One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Mashike増毛町
Herring-boom streets under the highest peak on the coast
Rumoi region · The sunset coast — and some of Japan's finest sea urchin.
Mashike keeps Japan's northernmost sake brewery, sweet shrimp straight off the boats, and a beautifully preserved herring-boom streetscape.
Mashike sits at the southern end of the Rumoi coast, where the Shokanbetsu range drops to the Japan Sea. It made its money on herring in the Meiji era, and the old port streets still hold the results: Japan's northernmost sake brewery, a merchant house that is a national cultural property, and Hokkaido's oldest wooden school building. Behind town, orchards of apples, cherries and grapes climb the slopes, the northern limit of fruit growing in Japan. It suits travellers who like walking old streets slowly and eating sweet shrimp right off the boat.
- Region
- Rumoi (留萌)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~153 km · 2.4 h summer / 2.8 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~110 km · 1.7 h summer / 2 h winter
- Best season in Rumoi
- June–August for uni and endless sunsets; the coast road is at its best in green season.
Mashike 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 Mashike
Historic port streets
増毛の歴史的町並み
A compact grid near the harbour where herring-era buildings survive: a stone-and-timber merchant house open as a museum, the brewery's old warehouses and a former inn. All are within a few minutes' walk of each other.
Former Mashike Elementary School
旧増毛小学校
Hokkaido's oldest surviving wooden school building, a long two-storey block from the 1930s on a rise above the town. It is preserved as a public facility and shows how prosperous the herring town once was.
Mt. Shokanbetsu
暑寒別岳
The highest mountain on the Rumoi coast and the centre of the Shokanbetsu-Teuri-Yagishiri Quasi-National Park. The Mashike trailhead starts from a mountain hut inland, and the summit day is long but non-technical in summer.
Ofuyu coast
雄冬海岸
South of town, Route 231 threads the sheer cliffs of the Ofuyu district, a stretch so steep it had no through road until the 1980s. Tunnels alternate with open sea views, a waterfall drops beside the highway, and the sunsets over the Japan Sea are the best on this coast.
Getting to Mashike
From Sapporo, Route 231 hugs the coast through Ishikari and Hamamasu and reaches Mashike in about two hours; it is the more scenic road but closes in bad weather. Via the Fukagawa-Rumoi Expressway it is about the same time, then a short run south from Rumoi. Asahikawa Airport is around two hours. No trains serve the town; buses connect with Rumoi.
Rumoi region: A driving region: the Ororon Line coast road from the Sapporo side is the whole point. Ferries to Teuri and Yagishiri leave from Haboro.
When to visit Mashike
May for the sweet shrimp festival and cherry blossom in the old streets, June to August for sea urchin, clear sea and the mountain. Autumn is orchard season, with apples and grapes picked from September into October. Winter buries the town in deep snow and the coast road can shut.
What to eat in Mashike
Sweet shrimp (amaebi) is the pride of the port, eaten raw on rice at its best in spring. Sea urchin, octopus and herring follow. Sake from Japan's northernmost brewery goes with all of it, and the orchards supply apples, cherries and grapes in autumn, with apple products on sale year-round.
Mashike in context: the Rumoi region
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Rumoi is a coastline more than a destination — and what a coastline. The shore road north from Mashike runs for hours with the Japan Sea on one side and green hills on the other, and locals will tell you the sunsets here are the best on the island.