One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Shibetsu士別市
Suffolk sheep country at the head of the Teshio River
Kamikawa region · Lavender, patchwork hills and the roof of Hokkaido.
Shibetsu (the Kamikawa one) is Japan's Suffolk sheep capital — lamb pastures on 'Sheep and Cloud Hill' and some of the best mutton dinners anywhere.
Shibetsu lies in the upper Teshio valley about an hour north of Asahikawa, a farming town with wide fields of rice, sugar beet and pasture. It is best known for its Suffolk sheep, raised on grassy hills above town and served as lamb in a way most of Hokkaido, with its mutton-heavy jingisukan, does not. The town is also a winter testing ground: car makers run cold-weather tracks here. Come for the sheep hill, the quiet dam lake to the east and a taste of the far north's farm life.
- Region
- Kamikawa (上川)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~221 km · 3.4 h summer / 4 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~204 km · 3.1 h summer / 3.7 h winter
- Best season in Kamikawa
- July for lavender, September for Japan's first autumn colors on Daisetsuzan, winter for serious snow country.
Shibetsu 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 Shibetsu
Sheep and Cloud Hill
羊と雲の丘
A grassy hill above the town where Suffolk sheep graze in summer, with a lookout over the Teshio valley and a restaurant serving the town's lamb.
Lake Iwaonai
岩尾内湖
A long dam lake on the upper Teshio River in the mountains east of town, with a lakeside campground. The forested shore is quiet even in high summer.
Tsukumo Suigo Park
つくも水郷公園
A large park on the Teshio riverside with ponds, walking paths and a lot of open lawn. The town's easiest place for a stroll or a picnic.
Getting to Shibetsu
Asahikawa Airport is about 1.5 hours by car. The Doo Expressway ends near town at the Shibetsu-Kenbuchi interchange, and Route 40 continues north. JR Soya Main Line trains, including the Sapporo–Wakkanai limited expresses, stop at Shibetsu station. Sapporo is about 2.5 hours by car.
Kamikawa region: Asahikawa has its own airport and fast JR links from Sapporo (about 85 minutes). Furano and Biei are best by car or the summer sightseeing trains.
When to visit Shibetsu
June to September, when the sheep are out on the hill and the lake campground is open. Autumn colors reach the Iwaonai valley in October. Winter is long and severe; the town is a place to pass through rather than linger in January.
What to eat in Shibetsu
Suffolk lamb is the reason to eat here, grilled or roasted rather than in the usual mutton jingisukan. The valley grows rice, sugar beet and a lot of soybeans, and local sweets use beet sugar and beans.
Shibetsu in context: the Kamikawa region
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Kamikawa holds the two images most people picture when they think of Hokkaido in summer: Furano's purple lavender fields and Biei's rolling patchwork hills. Asahikawa, the island's second city, anchors the region with its shoyu ramen and a zoo famous for up-close animal enclosures.
Towns near Shibetsu
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More towns in Kamikawa
Other regions: Ishikari · Sorachi · Shiribeshi · Iburi · Hidaka · Oshima · Hiyama · Rumoi · Soya · Okhotsk · Tokachi · Kushiro · Nemuro