One of Hokkaido's 14 regions
Hiyama檜山
The quiet Japan Sea coast where the herring boom lives on.
Hiyama is the Hokkaido almost no international traveler sees — a string of small ports down the Japan Sea coast where the 19th-century herring boom left merchant houses, shrine festivals and streetscapes that feel preserved rather than restored. Esashi, its historic heart, keeps an Edo-flavored main street above a working harbor.
Offshore lies Okushiri, an island of impossibly clear water and uni-rich shallows. This is slow-travel country: no crowds, no queues, just coastline, history and seafood straight off the boats.
🧭 Reach Esashi by car or bus from Hakodate (about 1.5 hours); ferries to Okushiri run from Esashi and Setana.
Hiyama highlights
Historic Esashi
Herring-boom merchant streets with an Edo-period feel, above a working Japan Sea harbor.
Okushiri Island
Crystal-clear water, uni season and near-empty roads — a genuine off-grid island escape.
Herring heritage
The boom that built western Hokkaido started on this coast — its songs and festivals survive.
Japan Sea sunsets
West-facing the whole way down — every clear evening ends in color.
The 7 towns of Hiyama
Click a town to jump to its entry
Esashi江差町
Esashi (the Hiyama one) boomed on herring and folk song — Edo-era merchant streets, a salvaged warship museum, and Hokkaido's oldest festival.
Kaminokuni上ノ国町
Kaminokuni guards the ruins of Katsuyama-date — the medieval fort where Japanese Hokkaido began five centuries ago.
Assabu厚沢部町
Assabu is the birthplace of the May Queen potato in Japan — buttery-smooth and beloved in every hotpot since.
Otobe乙部町
Otobe's coast hides Shirafura — chalk-white cliffs straight out of Dover — and a pair of sacred katsura trees bound as one.
Okushiri奥尻町
Okushiri is a Japan Sea island of uni, island-grown wine and the landmark 'kettle-handle' sea rock — with a moving tsunami memorial museum.
Imakane今金町
Imakane grows Danshaku potatoes so good they carry the town's name as a brand — river-valley farm country at its most honest.
Setanaせたな町
Setana's coast stands three sea stacks in a row like giant cedars — wind turbines spin above dairy pastures on the cliffs.