One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Nishiokoppe西興部村
A thousand people, orange roofs and a wooden-toy museum
Okhotsk region · Abashiri, Monbetsu and Shiretoko in northeastern Hokkaido.
Nishiokoppe, a forest village of a thousand people with matching orange roofs, runs a wooden-toy wonderland museum deep in the woods.
Nishiokoppe is a village of about a thousand people in the forested upper valley of the Okoppe River, between the coast and Nayoro, and one of the smallest municipalities in Hokkaido. Nearly all of it is forest. The village decided long ago to make something of that: the houses in the centre are roofed in the same orange, there is a museum devoted to wooden toys, a village-run lodge, and a managed hunting reserve for deer. Come on the way across from the Soya line to the Okhotsk coast, and stay a night if you like silence.
- Region
- Okhotsk (オホーツク)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~268 km · 4.1 h summer / 4.9 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~254 km · 3.9 h summer / 4.6 h winter
- Best season in Okhotsk
- Winter for a chance of drift ice (never guaranteed); the green season for lakes and Shiretoko. Check access for your dates.
Nishiokoppe 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 Nishiokoppe
Komu wooden-toy museum
森の美術館「木夢」
A village museum filled with wooden toys, puzzles and play structures made from local timber, where children are meant to touch everything. The unlikeliest thing to find in a village this size, and the reason families detour here.
The orange-roofed village
オレンジ屋根の集落
The centre of the village agreed on one roof colour decades ago, and the result is a cluster of orange roofs against dark forest that looks planned in a way almost nowhere in rural Hokkaido does. Best from the hill above.
Forest and the upper Okoppe River
森と興部川の上流
Nearly all of the village is forest, and the upper Okoppe River runs through it past the centre. Forest roads lead out from the village into the trees, deer are a common sight at dusk, and the village-run lodge makes an overnight easy.
Getting to Nishiokoppe
Route 239 is the only road, running from Nayoro on the JR Soya Main Line east to Okoppe on the coast; the village is roughly an hour from Nayoro and half an hour from Okoppe. Monbetsu Airport is a little over an hour by car. There is no railway in the village and buses are few.
Okhotsk region: Memanbetsu Airport is the gateway for Abashiri and the Shari side; Okhotsk Monbetsu Airport serves Monbetsu. From either airport, the last leg to your pier, hotel or Utoro is a separate bus, taxi or car journey, so check it for your dates.
When to visit Nishiokoppe
June to September, when the forest is green, the roads are clear and the toy museum and the village lodge make an easy overnight. October colours the whole valley. Winter is very cold and snowy, but the village lodge stays open and the silence is complete.
What to eat in Nishiokoppe
Venison is the village specialty, from the managed deer population of the surrounding forest, served at the lodge and sold processed. Dairy from the few farms in the valley, mountain vegetables and mushrooms in season, and wood products rather than food are what most people take home.
Nishiokoppe in context: the Okhotsk region
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The Okhotsk region covers 18 municipalities in northeastern Hokkaido, including Abashiri, Kitami, Monbetsu and Shari. In winter, sightseeing boats leave Abashiri and Monbetsu. Drift ice can reach this coast, but when, where and how much varies from year to year, and weather and sea conditions decide each departure.