One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Fukushima福島町
Dried squid and sumo champions on the Tsugaru Strait
Oshima region · Hakodate's night view, castle towns and the shinkansen gateway.
Fukushima town dries more surume squid than anywhere in Japan and raised two yokozuna — sumo pride runs deep on this strait-facing shore.
Fukushima is a fishing town on the strait between Matsumae and Shiriuchi, squeezed onto a narrow strip of shore below the Daisengen mountains. Its two claims are unusual: it dries more surume squid than any other town in Japan, and it raised two grand champions of sumo, celebrated in a memorial hall by the harbour. The Seikan Tunnel to Honshu was driven from here, and the town keeps a museum of that project too. It is a stop for travelers doing the Matsumae coast road slowly.
- Region
- Oshima (渡島)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~247 km · 3.8 h summer / 4.5 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~262 km · 4 h summer / 4.8 h winter
- Best season in Oshima
- Late April–early May for Matsumae and Goryokaku cherry blossoms; the night view and markets shine year-round.
Fukushima at a glance
Drive estimates: straight-line × 1.35, at 65 km/h (summer) / 55 km/h (winter). How we calculate
What to see in Fukushima
Yokozuna Memorial Hall
横綱記念館
A town museum devoted to the two grand champions born here, with a ring, trophies and film of their bouts. It explains why a small fishing town takes sumo so seriously.
Seikan Tunnel Memorial Museum
青函トンネル記念館
The Hokkaido side of the undersea tunnel to Honshu was dug from Fukushima, and this museum keeps the drilling machines, models and records of a project that took more than two decades.
Mt. Daisengen
大千軒岳
The highest peak in the southern tip of Hokkaido, with alpine flower meadows near the summit in early summer and a history of 17th-century gold mining and hidden Christians on its slopes. Trails start from the Fukushima side.
Iwabe coast
岩部海岸
East of town the coast road ends at Iwabe and the shore beyond turns to cliffs and sea caves reachable only by boat. It is the wildest stretch of coast on the strait.
Getting to Fukushima
Fukushima is on National Route 228 between Kikonai and Matsumae, about an hour and a half from Hakodate by car and about 40 minutes from Kikonai station, the nearest shinkansen stop; buses run along the coast. Hakodate Airport is the nearest airport. There is no railway station in the town itself, only the Seikan Tunnel passing far below.
Oshima region: The Hokkaido Shinkansen arrives at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto; Hakodate also has its own airport with Tokyo flights.
When to visit Fukushima
Summer, June to August, for the alpine flowers on Mt. Daisengen and calm seas on the coast. Autumn brings the squid season and the smell of surume drying on racks along the shore. Winter is harsh on this exposed shore and most visitors skip it.
What to eat in Fukushima
Surume, dried squid, is the product the town is built on, and fresh squid comes in season too. Senken soba, a buckwheat named after the mountain, is grown and served locally. The strait adds kelp, sea urchin and sea cucumber.
Fukushima in context: the Oshima region
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Oshima is Hokkaido's historic south — the first part of the island to open to the outside world. Hakodate wears that history beautifully: Motomachi's churches and slopes, red-brick warehouses on the bay, a morning market that justifies the trip alone, and the celebrated night view from Mt. Hakodate.