One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Shintotsukawa新十津川町
A village from Nara, transplanted north in 1889
Sorachi region · Inland central Hokkaido: coal heritage, wineries and seasonal fields.
Shintotsukawa was settled by villagers from Nara's Totsukawa after an 1889 flood — a whole community transplanted north, sake brewery and all.
Shintotsukawa sits across the Ishikari River from Takikawa, at the foot of Pinneshiri and the Kabato range. It was founded in 1890 by villagers from Totsukawa in Nara Prefecture, who lost their homes to a great flood the year before and moved as a whole community; the town still keeps ties with the mother village. Today it is one of Sorachi's best rice towns, with a long-established sake brewery, a hillside park with a campground and ski slope, and the trailhead to Pinneshiri.
- Region
- Sorachi (空知)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~122 km · 1.9 h summer / 2.2 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~88 km · 1.4 h summer / 1.6 h winter
- Best season in Sorachi
- Canola usually in mid to late May, the coal museum from spring to autumn (closed in winter); winery visits depend on each winery.
Shintotsukawa 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 Shintotsukawa
Shintotsukawa Pioneer Memorial Museum
新十津川町開拓記念館
The town museum tells the story of the 1889 Totsukawa flood, the winter journey north and the first years of clearing land, with belongings the settlers carried from Nara.
Furusato Park
ふるさと公園
A hillside park above the town with a campground, a lodging house, playgrounds and a small ski slope in winter, looking east over the rice fields to Takikawa and the Sorachi valley.
Pinneshiri
ピンネシリ
The highest peak of the Kabato range, standing straight behind the town, with a trail from the Shintotsukawa side that reaches a summit view across the whole Ishikari plain. A summer and early-autumn climb.
Getting to Shintotsukawa
Shintotsukawa has no active railway. Takikawa station on the JR Hakodate Main Line is just across the Ishikari bridge, about 10 minutes by bus or car. Route 275 passes through the town; Sapporo is about 1.5 hours by car via Route 275 or the Do-o Expressway to Takikawa IC, and Asahikawa Airport about an hour.
Sorachi region: Between Sapporo and Asahikawa by JR or car. Sights are spread out, so check the last leg from the station; anyone tasting wine should not drive.
When to visit Shintotsukawa
September for the rice harvest, when the whole plain turns gold and new rice reaches the shops. July and August for Pinneshiri and the campground. Late April for cherry blossom in the park, and winter for the small ski slope and a quiet town under deep snow.
What to eat in Shintotsukawa
Rice is the pride, grown on the fertile plain by descendants of the Nara settlers and sold under the town's name. A sake brewery founded in the early 1900s brews with local rice and Pinneshiri water; vegetables and fruit from the foothill farms fill the stands.
Shintotsukawa in context: the Sorachi region
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Coal mining shaped many Sorachi towns, and places such as Yubari and Mikasa still keep that history in museums, rail relics and quiet main streets.
Towns near Shintotsukawa
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More towns in Sorachi
Other regions: Ishikari · Shiribeshi · Iburi · Hidaka · Oshima · Hiyama · Kamikawa · Rumoi · Soya · Okhotsk · Tokachi · Kushiro · Nemuro