺跡) on Rebun, from the early to middle Late Jōmon, held many shell beads, jade and shell ornaments. Cone shells and cowries from southern seas, Itoigawa jade and asphalt show trade over long distances across the Sea of Japan. In 2013, 1,616 objects from the site were designated a national Important Cultural Property.²⁵
• Okhotsk culture: Before the Ainu period, people of the Okhotsk culture lived on these coasts. The Okhotsk Museum Esashi in Esashi shows 204 items from the Menashidomari site (目梨泊遺跡) that are national Important Cultural Properties.²⁶
• Ainu trade and the Matsumae domain:
  • Around 1670, the chronicle Tsugaru Ittōshi described about 300 Ainu on Rishiri trading marine products with Japanese.²⁷
  • The Matsumae domain opened the Soya trading post (宗谷場所) in the Jōkyō era (1684–87).²⁸
  • In 1765 a trading station was built at Motodomari on Rishiri, dealing in abalone, sea cucumber, cod and herring.²⁷
• Northern defence:
  • In 1807 Russians raided Rishiri, burning merchant ships and taking islanders captive.²⁷
  • Troops of the Tsugaru domain guarding Soya suffered many deaths in the winter. In 1808 the Aizu domain sent 587 men to Soya as replacements.²⁹ The domain was ordered to guard Rishiri, Soya and Karafuto (Sakhalin).¹¹ Rishirifuji's history puts the number sent to Rishiri at 252.²⁷
  • In 1808 Matsuda Denjūrō and Mamiya Rinzō sailed from Soya to explore Karafuto.²⁸
  • In 1848 the American Ranald MacDonald landed on Rishiri.²⁷
• Meiji provinces and offices:
  • The provinces of Kitami and Teshio were created in 1869.¹¹¹²
  • In 1875 Japan and Russia signed the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, and 841 Sakhalin natives were moved to Wakkanai.²⁸ See Ainu heritage below.
  • In 1879 a district office and village office opened at Soya. Wakkanai counts this as its founding.²⁸
  • In 1897 the district office became the Soya Subprefecture (宗谷支庁), covering the four districts of Soya, Esashi, Rishiri and Rebun.²⁸⁸ It marked its centenary in 1997.⁸
• Herring and gold:
  • The herring catch of Rishiri District passed 100,000 t in 1915. After 1955 the herring stopped coming.²⁷
  • In 1898 placer gold was found on the upper Usotannai, a tributary of the Tonbetsu River. It was advertised as the "Klondike of the East", and by one account about 16,000 prospectors worked there and on the Pechan (Peichan) River in present-day Nakatonbetsu. In 1900 a nugget of 768.75 g was dug up there, which the town's records call Japan's largest.³⁰
• Railways and Karafuto:
  • The line from Otoineppu via Hamatonbetsu, later called the Tenpoku Line, opened in stages from 1914 and reached Wakkanai in 1922.³¹²⁸
  • The Chihaku ferry (稚泊連絡船) to Karafuto began running in 1923.²⁸
  • The present Soya Main Line through Horonobe was completed on 25 September 1926.³²
  • In 1945 ships carrying evacuees from Karafuto landed at Wakkanai, and US forces arrived.²⁸
• Post-war boundaries:
  • Toyotomi Village split from Horonobe Village in 1940.³³ In October 1948 it moved from the Rumoi Subprefecture to Soya.⁸³³ In 1950 its Tenkō and Akebono districts were transferred to Wakkanai, and it became a town in January 1959.³³⁷¹
  • Wakkanai became a city in 1949 and absorbed Soya Village in 1955.²⁸
  • Higashi-Rishiri Town was renamed Rishirifuji in 1990, after Mt. Rishiri's popular name.³⁴
  • On 20 March 2006 Esashi merged with Utanobori.³⁵
• Transport changes:
  • Wakkanai Airport opened on 31 May 1959 and was formally opened as a second-class airport in April 1960.³⁶
  • The Kōhin North Line to Esashi closed in 1985.³⁵ The Tenpoku Line closed on 1 May 1989 and was replaced by Soya Bus services.³¹ Since then the Okhotsk side of the subprefecture has had no railway.
  • A regular ferry between Wakkanai and Korsakov on Sakhalin started in 1995.²⁸ It ran until fiscal 2018 and has been suspended since fiscal 2019.³⁷
• The 2010 reorganization: On 1 April 2010 Hokkaido regrouped its 14 subprefectures into nine general subprefectural bureaus and five subprefectural bureaus.³⁸ The Soya Subprefecture became the Soya General Subprefectural Bureau (宗谷総合振興局), and at the same time Horonobe was transferred from Rumoi.⁸
• Recent years:
  • Exchanges with Russia have been suspended because of the situation in Ukraine.³⁷
  • All ten municipalities have declared themselves "zero carbon cities".⁴
  • In October 2023 a publicly run demand bus began running between Hamatonbetsu and Otoineppu.¹⁶
  • From 14 March 2026, JR Hokkaido made all its limited expresses on the Asahikawa lines all-reserved, which includes the trains to Wakkanai.³⁹

