Hokkaido Places

Town Sorachi Subprefecture

Tsukigata 月形町

つきがたちょう

Tsukigata began in 1881 as the site of Kabato Shūjikan (樺戸集治監), Hokkaido's first Meiji-era penitentiary. The town is named after the prison's first warden, and its convicts cleared the first farmland and cut the first roads inland.12 Today it is a quiet rice-and-flower town on the Ishikari River. It still has a large prison, a museum in the old prison office, and a hot-spring roadside station beside a 27-hectare lakeside park.134

Population (2020 Census)
3,691
Area
150.4 km²
District
Kabato District (樺戸郡)
Official website
www.town.tsukigata.hokkaido.jp

Known for

  • Kabato Shūjikan (樺戸集治監): Japan's third penitentiary of this type and Hokkaido's first. It opened on 3 September 1881 and closed in 1919.11314 Of the 1,046 inmates who died there, 1,022 still lie in the town's prisoners' cemetery.15 With four other Hokkaido prisons it was named Hokkaido Heritage (北海道遺産) in 2018.16
  • Tsukigata Kabato Museum (月形樺戸博物館): a museum inside the prison's head office, which was rebuilt after a fire in 1886. It tells the prison's 39-year story with original objects.3 Visitor numbers reached 13,712 in FY2024.17
  • "The correction town" (矯正のまち): Tsukigata Prison (月形刑務所) opened in 1983. The town says residents see Tsukigata as a "correction town".1 Prison-made goods are sold, and even used as plates, at the roadside station.4
  • Melons and watermelons: the green-fleshed melon Tsukinoshizuku (月雫) and the red-fleshed Kita no Joō (北の女王) are the town's best-known fruit. Dynamite Suika (ダイナマイトスイカ) is its watermelon.1819
  • Manmaru Tomato (まんまるトマト): a 100% juice made only from local Momotarō tomatoes, with no salt or additives. The town company made 248,314 cans in FY2024.2021
  • Rice and cut flowers: rice and flowers are the two biggest parts of the town's farm output.22
  • Michi-no-Eki 275 Tsukigata (道の駅275つきがた): a roadside station opened in 2024 around Tsukigata Onsen Yurikago (月形温泉ゆりかご). It stands next to Kairaku Park (皆楽公園), a 27-ha waterside park known for camping and herabuna (crucian carp) fishing.423

Sights & activities

Museums & heritage

  • Tsukigata Kabato Museum (月形樺戸博物館), 1219 Tsukigata (town hall grounds):
    • The main exhibit is the prison's head office, built in 1881 and rebuilt after an 1886 fire. It served the prison until 1919 and the village and town until 1972, opened to the public in 1973 as the Hokkaido Penal History Museum, and was refurbished in 2012.3 The town's history series dates the museum's creation to 1972, when the new town hall was finished. The museum grew from objects that town official and local historian Kumagai Shōkichi (熊谷正吉) collected with a handcart.48
    • Displays include original objects, a theater corner and a hands-on corner on prisoners' work. The annex has the Honda Meiji sculpture gallery.3 Look for a copy of the "Shūbukan" (修武館) plaque from Nagakura Shinpachi's fencing hall29 and a poem by "Gosunkugi Torakichi" (五寸釘寅吉), the escapee who climbed the 5.5 m wall and crossed the Ishikari on a ferry cable.49
    • Open daily 20 March–30 November, 9:30–17:00 (last entry 16:30); closed 1 December–19 March. Admission ¥300 (adults), ¥150 (high-school and university students), ¥100 (elementary and junior-high); groups of 10 or more pay ¥250, ¥100 and ¥50. Guided explanations by reservation only.3 As of September 2026 — check before visiting.
  • Shinotsuyama Prisoners' Cemetery (篠津山囚人墓地), Minami-Kōchi, about 3 km from the center: 1,022 of the 1,046 inmates who died at the prison lie here; only 24 bodies were ever claimed.1547 Recorded causes of death include heart failure (804), exhaustion (60), killing by guards (41) and work accidents (33).15
  • Maruyama Park (円山公園): an 86 m hill with a viewpoint over the town.2650 About 600 Japanese cedars planted by prisoners in 1890 form a protected grove said to be the northernmost cedar stand in Japan. Next to it stands the 1961 monument to the prison's eight wardens (歴代典獄記念碑).5047 Cherry blossoms in spring, red leaves in autumn. From the "Tsukigata Ekimae" bus stop it is 1.3 km (about 20 minutes) on foot to the viewpoint.50
  • Former Ishikari-Tsukigata Station site: a replica platform sign and a board on the Sasshō Line's history (1935–2020).51 The station building itself was demolished in 2022 for a new town road.12 The old station stamp is kept in the town hall's residents' lounge (weekdays 8:30–18:00, Saturdays 8:30–17:00).52

