One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Shihoro士幌町
The potato town that built a chip industry
Tokachi region · Obihiro food, Tokachigawa Onsen and seasonal gardens on the Tokachi Plain.
Shihoro turned its potatoes into an agricultural empire — the town co-op pioneered Japan's potato-chip industry.
Shihoro sits on the northern edge of the Tokachi plain, where the flat fields start to lift toward the Higashi-Taisetsu mountains. It is potato country above all: the town's farm co-operative built its own processing plants decades ago and turned local potatoes into starch, chips and a national brand. The scenery is straight roads, big skies and, in July, fields white and purple with potato flowers. It suits travelers who want farm Hokkaido without the crowds, passing through on the way to Nukabira or Lake Shikaribetsu.
- Region
- Tokachi (十勝)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~182 km · 2.8 h summer / 3.3 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~210 km · 3.2 h summer / 3.8 h winter
- Best season in Tokachi
- Late spring to autumn for gardens and green farmland; seasonal gardens such as Manabe Garden close in winter, when food, onsen and snowy scenery shape the trip.
Shihoro 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 Shihoro
Michi-no-Eki Pia 21 Shihoro
道の駅ピア21しほろ
The roadside station on National Route 241 is the town's shop window: potatoes and beans from local farms, chips and starch products, and a kitchen serving Shihoro beef and potato dishes.
Nupuka-no-Sato highland
しほろ高原ヌプカの里
A town-run highland campground and lodge on the slopes of Mt. Higashi-Nupukaushi, looking down over the checkerboard of the plain. Trails climb into Daisetsuzan National Park from here.
Potato fields in flower
ジャガイモの花の畑
For a couple of weeks around July the potato fields bloom white and pale purple across the whole town, one of the plain's quietest seasonal sights, best seen from the farm roads north of the centre.
Getting to Shihoro
About 40 minutes by car north of Obihiro on National Route 241, or about an hour from Tokachi-Obihiro Airport. Shihoro has no railway; the nearest station is Obihiro. Route 274 crosses the town east to west, and Route 241 continues north to Kamishihoro and the Mikuni Pass.
Tokachi region: Tokachi-Obihiro Airport and JR Obihiro Station are the main gateways. Plan the last stretch separately: the airport bus into the city, a local bus or taxi to the racecourse or onsen, and a car or taxi for gardens outside the centre.
When to visit Shihoro
July for potato flowers and the long green evenings of the plain, September and October for harvest, when trucks of potatoes and beets roll along every road and the roadside station is at its fullest. Winter is quiet and very cold.
What to eat in Shihoro
Potatoes in every form, from starch and chips to croquettes and simple boiled potatoes with butter at the roadside station. Shihoro beef, raised on local feed, is the town's other name product. Beans, wheat and sugar beet fill out the fields, and dairy comes from farms on the higher ground.
Shihoro in context: the Tokachi region
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Tokachi is an eastern Hokkaido region of 19 municipalities spread across the Tokachi Plain, a wide farming area that reaches far beyond Obihiro city. Obihiro is the usual base, with butadon pork rice bowls, sweets and banei racing, in which heavy draft horses pull sleds along a course.