• Output: Gross regional product was ¥253.8 billion in fiscal 2022, or 1.4% of Hokkaido's.⁵
  • Farming, forestry and fishing made up 24.5% of it, against 4.8% for Hokkaido.
  • Fishing alone made up 17.1%, and the subprefecture produced 19.6% of Hokkaido's fisheries output.
  • Construction made up 14.0%, manufacturing 13.3% (11.5% food) and public administration 10.1%.
• Fisheries:²
  • In 2024 Soya landed 159,339 t worth ¥47.7 billion. That was 14.9% of Hokkaido's catch by weight, third among the 12 coastal subprefectures, and 16.7% by value, second.
  • Scallops were 75% of the catch by weight (about 120,000 t) and 50% by value (¥23.7 billion).
  • By value, the next catches were horsehair crab (¥4.4 billion), salmon (¥4.0 billion), sea urchin (¥3.1 billion) and sea cucumber (¥2.7 billion).
  • On the Okhotsk side the main catches are scallops, horsehair crab and salmon. On the Sea of Japan side and around Rishiri and Rebun they are sea urchin, sea cucumber and kombu.
  • Stocks are managed through catch limits on horsehair crab and voluntary limits on hokke, and herring and flounder fry are released. The cooperatives had 1,920 members.
  • Fishing is shrinking fast on the islands. The Rishiri area runs a hands-on training course for new fishers.
• Dairy:³
  • The cool climate suits grassland dairy farming. In February 2025 there were 497 dairy farms with 58,171 cattle, 7.1% of Hokkaido's herd, or 117 head per farm. There were also 6,439 beef cattle.
  • Farm output was ¥44.12 billion in fiscal 2023. Livestock made up 97% of it, and raw milk alone ¥35.77 billion.
  • Most of the milk is made into butter, whole milk powder and skim milk powder.
  • Commercial farm households fell from 963 in 2000 to 605 in 2020. There were 9 new farm households in 2024, but only 1 in 2023.
• Forestry: Four forest cooperatives and three sawmill, chip and precut plants work the forests, and the plantations are reaching harvest age.²⁰
• Wind and energy:⁴
  • On 1 March 2026 the subprefecture had 239 wind turbines with a total capacity of 647,740 kW, not counting small units of 50 kW or less. The power goes to other parts of Hokkaido.
  • The largest farm is 31 turbines of 4,300 kW in Toyotomi, running since February 2025. The bureau's list gives its total as 128,800 kW. The Soya Misaki wind farm in Wakkanai has 57 turbines of 1,000 kW and has run since November 2005. Horonobe's Otonrui farm has 28 turbines of 750 kW and has run since February 2003.
  • Rishiri and Rebun each have a thermal power station (7,150 kW and 5,050 kW), and Rishirifuji has two small hydro plants.
  • Toyotomi's natural-gas mine powers its own plant. A trial there since 2023 makes hydrogen and carbon nanotubes from natural gas without emitting CO₂. A data centre running on wind power is planned in Wakkanai.
• Ports and trade: Wakkanai Port, an Important Port, is both a fishing base and a distribution hub. Its exports and imports came to about ¥1.7 billion in 2025. The other ports are Soya, Kafuka, Kutsugata, Oshidomari and Esashi.⁴⁰
• Workers from abroad: Dairy, fishing, tourism and care work are short of workers, and foreign technical trainees and skilled workers now fill many jobs.³⁷
  • Foreign residents rose from 896 (1.4% of the population) in March 2019 to 1,560 (2.8%) in December 2025.
  • The largest groups were from Vietnam (681), Indonesia (311), China (213), Thailand (141) and Myanmar (68).