Nature & scenery

  • Kairaku Park (皆楽公園), Kita-Nōjō 1: a 27-ha park around a lake, next to the roadside station, with a 3 km cycling road and rental bikes. It is one of Hokkaido's leading herabuna fishing spots. Open late April to about the end of October.2353 In winter people fish for wakasagi (pond smelt) through the ice.4
  • Tsukigaumi (月ヶ湖): Ōnuma and Konuma, a quiet remnant of the old Shinotsu wetland and a haven for wild birds.25

Onsen

  • Tsukigata Onsen Yurikago (月形温泉ゆりかご): part of the roadside station (see below). A hypotonic, weakly alkaline sodium–calcium chloride spring, heated and filtered, with an open-air bath, three indoor baths each for men and women, and a sauna with automatic löyly.544 Simple 8-mat tatami rooms without private bath or toilet are available for overnight stays.4255

Outdoor & seasonal activities

  • Kairaku Park campground: tent sites cannot be booked, for overnight or day use. A tent costs ¥1,000 (¥1,500 in July–September) plus ¥300 per person of elementary-school age and up. Solo campers who arrive on foot, by bicycle or by motorbike pay ¥500 (¥1,000 in July–September). Paddle boats cost ¥500 for 30 minutes and bicycles ¥300 for 30 minutes.56 Log-house bungalows for 4–5 people start at ¥6,000 a night (¥7,000 in July–September), plus ¥300 per person and Hokkaido's ¥100 accommodation tax. Advance bookings are taken online only (up to four days ahead); if a bungalow is still free on the day, phone bookings and walk-ins are accepted 9:00–17:00. Bungalows have no bedding or power sockets.57
  • Park golf: 18 holes at Kairaku Park, about 1 May to the end of October. Closed Tuesdays except holidays. Open 9:00–17:00 on weekends and holidays and 9:00–12:00 on weekdays; ¥500 a day.58
  • Dōmin no Mori, Tsukigata district (道民の森月形地区), Nakano: Dōmin no Mori, which Japanese Wikipedia calls Japan's largest forest park, has six districts; this is the only one in Tsukigata, and its theme is crafts.2659 The pottery and woodcraft workshops cost ¥400 for adults and ¥200 for high-school students, and are free for elementary and junior-high pupils. Bungalows cost ¥6,000 (4 people) or ¥11,000 (10 people) a night. Pets are allowed only in the study campground and the car park next to the pottery hall.59 Open 1 May–31 October, 9:30–16:30.60

Food experiences

  • Roadside station restaurant: Tetsugan Curry, tomato or kinako soft-serve, a chicken plate made with Manmaru Tomato juice, and pumpkin dumplings.442
  • Local shops: A-Coop Tsukigata sells the town's melons, watermelons, tomatoes and pumpkins in season (9:00–19:00, 10:00–18:00 in winter; closed Sundays). Bakery Moegi (ベーカリー萌木, Akagawa 1) is known for chewy square loaves of Hokkaido wheat and flaky apple pie, and opens 11:00–16:30, Wednesday to Friday only.18

Roadside stations (Michi-no-Eki)

