One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Setanaせたな町
Three sea stacks, wind turbines and cliffs above the pastures
Hiyama region · The quiet Japan Sea coast where the herring boom lives on.
Setana's coast stands three sea stacks in a row like giant cedars — wind turbines spin above dairy pastures on the cliffs.
Setana stretches along the northern Hiyama coast where the Japan Sea meets high cliffs and dairy pasture. Three towns joined in 2005 to make it: Setana on the coast with its trio of sea stacks and wind turbines, Kitahiyama inland in the farm valley, and Taisei to the south with bear-shaped rocks and a hot spring in the hills. Mt. Kariba rises behind the whole thing. It suits drivers who want dramatic coast without another car in sight.
- Region
- Hiyama (檜山)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~206 km · 3.2 h summer / 3.8 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~190 km · 2.9 h summer / 3.5 h winter
- Best season in Hiyama
- Summer for Okushiri's water and uni; August for Esashi's famous Ubagami shrine festival.
Setana 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 Setana
Sanbonsugi rocks
三本杉岩
Three tall sea stacks standing in a row just off the Setana beach, the town's symbol. Wind turbines turn on the cliffs behind them, and the beach in front is a summer swimming spot.
Mt. Rissho lookout
立象山展望台
A hill park above the Setana harbor with a lookout over the sea stacks, the port and, on clear days, Okushiri Island on the horizon. Campsite on the slope below.
Oyakoguma rock
親子熊岩
A rock formation on the Taisei coast shaped like a mother bear reaching down to a cub in the sea, right beside Route 229. One of the best-known roadside sights on this coast.
Michi-no-Eki Tekkui Land Taisei
道の駅 てっくいランド大成
The roadside station at Taisei, named for tekkui, the local word for flounder. A beach and campsite beside it, and the place to stop for the fish this part of the coast is known for.
Getting to Setana
Route 229 runs the length of the Setana coast, and Route 230 comes in from Oshamambe through Imakane. From Sapporo count on about 3.5 hours by car; from Hakodate about 2.5 hours. The nearest active railway is Oshamambe station on the JR Hakodate Main Line, and Hakodate Airport is the closest airport. A summer ferry to Okushiri leaves from Setana port.
Hiyama region: Reach Esashi by car or bus from Hakodate (about 1.5 hours); ferries to Okushiri run from Esashi and Setana.
When to visit Setana
June to September for the coast, the beaches and the summer ferry to Okushiri. May for daffodils in the Tamagawa park at Kitahiyama. Autumn brings the best flatfish. Winter closes most of the coast to anything but driving through.
What to eat in Setana
Flatfish, called tekkui here, is the fish to look for, with sea urchin and abalone from the rocky shore in summer. The pastures on the cliffs support dairy farms, so local milk and cheese are easy to find, and the inland valley grows rice.
Setana in context: the Hiyama region
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Hiyama is the Hokkaido almost no international traveler sees — a string of small ports down the Japan Sea coast where the 19th-century herring boom left merchant houses, shrine festivals and streetscapes that feel preserved rather than restored. Esashi, its historic heart, keeps an Edo-flavored main street above a working harbor.