One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Shiraoi白老町
Ainu culture, a national museum and prized Shiraoi beef
Iburi region · Volcano country — lakes, hell valleys and Ainu culture.
Shiraoi is home to UPOPOY, Japan's national Ainu museum and park — plus prized Shiraoi beef and tarako from Kojohama.
Shiraoi lies on the Pacific coast between Tomakomai and Noboribetsu, a long, thin town with a fishing port, beef farms and, since 2020, Upopoy, the National Ainu Museum and Park on the shore of Lake Poroto. Ainu families have lived on this lakeshore for generations, and the new museum grew out of an older village museum that stood here for decades. Behind town, the forest climbs to Mt. Horohoro and hides Lake Kuttara, one of the clearest lakes in Japan. It suits anyone who wants Ainu culture as the main event rather than a footnote.
- Region
- Iburi (胆振)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~57 km · 54 min summer / 1 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~73 km · 1.1 h summer / 1.3 h winter
- Best season in Iburi
- Year-round onsen country; summer adds Lake Toya's nightly fireworks, winter makes the hot springs sweeter.
Shiraoi 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 Shiraoi
Upopoy, National Ainu Museum and Park
ウポポイ（民族共生象徴空間）
Japan's national museum of Ainu history and culture, set beside Lake Poroto with reconstructed houses, craft workshops, dance performances and a memorial site. Plan half a day; the exhibitions are multilingual and the grounds are large.
Lake Kuttara
倶多楽湖
A nearly circular caldera lake in the hills behind Noboribetsu, with no inflowing or outflowing rivers and water so clear it ranks among the best in Japan. A narrow road reaches the shore; there is little there but the lake, which is the point.
Kojohama Onsen
虎杖浜温泉
The town's western end is a strip of hot-spring inns and tarako shops between Route 36 and the sea. The water comes up hot and plentiful right by the beach, and this is where the famous cod roe is cured.
Sendai Domain Shiraoi Jinya ruins
白老仙台藩陣屋跡
Earthworks of the fort that Sendai samurai built in the 1850s to guard this coast, now a national historic site with a small museum. It explains why a northern Honshu clan ended up on an Ainu shore.
Getting to Shiraoi
Shiraoi station on the JR Muroran Main Line is right beside Upopoy, and several Hokuto limited expresses stop here, about an hour from Sapporo. By car it is roughly 40 minutes from New Chitose Airport on the Do-o Expressway to the Shiraoi exit, and Route 36 runs the length of the town along the coast.
Iburi region: On the main Sapporo–Hakodate corridor: JR stops at Noboribetsu and Toya, and Upopoy is right by Shiraoi station.
When to visit Shiraoi
May to October for Upopoy's outdoor programs and the lake trails, with the beef festival in June as the town's big cookout. October colours the forest around Lake Kuttara. Winter is quiet but the museum runs year-round and Kojohama's baths are at their best.
What to eat in Shiraoi
Shiraoi beef, raised on the town's farms, is Hokkaido's best-known black-cattle brand and is sold as steaks and yakiniku all over town. Kojohama tarako, salted cod roe from the western district, is the other national name. The port lands hokki clams and flounder, and Ainu dishes such as ohaw soup are served at Upopoy.
Shiraoi in context: the Iburi region
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Iburi is where Hokkaido's volcanic engine comes to the surface. Lake Toya fills a vast caldera ringed by hot-spring hotels and a still-smoking young volcano; Noboribetsu's Jigokudani 'Hell Valley' steams and bubbles above one of Japan's most celebrated onsen towns.