275 Tsukigata (道の駅275つきがた)

  • Location:
    • 81-10 Tsukigata, Kabato District, on the town road into Kairaku Park, just off National Route 275, which runs toward Asahikawa. About an hour's drive from Sapporo.4 Tel. 0126-37-2188.4
    • Kairaku Park is next door. From the former Ishikari-Tsukigata Station, go straight, turn left at National Route 275, then turn right at the Hokuren gas station; the park is 200 m further on.56
  • Hours (as of September 2026 — check before visiting):
    • Station and shop: 9:00–21:00.4
    • Restaurant in summer (from 11 April 2026): 11:00–19:30, last order 19:00. Café time (side dishes only) runs through mid-afternoon; the sources give its start as 14:00 or 14:30, until 17:00.6142
    • Restaurant in winter (4 November to 10 April): 11:00–18:30 (last order 18:00), café time 14:30–16:00.62
    • Day-use onsen: 11:00–21:00 (last entry 20:30). From 1 June to 31 October it opens at 10:30.4263
    • Farm stand: 10:00–17:00, early May to early November only. Closed Tuesdays.4
    • Closed: the third Tuesday of every month (the next day if that Tuesday is a holiday).4
  • Shops & products:
    • Manmaru Tomato juice and tomato jam, Tsukigata Ice (melon, watermelon and pumpkin flavors) and Tsukigata Tomato Ale (¥730).4
    • Print cookies with Berude-kun and the town and onsen logos (¥770), sold only here.4
    • Kabato Museum goods and products made at Tsukigata Prison.4
    • A farm-produce stand and a rice-and-onigiri shop.4
  • Food:
    • The restaurant's signature dish is Tetsugan Curry (¥1,200, limited numbers).4
    • Tomato soft-serve (¥450, cone or cup) alternates weekly with kinako and chocolate flavors.4
    • Pumpkin dumplings (¥500) and a chicken plate made with Manmaru Tomato juice.442
  • Facilities:
    • Parking for 149 cars, 20 large vehicles and 5 disabled drivers, with one covered space for disabled drivers.4
    • 24-hour toilets with warm-water bidet seats, an accessible toilet and an ostomate toilet. The nursing room and baby-changing table are inside the 24-hour toilet area.4
    • EV charger, Wi-Fi, an information corner, a kids' space, credit cards and other cashless payment.4
    • Onsen: adults ¥650 (Tsukigata residents ¥600); elementary pupils ¥300 (residents ¥250); children under 6 free.454 Towels can be rented for ¥250.54
    • Lodging in simple tatami rooms, and a multipurpose hall and craft room for hire.42
    • The Kairaku Park campground, bungalows and park golf course are next door.5658
  • Notes:
    • The station was registered on 7 August 2024 (registration No. 130) and opened on 1 September 2024.4 Japanese Wikipedia, citing the Hokkaido Shimbun, calls it the 128th roadside station in Hokkaido and says the renovation cost about ¥1.04 billion.64
    • It grew out of the town's hot-spring health center (町民保養センター, opened 1987). The onsen was renamed Tsukigata Onsen Yurikago (湯里花郷) in 1998.1264
    • The stamp is available during opening hours except at New Year. On closing days it can still be stamped 9:00–17:00.4

Other nearby roadside stations:

  • Tsurunuma (道の駅つるぬま), Kinausunai 188, Urausu, on National Route 275 to the north. Open 10:00–18:00 (May–September) and 10:00–17:00 (October–April). Closed Mondays and at New Year.65
  • Shinshinotsu (道の駅しんしのつ), Shinshinotsu, a station with its own hot spring. It is due to close for renovation from 1 October 2026.66
  • Mikasa (道の駅三笠) in Mikasa, Hokuō no Kaze Michi-no-Eki Tōbetsu (北欧の風 道の駅とうべつ) in Tobetsu and Hausu Yarubi Naie (ハウスヤルビ奈井江) in Naie are also within reach.67

Getting there & around

  • Rail: Tsukigata has had no railway since 2020. The Sasshō Line between Hokkaido Iryō Daigaku and Shin-Totsukawa (Shintotsukawa) was abolished that year, and all five stations in the town closed: Tsukigaoka, Chiraiotsu, Ishikari-Tsukigata, Toyogaoka and Sappinai.3326 The nearest stations are now Hokkaido Iryō Daigaku and Tōbetsu on the JR Sasshō (Gakuen Toshi) Line, and Iwamizawa and Bibai on the Hakodate Line.2668
  • From Sapporo:
    • By car: about 60 minutes. Take National Route 275 about 25 km to Tōbetsu, then about 21 km on to Tsukigata.33
    • By public transport: take the JR Gakuen Toshi Line to Hokkaido Iryō Daigaku and change to the Tsukigata–Tōbetsu bus. The trip from JR Sapporo Station takes about 90 minutes.33
  • From Iwamizawa: about 22 km (30 minutes) by car on Prefectural Road 6. By bus, take the Iwamizawa–Tsukigata Line from platform 11 at Iwamizawa Bus Terminal, about 40 minutes.33 See Iwamizawa.
  • Bus routes:68
    • Iwamizawa–Tsukigata Line "Tsukimīru" (つきみ～る号), via Kitamura Onsen to Iwamizawa Terminal.
    • Tsukigata–Tōbetsu Line "Tobēru" (とべ～る号), connecting with JR trains to Sapporo at Hokkaido Iryō Daigaku and Tōbetsu.
    • Tsukigata–Urausu Line "Kabatōru" (かばと～る号), via Tsukigata Onsen, the prison and Sappinai to Urausu Station.
    • New Shinotsu Bus (ニューしのつバス), via Shinshinotsu to Ebetsu Station; weekdays only, not in school holidays.
    • Town school buses, which residents may also ride.
  • Roads: National Route 275 (空知国道) is the main road. Prefectural Roads 6 (Iwamizawa–Tsukigata), 11 (Tsukigata–Atsuta) and 33 (Bibai–Tsukigata) also serve the town.26 Two bridges cross the Ishikari: the rebuilt Tsukigata Ōhashi (reopened 2013) and Mirai Ōhashi (2017), which serves the new Ishikari River head works.12
  • Taxi: Hāto Haiyā (はーとハイヤー), tel. 0126-53-2088.69
  • Air: New Chitose Airport is the nearest major airport. None of the town's bus routes goes there, so connect by JR via Sapporo or Iwamizawa.68

