One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Obira小平町
The grandest herring mansion on the Ororon coast
Rumoi region · Plan a coastal trip through Rumoi, Mashike and Haboro.
Obira's clifftop road passes a nationally protected herring mansion — the grandest of the old fishing barons' halls on this coast.
Obira is the first town north of Rumoi on the coast road, a long strip of fishing villages along the Japan Sea with farmland and forest running back into the hills. Its landmark is the Hanada family herring mansion at Onishika, a national Important Cultural Property and the largest surviving herring-boss house in Hokkaido, with a roadside station built alongside it. Inland, a dam lake sits in quiet forest. It is a stop rather than a destination, but a stop worth an hour or two for the history and the octopus.
- Region
- Rumoi (留萌)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~193 km · 3 h summer / 3.5 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~158 km · 2.4 h summer / 2.9 h winter
- Best season in Rumoi
- Summer is an option for coastal walks and island visits. Seafood seasons vary, and ferry schedules depend on the travel date; allow flexibility for weather.
Obira 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 Obira
Former Hanada Family Herring Banya
旧花田家番屋
A vast timber hall built in the Meiji era to house the fishing boss and his crews under one roof. It is a national Important Cultural Property and open as a museum, with the workers' quarters and the family rooms both intact.
Michi-no-Eki Obira Nishin-Banya
道の駅おびら鰊番屋
The roadside station (Michi-no-Eki) beside the herring mansion, with a herring-history exhibit, local seafood and a statue of Matsuura Takeshiro, the explorer who named Hokkaido and passed through here. A good stop for octopus dishes.
Lake Obirashibe
おびらしべ湖
A dam lake up the Obirashibe River in the forested interior, with a lakeside park, campsites and a road that runs along the shore. Quiet even in high summer, and the autumn colours are the best in the town.
Getting to Obira
Obira is about twenty minutes north of Rumoi on Route 232, the coast road known as the Ororon Line. From Sapporo count on about three hours via the Fukagawa-Rumoi Expressway; Asahikawa Airport is about two hours. Route 239 runs inland from here toward Horokanai and Nayoro. No rail; coastal buses stop in the town.
Rumoi region: Use the coastal roads for a driving trip, or check bus services from Sapporo and Asahikawa. Rumoi city has no current rail service. Ferries to Teuri and Yagishiri depart from Haboro, not Rumoi city.
When to visit Obira
June to August for the sea, when the fishing ports are busy and the sunsets come late. Octopus is landed through the warmer months. October for autumn colour around the dam lake. The herring mansion is worth seeing in any season, and the coast road stays open year-round, if windy.
What to eat in Obira
Octopus is the local catch: Obira's are large and served as sashimi, boiled, or in local dishes at the roadside station. Sweet shrimp and flatfish come in alongside, and the farms behind the coast raise rice, vegetables and beef cattle.
Obira in context: the Rumoi region
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Rumoi is both a port city and the name of a wider region on Hokkaido's Sea of Japan coast. This guide covers the region: Mashike's historic streets, Cape Ogon in Rumoi city, and Haboro, the departure port for Teuri and Yagishiri islands.