Regional brands and specialties

Festival calendar (selected)

The bureau's calendar lists planned and usual events as of 1 March 2026. Check dates with the organizers.⁴⁴

Other regular events include the Yokubari Festa in Esashi and the Reindeer White Festa in Horonobe.¹³ Toyotomi's Sarobetsu Flower Festival (サロベツ花まつり) is held in early July and was first held in July 1975.⁷¹³³

Hokkaido Heritage: Three of Hokkaido's 74 Hokkaido Heritage items are in the subprefecture itself:⁴⁵

• the Wakkanai Port North Breakwater Dome (first round)
• the periglacial landforms of the Soya Hills (second round)
• the fishing heritage and way of life of Rishiri Island (third round), selected in 2018²⁷

The Teshio River, a second-round item listed for the whole river basin, also flows past Horonobe.⁴⁵³²

Sakhalin ties:³⁷

• Wakkanai is linked with Nevelsk (1972), Korsakov (1991) and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (2001), and Sarufutsu with Ozersky (1990).
• The bureau notes that Sakhalin, about 43 km from Cape Soya, has long ties with Japan through the Ainu and the Matsumae domain. Exchanges are suspended at present.
• In 2018 the bureau made a manga booklet, Tonari no Sakhalin ("Sakhalin next door"), for local schools.

Aizu ties: In July 2008, for the 200th anniversary of the Aizu domain's northern guard, Wakkanai, Rishiri and Rishirifuji signed a joint declaration of exchange with Aizu-Wakamatsu in Fukushima. Wakkanai holds a memorial service at the Aizu graves in Soya Park every year.²⁹

Living with newcomers: Wakkanai and Sarufutsu run Japanese classes. In fiscal 2025, Coordinators for International Relations from Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar worked in Wakkanai, Sarufutsu and Hamatonbetsu.³⁷

Ainu heritage

• Place names: Many names in the region come from Ainu. The Hokkaido Government's list of Ainu place names gives these readings:
  • Soya (宗谷): so-ya, "rock shore". It was named after a large rock in the sea at Sannai. Yamada Hidezō thought the name moved with the trading post when it was moved to its present site. Confidence level A.⁴⁶
  • Wakkanai (稚内): from yam-wakka-nay, "cold (drinking) water river". Good water was scarce, so a stream with good water gave the place its name.⁴⁷
  • Rishiri (利尻): ri-sir, "high island". Confidence level A.³⁴
  • Rebun (礼文): repun-sir, "offshore island", probably because it lies farther out than Rishiri. Confidence level A.⁴⁸
  • Toyotomi (豊富): a loose translation of the river name Ebekorobetsu (エベコロベツ), from ipe-kor-pet, "river that has food (fish)". Confidence level B.⁶⁷
  • Sarobetsu (サロベツ): sar-o-pet, "river in the reed marsh". Confidence level A.⁶⁸
  • Each municipality's file covers its own name.
• Trade: The Soya trading post was set up in the 1680s. The bureau notes that the Ainu and the Matsumae domain traded with Sakhalin from early times.²⁸³⁷ Around 1670 about 300 Ainu lived on Rishiri.²⁷
• Sakhalin Ainu: After the 1875 treaty, 841 Sakhalin Ainu in 108 households moved to Soya, near Wakkanai.⁴⁹²⁸ In 1876 the authorities forced them to move to Tsuishikari (対雁), by one account at gunpoint. Cholera and smallpox killed about 300 people there in 1886–87. Most returned to Sakhalin in 1906.⁴⁹
• Pirikanoka: Kitami Kamui Cape, on the border of Hamatonbetsu and Esashi, is part of Pirikanoka ("beautiful form"), a national Place of Scenic Beauty designated from 2009. It groups landscapes across Hokkaido that are the setting of Ainu stories, places of prayer to the kamuy and places with Ainu names; its listed locations include Hamatonbetsu and Esashi.⁵⁰¹³
• Museums: The Hokkaido Government lists the Hoppō Kinenkan (Northern Memorial Museum) in Wakkanai Park among the places in northern Hokkaido where visitors can see Ainu materials. It also covers Karafuto history and Mamiya Rinzō.⁵¹
• Today: The Hokkaido Ainu Association lists one local association in the Soya area, the Toyotomi Ainu Association (豊富アイヌ協会).⁵² No dedicated Ainu cultural centre was found in the subprefecture.