Practical tips

  • Best seasons: late April to October, when Kairaku Park, park golf and Dōmin no Mori are open.535860 Plan around the summer festival (late July) and the 3 September memorial service. The museum is open 20 March–30 November, and free on 17 July.4315345
  • Winter: Tsukigata is a special heavy-snow area, so allow extra time on Route 275 and Prefectural Road 6.26 The museum and the roadside station's farm stand close for winter; the onsen, shop and restaurant stay open with shorter restaurant hours.3462
  • Brown bears: in FY2025 and FY2026 (to late August) bears, footprints or droppings were reported across the town, including Sappinai, Kitagō, Nakano, Shingū, Akagawa, Toyogaoka and Chiraiotsu. Footprints were found at Kita-Nōjō 1, the Kairaku Park area, in November 2025, and a bear was seen inside Kairaku Park in June 2024. The town maps each report. It warns that unmarked places are not necessarily safe. In the forest, carry a bell or radio and go in a group. Report sightings to the town (0126-53-2323) or the Tsukigata police box (0126-53-2433).70
  • Buses: services are infrequent, all routes stop from 31 December to 2 January, and the Ebetsu line runs on weekdays only. Check the town's timetable PDFs.68
  • Camping at Kairaku Park: no cars on the lawns, no open fires or grills set directly on the grass, handheld fireworks only until 21:00, and keep away from the unlit waterside at night.56

More about Tsukigata

At a glance
Field Details
Type Town (町)
Subprefecture Sorachi (空知総合振興局). Tsukigata is the southernmost town of Kabato District, in the south-west of Sorachi.5
District Kabato District (樺戸郡)
Population 3,691 at the 2020 Census (2,185 men, 1,506 women; 1,320 households). That was 886 fewer (−19.4%) than in 2015.67 Of the 3,691, 1,049 people lived in "institutional households" (施設等の世帯).7 The census puts inmates of correctional facilities in this category, and the town has a large prison.8 The town's resident register counted 2,542 people (1,303 men, 1,239 women) in 1,440 households on 31 August 2026.1 The Hokkaido Government's register figure for 1 January 2026 was 2,624.9
Area 150.40 km² (GSI, 1 April 2026).10 The town's own statistics give the same figure. The town measures 15.6 km east–west and 19.5 km north–south.5 English Wikipedia gives an older figure of 151.05 km².11
Density About 24.5 people/km² at the 2020 Census, or about 16.9/km² on the August 2026 register (calculated from the figures above).
Municipal history Tsukigata Village was created on 1 July 1881 as the first village in the Sorachi area. Urausu Village split off in 1899. The second-class village system came in 1906, and Tsukigata became a town in 1953.1 A 1954 boundary change added the Nishi-Bibai Ōmagari area from Bibai.12 Tsukigata has never merged with another municipality. In a 2004 referendum more residents voted for merger than for independence, but no merger followed.12
Neighboring municipalities Urausu to the north. Bibai and Iwamizawa across the Ishikari River to the south-east. Tobetsu and Shinshinotsu (Ishikari Subprefecture) along the north-west to south-west.5
Symbols Tree: Japanese yew (イチイ). Flower: chrysanthemum (菊). Both were chosen in 1980, the town's centenary year.112 The emblem dates from 1940, the 60th anniversary. It is a six-petalled snowflake around the character 月, written as a circle. The snowflake stands for the endurance of the settlers.1 The catchphrase "Manmaru Hāto Tsukigata-chō" (まんまるはーと 月形町) was adopted in 2000. "Manmaru" (perfectly round) was inspired by the moon, melons and watermelons.112 No town bird was found.
Mascot Berude-kun (ベルデくん), described as the town's image character. Cookies printed with him are sold at the roadside station.4
Official website https://www.town.tsukigata.hokkaido.jp/

Name origin
  • A person, not an Ainu word: Tsukigata is named after a person rather than an Ainu place name. It takes the surname of Tsukigata Kiyoshi (月形潔, 1847–1894), a Home Ministry official. He led the 1880 survey for the prison site and became Kabato Shūjikan's first warden (典獄).113 He came from a samurai family of the Fukuoka domain and was born in Onga District, Chikuzen Province (now Nakama, Fukuoka Prefecture).24
  • Why not "Shibetsu"? The prison stood at Shibetsubuto (シベツ太), where the Shibetsu River (須部都川, also read Subetsu) meets the Ishikari. Officials and residents felt that "Shibetsu" sounded like shibetsu (死別), "parting by death". The acting warden Kaiga Naotsune (海賀直常), senior officials and local residents instead agreed on "Tsukigata Village", after the first warden.132
  • Kabato (樺戸): the name of the district and the prison comes from the Ainu word kapato, the Japanese pond lily (コウホネ), a water plant with small yellow flowers. Its fruit was an important food for the Ainu. The town's history series says Kabato meant "the place where pond lilies grow thick" around the Subetsu–Ishikari confluence.25
  • Subetsu / Shibetsu: Japanese Wikipedia gives the Ainu sipet ("big river" or "main stream") as the origin of the Subetsu River's name.26
  • A folk image: the painter Ueno-yama Kiyotsugu, who grew up in Tsukigata, wrote that from Maruyama hill the curving Ishikari looked like a half-moon. As a boy he wondered whether that was where the name "Tsukigata" ("moon shape") came from.27 The official origin is the warden's surname.

