One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Saroma佐呂間町
Scallops, oysters and a 100 km run around Japan's third lake
Okhotsk region · Abashiri, Monbetsu and Shiretoko in northeastern Hokkaido.
Saroma raises fat scallops and oysters in Lake Saroma, Japan's third-largest lake, and hosts the country's most storied 100km ultramarathon.
Saroma is the town that gives Lake Saroma its name, Japan's third-largest lake, a huge brackish lagoon cut off from the Okhotsk by a sand spit and famous for the scallops and oysters farmed in it. The south shore is the town's, with a hilltop lookout over the whole lake, a cape campsite for sunsets and a roadside station on the lakeside Route 238. Each June the lake becomes the halfway point of the Saroma Lake 100 km Ultramarathon, the oldest and most respected race of its kind in Japan.
- Region
- Okhotsk (オホーツク)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~295 km · 4.5 h summer / 5.4 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~301 km · 4.6 h summer / 5.5 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.
Saroma 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 Saroma
Lake Saroma Observatory
サロマ湖展望台
A lookout on Mt. Horoiwa above the south shore, reached by a gravel road, from which the entire lake, its sand spit and the sea beyond fit in one view. The only place the lake's real size makes sense.
Cape Kimuaneppu
キムアネップ岬
A low cape on the southeastern shore with a campsite right on the water, known for sunsets over the lake and for glasswort turning the shallows red in September.
Michi-no-Eki Saromako
道の駅サロマ湖
The roadside station (Michi-no-Eki) on Route 238 at the lakeside, the practical stop for scallop products, pumpkin sweets and local information. The lake is right across the road.
Saroma Lake 100 km Ultramarathon
サロマ湖100kmウルトラマラソン
Held every June since the 1980s, starting in Yubetsu and finishing at Tokoro, with the long middle section along the lake in Saroma. Thousands of runners and a town that turns out to cheer them.
Getting to Saroma
Memanbetsu Airport is about an hour by car and Monbetsu Airport slightly more. There is no railway; the nearest stations are Kitami and Engaru on the Sekihoku Main Line, each about 50 minutes away. Route 238 follows the lakeshore, and Route 333 links the town centre to Engaru.
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 Saroma
June for the ultramarathon and the first of the summer light on the lake; July and August for the lakeside and the cape campsite. September brings red glasswort and the start of oyster season, which runs through the winter. In February the lake freezes and goes silent.
What to eat in Saroma
Scallops are the reason the lake is famous, fat and sweet and sold fresh, dried and in every form of souvenir. Oysters follow from autumn through winter. On land the town grows pumpkins in quantity, raises beef cattle and produces dairy in the hills behind the shore.
Saroma 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.