• Visitor numbers: The subprefecture counts about 2 million visits a year. Visits are concentrated in summer, and the share from outside Hokkaido is higher than the Hokkaido average.⁶
  • Fiscal 2024 brought 1.966 million visits. 40.6% came from outside Hokkaido, against 29.5% for all of Hokkaido. 25.5% were overnight stays.
  • July was the busiest month (366,000) and February the quietest (54,000).
  • By municipality: Wakkanai 516,000, Hamatonbetsu 415,000, Esashi 187,000, Toyotomi 184,000, Sarufutsu 143,000, Rishiri 115,000, Rishirifuji 115,000, Horonobe 112,000, Rebun 90,000 and Nakatonbetsu 89,000.
  • In the bureau's series from fiscal 2015, visits were highest in fiscal 2019 (about 2.09 million) and lowest in fiscal 2020 (about 1.16 million).
  • Foreign guests stayed about 26,000 nights. Taiwan provided 33.8% of them, followed by China (12.5%) and Hong Kong (11.1%).
  • The bureau is promoting adventure travel, with nature and cultural activities.⁶¹⁵
• The top of Japan: Cape Soya has the Northernmost Point monument and is lit up after dark.¹⁵ Nearby are the Soya Hills, with their wind turbines, and the White Road.¹⁵¹³ See Wakkanai.
• Flower islands: Rebun has about 300 kinds of flowers in summer, including endemics such as the Rebun lady's slipper orchid and Rebun edelweiss. Rishiri has its own alpine plants, such as the Rishiri poppy.¹⁵ Mt. Rishiri is one of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains.¹⁵
• Wetlands and wildflower fields:¹⁵
  • The Sarobetsu Plain has about 100 kinds of flowers from early summer to autumn, such as Ezo day lilies.
  • The Beniya field in Hamatonbetsu covers about 330 ha, and the Esanuka field in Sarufutsu is little touched by people.
  • Meguma-numa, near Wakkanai Airport, has about 200 kinds of flowers on 78 ha of wetland.
  • The subprefecture's map says about 20,000 swans stop at Lake Kutcharo in spring and autumn. The Ministry of the Environment counts about 6,000 tundra swans at the spring peak.¹⁹
• Okhotsk coast: The flat rocks of Usutaibe Senjōiwa in Esashi reach to the water's edge, and drift ice comes close in winter.¹⁵
• Hot springs: Toyotomi Onsen is known for its rare oil-bearing water, which people with skin conditions call a "miracle spring".¹³ Hot water came up with natural gas during oil drilling in 1926.³³ The town of Toyotomi says Toyotomi Onsen is the only oil-bearing hot spring in Japan and one of two in the world.⁶⁹ The onsen marked its centennial with a ceremony on 16 May 2026.⁷⁰ The bureau's map also marks onsen at Wakkanai, Hamatonbetsu, Pinneshiri, Esashi, Utanobori, Rishiri, Rishiri Fuji and Rebun.¹⁵
• Museums and history: The Okhotsk Museum Esashi, the Kutcharo waterfowl observatory, the Sarobetsu Wetland Center, the Horonobe reindeer farm and the Yume Chisōkan are open all year.⁴⁴
• Closures: The Nakatonbetsu Limestone Cave park closed for the rest of fiscal 2025 after record rain on 20 and 26 August 2025 caused landslides and fallen trees.⁵³ Its fiscal 2026 opening has been postponed while repairs go on.¹⁴ The bureau's March 2026 facility list still shows the park as open from May to October.⁴⁴

Suggested routes

1. Okhotsk coast, Wakkanai to Esashi (1–2 days):
   • Start in Wakkanai at the North Breakwater Dome and Noshappu Cape, then drive to Cape Soya and the White Road.¹⁵
   • Follow Route 238 south to Sarufutsu, about an hour from Wakkanai. Drive the Esanuka Line and stop at Michi-no-Eki Sarufutsu Kōen for scallops.⁵⁴¹³⁵⁵
   • In Hamatonbetsu, see the birds at Lake Kutcharo, bathe at the onsen and try gold panning at Usotannai.¹³
   • Round Kitami Kamui Cape to Esashi for the Okhotsk Museum and Michi-no-Eki Marine Island Okashima. Esashi is about 110 km and 2 h 10 min from Wakkanai by car.¹³⁵⁶²⁶
2. Rishiri and Rebun (2–3 days):
   • Take the Heartland Ferry from Wakkanai to Oshidomari in Rishirifuji (1 h 40 min).¹⁶
   • On Rishiri, see Himenuma and Otatomari-numa, then Kutsugata Cape and Senhoshi Misaki Park in Rishiri.¹³ Climbers should read the island files before setting out on Mt. Rishiri.
   • Cross to Kafuka on Rebun (45 min) and walk one of the island's seven trekking courses, such as the Momoiwa Observatory course or the Cape Tour course.¹⁶¹³
   • Return from Kafuka to Wakkanai (1 h 55 min).¹⁶ The bureau's flower calendar runs from May to September.¹⁵
3. Sea of Japan coast and inland (1–2 days):
   • From Wakkanai, take Hokkaido Road 106 south along the coast. The 68 km road crosses the Sarobetsu wetlands, with views of Mt. Rishiri, and passes the line of 28 turbines at Otonrui.⁵⁷
   • In Horonobe, visit the reindeer farm and the Horonobe Visitor Center, which is open from May to October.¹³⁴⁴
   • In Toyotomi, visit the Sarobetsu Wetland Center and bathe at Toyotomi Onsen.⁴⁴¹³
   • Head inland to Nakatonbetsu for Mt. Pinneshiri and its onsen, and continue to Hamatonbetsu on the Okhotsk coast.⁵⁸¹³