History
  • Before 1880: from the 10th century (mid-Satsumon period), dried salmon and other trade goods travelled down the Ishikari River, and Ainu salmon fishing and hunting continued here into the early modern era. In the Edo period the area was part of the Matsumae domain's West Ezo, with no recorded large settlement; it was mainly Ainu hunting land.25
  • 1879–1880, choosing the site: after the samurai revolts of the 1870s, the government had more political and serious prisoners than local jails could hold. In 1879 Home Minister Itō Hirobumi proposed sending those with sentences of 12 years or more to Hokkaido to clear land and build roads.13 In May 1880 Tsukigata Kiyoshi's 28-man survey party paddled up the Ishikari in dugout canoes. An Ainu hunter named Rekonte guided them around the Shibetsu River mouth. They preferred this site to the other candidates on the Tokachi River and at the foot of Mount Yōtei. In October the government approved a ¥100,000 prison for about 1,700 inmates.25
  • 1881, prison and village: the first 39 life-sentence prisoners arrived from Kosuge Shūjikan in Tokyo in May, to help finish the buildings.28 Tsukigata Village was created on 1 July.2 The prison opened on 3 September and held about 500 inmates by the end of the year. They wore red from head to foot, and people called them akai hito (赤い人, "red people").132
  • 1882–1885, a frontier center: in 1882 the district offices for Kabato, Uryū and Kamikawa all opened in Tsukigata, and its post office was one of only two first-class offices in Hokkaido (the other was in Otaru).212 The former Shinsengumi swordsman Nagakura Shinpachi (永倉新八) taught the guards swordsmanship from 1882 to 1886.29 More than 300 prisoners died during Tsukigata Kiyoshi's term. Suffering from a lung illness, he left the post in August 1885 and went home to Fukuoka; he died in 1894, and the town's history gives his age as 48.132 Japanese Wikipedia adds that in April 1886 he was formally removed from office over purchases and loans he had approved on his own authority.24
  • 1886–1905, convict roads and canals: Kabato prisoners, together with those of Sorachi Shūjikan, cut the 88 km Kamikawa Road (上川道路) from Ichikishiri (now Mikasa) to Chūbetsubuto (now Asahikawa), the forerunner of National Route 12. They also opened roads to Ichikishiri and Mashike, all by hand and among bears and wolves.3012 River steamers linked Ebetsu and Tsukigata from 1889. An irrigation canal finished in 1905, after about 43,000 prisoner-days of work, laid the foundation for rice farming.12
  • 1887–1921, settlers replace the prison: private settlement began in 1887 with the Hokuetsu Shokuminsha (北越殖民社) group from Niigata.14 Urausu split off in 1899.1 The prison became the ordinary Kabato Kangoku in 1903 and was abolished in January 1919. The village office moved into the old prison head office in 1920. In 1921 the prison's more than 5,000 ha of land were divided among private owners and firms such as Shingū Shōkō and Mitsui.14
  • 1920s–1940s: a flax mill in the Azabu district, a Snow Brand dairy plant (1930–1964) and Hokkaido's first tenant-farmer dispute (1926) marked these years.143112 The Sasshō Line (札沼線) opened along its full 111 km in 1935, and river steamers stopped the same year.1412
  • 1945–1963, postwar settlement: in August 1945 families bombed out of Yokohama settled Tsukihama (月浜, "Tsuki" + "Yokohama"), and repatriates from Sakhalin and Manchuria settled Shōei (昭栄). A World Bank-funded project from 1951 drained and improved the Shinotsu peat lands; the Ishikari River head works in Tsukigata were finished in 1963, the same year the local coal mine closed.3112
  • 1953–1975: Tsukigata became a town in 1953.1 Typhoon No. 15 in 1954 left 457 buildings half-destroyed and brought down the wooden bridge over the Ishikari. The population peaked at 9,492 in 1960.127 In 1972 a Cessna crashed on Bunkan-yama (分監山), killing 10 people. Typhoon No. 6 in 1975 caused the town's worst flood, with over ¥1 billion in damage.12
  • 1970–1990, flowers and correction: as rice was cut back nationally, farmers turned to flowers, melons, watermelons and tomatoes.31 Tsukigata Juvenile Training School opened in 1973 (closed 2020).1 Tsukigata Prison opened in 1983 after Nakano Prison in Tokyo closed.31 Kairaku Park opened in 1984, the hot-spring health center in 1987, and the first town tomato juice, Ohayō Tomato (おはようトマト), in 1988.12
  • 1992–2019: friendship with Tsukigata Village (月潟村), Niigata, began in 1992. The Dōmin no Mori Tsukigata district opened in 1993, and the museum took its present name in 1996.123 A record snow season in 2012 brought 1,403 cm of snow.12 Shohei Ohtani visited on 22 November 2017 as the town's Fighters "ambassador", the last town in that program before he left for Major League Baseball.26 Kabato Shūjikan became Hokkaido Heritage on 1 November 2018.16
  • 2020–present: the last Sasshō Line train ran through Tsukigata on 17 April 2020, 19 days early because of COVID-19.32 The section was formally abolished in May 2020; the town gives 6 May as the last day, and Japanese Wikipedia gives 7 May.3326 The sculptor Honda Meiji's gallery opened at the museum in April 2023.3 The roadside station 275 Tsukigata opened on 1 September 2024.4

Geography & climate
  • Setting: Tsukigata lies on the right (north-west) bank of the middle Ishikari River. It is about 50 km from Sapporo, 20 km from Iwamizawa and 34 km from the Sea of Japan coast at Atsuta.5 Forest covers the north-west of the town. The Subetsu, Sappinai (札比内川) and Nakakoya (中小屋川) rivers flow down from these mountains into the Ishikari. The Sappinai and Nakakoya basins are hilly, and the south-east is low ground on peat.5
  • Land use (1 January 2025): forest 58.95%, rice paddies 18.04%, wild land (原野) 11.11%, miscellaneous land 3.77%, upland fields 2.25%, residential land 2.05%.5
  • Mountains: the western uplands belong to the Kabato hills and the Mashike Mountains (増毛山地). The highest peaks are Kumaneshiri-yama (隈根尻山, 971 m) and Kabato-yama (樺戸山, 890 m).2625
  • Wetlands and lakes: the Ishikari floodplain here was once part of the Shinotsu wetland (篠津原野), which stretched from Tōbetsu through Shinshinotsu to Tsukigata. Tsukigaumi (月ヶ湖), made up of the crescent-shaped Ōnuma (大沼) and the smaller Konuma (小沼), still shows what that wetland looked like. Ōnuma is a haven for wild birds, and Tsukigaumi is a Hokkaido academic nature conservation area (北海道学術自然保護地区).25
  • Climate: at the JMA Tsukigata station (1991–2020 normals), the yearly mean temperature is 7.1 °C. January averages −6.0 °C and August 20.7 °C. Yearly precipitation is 1,416.6 mm and sunshine 1,473.5 hours.34 The record high is 36.3 °C (31 July 2021) and the record low is −25.6 °C (17 February 1978).35
  • Snow: Tsukigata is a special heavy-snow area (特別豪雪地帯). Snow lies for about 130 days a year.26 The town's count of total seasonal snowfall over the past ten winters ranged from 450 cm (FY2025) to 1,212 cm (FY2020).36 The deepest snow on record was 280 cm, on 25 March 1970.5

Economy & industry
  • Agriculture: farming is the town's core industry.1 MAFF estimates Tsukigata's 2024 farm output at ¥4.03 billion:22
    • Rice: ¥2.07 billion
    • Flowers: ¥1.06 billion
    • Vegetables, including melons, watermelons and tomatoes: ¥330 million
    • Soybeans and other beans: ¥170 million
    • Wheat: ¥110 million
    • Livestock, mostly beef cattle: ¥260 million
  • Farmland and farms: there are 3,110 ha of cultivated land, of which 2,610 ha are paddy and 497 ha upland fields. The 2020 farm census counted 173 farm businesses.22 In 2024 rice covered 1,060 ha and yielded 6,330 t. Wheat covered 482 ha (2,130 t) and soybeans 439 ha (1,220 t).21
  • Flowers: flower growing came to Tsukigata around 1970, as farmers looked for alternatives to rice.131 In FY2024, 46 farms grew cut flowers on 50.8 ha, and the crop was worth ¥506.5 million.21
  • Tomato juice: the town company, Tsukigata-chō Shinkō Kōsha (月形町振興公社), was set up in 1994. It runs the onsen, Kairaku Park and the park golf course, and makes Manmaru Tomato juice.3718 Output was 248,314 cans (190 g) in FY2024.21
  • Correctional facilities: Tsukigata Prison is a men's prison with a capacity of 1,844. It opened on 5 April 1983. The town actively campaigned to host it, and an expansion finished in 2007 roughly tripled its size.38 Its prison-made goods, which include furniture, are sold locally.384 A furusato nozei project with ANA Akindo and Tsukigata High School turned prison work into upcycled carry-on and tote bags.39
  • Furusato nozei: donations jumped to 26,916 gifts worth ¥951.5 million in FY2024, from ¥279.3 million in FY2023.40 Top gifts include Nanatsuboshi rice and the town's melons.19
  • Tourism: Hokkaido counted 447,900 visitors to Tsukigata in FY2025, 54.8% more than the 289,400 of FY2024. Only 10,700 stayed overnight, and 6,300 came from outside Hokkaido.41 FY2025 was the first full fiscal year after the roadside station opened in September 2024.4 In FY2024 the onsen had 50,133 bathers and Kairaku Park 23,021 users. The Dōmin no Mori Tsukigata district had 15,664 visitors in 2024.17
  • Population: the census population fell from 9,492 in 1960 to 3,691 in 2020.7 In 2020, 37.3% of residents were 65 or older and 5.8% were under 15.7