Five of the 128 Michi-no-Eki registered in Hokkaido on 4 September 2026 are in the subprefecture.⁵⁹ The Hokkaido council's list numbers 131 stations, three of which have since been deregistered.⁶⁰ Toyotomi, Horonobe, Rebun, Rishiri and Rishirifuji have none.⁶⁰ The stations are listed from north to south.

• Rail:
  • The JR Soya Main Line runs 259.4 km from Asahikawa to Wakkanai.³² Wakkanai Station is the northernmost in Japan.⁶⁵ In the subprefecture the line runs through Horonobe and Toyotomi to Wakkanai.¹⁶
  • The limited express Sōya takes about 5 h 10 min from Sapporo to Wakkanai. The Sarobetsu takes about 5 h 20 min with a change at Asahikawa. Since March 2017, two of the three daily round trips have needed a change at Asahikawa.¹⁶
  • Since 14 March 2026 these trains have been all-reserved, so book a seat before you board.³⁹
  • The Okhotsk coast has had no railway since 1989.³¹ Since October 2023 a publicly run demand bus has linked Hamatonbetsu with Otoineppu, on the Soya Main Line in Kamikawa.¹⁶ Sarufutsu's reservation-only bus to Sapporo also changes at Otoineppu.⁵⁴
• Air: The subprefecture has three airports.¹⁶⁴⁰
  • Wakkanai Airport has a 2,200 m runway. Hokkaido Airports has run it fully since March 2021. Flights take about 55 minutes to New Chitose and 1 h 55 min–2 h to Tokyo Haneda. Flights to Kansai and Chūbu ended in fiscal 2012.
  • Rishiri Airport (1,800 m) has flights to Sapporo Okadama (about 1 h, all year) and New Chitose (about 50 min, June–September).
  • Rebun Airport has been out of use since April 2009.
  • ANA flies Wakkanai–New Chitose twice a day, and Japanese Wikipedia counts 185,786 domestic passengers at Wakkanai in fiscal 2024.³⁶
• Ferries: Heartland Ferry sails from Wakkanai to Oshidomari on Rishiri (1 h 40 min) and to Kafuka on Rebun (1 h 55 min). Oshidomari or Kutsugata to Kafuka takes about 45 minutes.¹⁶ The Wakkanai–Oshidomari route has two sailings a day in winter and three from late April to October, and up to two extra sailings can be added.⁶⁶ The ferry to Korsakov on Sakhalin has been suspended since fiscal 2019.³⁷
• Roads:¹⁶
  • National Route 40 (Wakkanai–Asahikawa) runs down the west side, Route 238 (Wakkanai–Abashiri) along the Okhotsk coast, and Route 275 inland from Hamatonbetsu through Otoineppu toward Sapporo.
  • The Toyotomi Bypass and the Horotomi Bypass (Horonobe–Toyotomi) are the subprefecture's sections of high-standard highway.
  • Hokkaido Road 106 runs 68 km along the Sea of Japan coast from Wakkanai to Teshio. It has no winter closure, but blowing snow often closes it for a time.⁵⁷
• Buses:¹⁶
  • Intercity buses take about 6 h from Wakkanai to Sapporo, 5 h 30 min from Esashi and 5 h from Toyotomi. From Asahikawa they take about 5 h to Sarufutsu and 3 h 30 min to Esashi.
  • The bureau calls buses essential for residents without cars, for commuting, school and hospital trips.
  • Soya Bus runs the buses from Sapporo and Asahikawa to Esashi. One-way fares are ¥6,500 from Sapporo and ¥5,000 from Asahikawa. Book with Soya Bus.⁵⁶
• Getting around: The bureau notes that the region relies heavily on roads, for daily life, emergency hospital transport and shipping farm and fish products.¹⁶ Many sights open only from spring to autumn, so check the season before you go.⁴⁴ For island buses and rentals, see Rishirifuji and Rebun.