Local specialties
Specialty Category Details & where to get it
Tsukinoshizuku (月雫) and Kita no Joō (北の女王) melons Fruit Tsukinoshizuku is green-fleshed, with a clean sweetness and firmer bite; Kita no Joō is red-fleshed. Both are furusato nozei gifts in top "shūhin" grade.19 In summer they are sold at A-Coop Tsukigata (エーコープ月形, 1069 Tsukigata), along with Hokkai Kanro (北海カンロ), which Japanese Wikipedia classes as a makuwa-uri (Oriental melon).1826
Dynamite Suika (ダイナマイトスイカ) Watermelon An "explosively" juicy, sweet summer watermelon, sold at A-Coop.18 Japanese Wikipedia also lists one called Godzilla no Tamago (ゴジラのたまご, "Godzilla's egg").26
Manmaru Tomato (まんまるトマト) Tomato juice 100% juice from ripe, greenhouse-grown Momotarō tomatoes from contract farms in the town. The fruit must reach 6% sugar, each can holds two tomatoes, and nothing is added (no salt or preservatives).20 Sold at A-Coop, the onsen and online; the official web shop paused sales in October 2025 because of low stock and planned to resume on 1 April 2026. A handmade tomato jam (¥650) is sold only at the roadside station and local shops.1820
Tomato and kinako soft-serve, Tsukigata Ice, Tsukigata Tomato Ale (月形トマトエール) Sweets / beer Tomato soft-serve made with Manmaru juice (¥450) alternates weekly with kinako soft-serve made from the local Yukihomare (ゆきほまれ) soybean. Tsukigata Ice comes in melon, watermelon and pumpkin flavors, and the tomato ale costs ¥730. All at the roadside station.442
Tetsugan Curry (鐵丸カレー) Local dish A black croquette and onion rings stand for the iron ball (鐵丸) and shackles of Kabato's prisoners. Served on wooden plates made at Tsukigata Prison; ¥1,200, limited numbers.4 In winter 2025–26 (4 November to 10 April) the onsen also offered weekday-only day-trip packages of a bath plus a "Kabato Kangoku Bentō" (樺戸監獄弁当, prison lunch box).42
Pumpkins and pumpkin dumplings Vegetables / snack Local varieties include Niji Roman (虹ロマン) and Kita no Kokoro (北のこころ).18 Dumplings made from 100% local pumpkin cost ¥500 at the roadside station.4
Nanatsuboshi rice (ななつぼし) Rice The top-ranked Tsukigata gift on Furusato Choice, including washed-rice and subscription options.19
Seasoned lamb and aged-beef products Meat Jingisukan-style seasoned lamb from the butcher Niku no Sakai (肉のさかい, Ichikita 5), in the shop and online. Additive-free hamburg steaks and sausages made from aged meat of local Wagyu breeding cows are sold at the community shop Manmaruna (マンマルーナ).18
Manmaru Nattō (まんまる納豆) and Kabato Tōfu (樺戸豆腐) Soy The nattō is made from 100% Tsukigata-grown Yukihomare soybeans by Yuki no Seibo-en (雪の聖母園), a welfare facility opened in 1964.1812 The tofu comes from Matsuda Tōfu-ten (松田とうふ店), in business for over 50 years; locals say "Tsukigata means Kabato tofu".18
Pickles, miso and jams Preserves Additive-free, unheated fermented pickles and miso made with local kōji and soybeans by Satonikurasu (サトニクラス), and raspberry jams, including a rare golden raspberry, from Hanatomiya's (はなとみや) own farm.18
Upcycled bags Furusato nozei craft Carry-on and tote bags made with Tsukigata Prison and Tsukigata High School.39

Culture & festivals
Event When Highlights
Tsukigata Summer Festival (つきがた夏まつり) Late July (39th: Saturday 25 July 2026, 11:00–21:00) At a special site in Kairaku Park. School bands, the Tsukigata Kabato Taiko group and a big band perform. There are children's rides, a handmade market, a mini "correction exhibition" by Tsukigata Prison, JA produce sales, bingo, and fireworks from 20:00 to 21:00. 200 free parking spaces.43
Kabato Prison memorial service (樺戸監獄物故者追悼式) 3 September, yearly The town honors the convicts who died laying the groundwork for Hokkaido, at Shinotsuyama Prisoners' Cemetery on the anniversary of the prison's opening.1544
Free museum day ("Hokkaido Minna no Hi") 17 July Free admission to the Tsukigata Kabato Museum.45
Roadside station anniversary and "275 Thanks Festival" September In 2026 the anniversary runs 1–30 September: discounted bath-ticket books (1–7 September), cheaper baths on Sundays, a lucky-bag sale on 5 September, and the 275 Thanks Festival (19–23 September) with food trucks, a pet area and a craft market.46
Tsukigata SNOW Festival / Melon Jam (メロンジャム) Discontinued The SNOW Festival ended after FY2005. Melon Jam was held from 1986 to 2005.26
  • Performing arts: local groups include the Tsukigata Kabato Taiko group (つきがた樺戸太鼓同好会, 25 members in FY2025) and a Tsukigata Ondo folk-dance group (月形音頭をおどる会, 34 members).17
  • Temples built by prisoners: Hokuzenji (北漸寺) began as a temporary hall built by prisoners in 1884 with Tsukigata Kiyoshi's help; its main hall followed in 1909. Prisoners also built the main hall of Enpukuji (円福寺) in 1896. A 1906 monument to Tsukigata Kiyoshi now stands in front of the museum.47
  • Kabato Shrine (樺戸神社): moved to its present site in 1970 and marked the centenary of its founding in 1982.12
  • In fiction: the prison is the setting of Yoshimura Akira's novel Akai Hito (赤い人).27 It also appears in the NHK Taiga drama Shishi no Jidai (獅子の時代) and Gosha Hideo's 1984 film Kita no Hotaru (北の螢).26

Ainu heritage
  • Place names: Ainu heritage in Tsukigata survives mainly in place names. Kabato comes from kapato (pond lily), and Shibetsu/Subetsu is traced to sipet ("big river").2526 Matsuura Takeshirō's 1859 maps record Shibetsubuto (須部都太), Chiraiotsu or Chiraiotonai (知来乙) and Satsutsunai (札比内, now Sappinai), all names that survive as districts.25
  • Before the prison: the town's history series describes the area as land where Ainu came and went mainly to hunt, and as part of a river system where Ainu salmon fishing for trade went on into the early modern era.25
  • Rekonte: when Tsukigata Kiyoshi's survey party reached the Shibetsu River mouth in May 1880, they met Rekonte, an Ainu man from Oyafuru (生振, now in Ishikari) who was hunting alone. He guided them across the land. The town's history calls this one of many cases of "reliable Ainu support" for Japanese settlers.25
  • Facilities: no Ainu cultural facility, excavated site open to visitors or active Ainu association in Tsukigata was found in the sources checked.

Sister & friendship cities
  • Tsukigata Village (月潟村), Niigata Prefecture (domestic): the two places, whose names sound the same, signed a "friendship sister town-village" agreement on 14 February 1992.2612 Tsukigata Village merged into Niigata City in 2005. Exchanges continue with the Tsukigata area of Niigata's Minami Ward.26 A children's exchange marked its 20th round in 2010 and its 30th in 2021.12
  • International: none found.

Notable people
  • Tsukigata Kiyoshi (月形潔, 1847–1894): first warden of Kabato Shūjikan and the town's namesake.242
  • Kaiga Naotsune (海賀直常): Tsukigata Kiyoshi's right-hand man. He brought the first prisoners north, stayed on, and led the village farm association and water union.2814
  • Nagakura Shinpachi (永倉新八, 1839–1915): former Shinsengumi captain who taught Kabato's guards swordsmanship (1882–1886) under the name Sugimura Yoshie. He later lived in Otaru.29
  • Ueno-yama Kiyotsugu (上野山清貢, 1889–1960): Western-style painter who went to school in Tsukigata while his father was a chief guard. Takano Yuzuru, eldest brother of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, was also a chief guard here.27
  • Honda Meiji (本田明二): Tsukigata-born sculptor who led Hokkaido's sculpture world.3
  • Igarashi Hiroaki (五十嵐浩晃): singer, born in Bibai, who spent his junior-high and high-school years in Tsukigata.26

Sources

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

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