Obihiro
帯広42°55′ N 143°12′ ECityPop. 159,294Tokachi
The farming capital of the Tokachi plain is sunny and bitterly cold in winter, and it serves butadon and the world's only draft-horse racing.
Photo 皓月旗 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Stay in Obihiro for a night of food and Ban'ei racing on a Tokachi road trip. It suits riders arriving at Tokachi-Obihiro airport on the way to Sahoro or Tomamu.
The name
o-pere-perke-p
オペㇾペㇾケㇷ゚The river whose mouth splits into many channels
ainu
The Obihiro River's Ainu name, o-pere-perke-p, describes a river mouth that splits again and again. Settlers took the first sounds as Obi and added hiro (wide) for the breadth of the Tokachi plain. Yamada Hidezō linked the word to operkep, an Ainu word for a girl, and read the doubled pere as the river splitting into many streams. The Obihiro Centennial City Museum's Ainu culture centre gives 'a river whose mouth divides and divides'.
SourceEat · 食べる
OskNe (talk) / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain Panchoぱんちょうshokudo¥
The butadon house by Obihiro Station credited with inventing the dish. Closed Mondays; expect a queue.
Butahage Hontenぶたはげ 本店shokudo¥
This shop serves butadon right in Obihiro Station, handy before a train.
Butadon no Tonta豚丼のとん田shokudo¥
A local favourite away from the centre for thick-cut butadon.
Jingisukan Shirakabaジンギスカン 白樺yakiniku¥¥
A long-running Genghis Khan restaurant on the edge of town. Closed Mondays.
Curry Shop Indian Machinakaカレーショップ インデアン まちなか店curry¥
Tokachi's own curry chain is cheap and very local. Regulars bring their own pots for takeaway.
Robata Uosenizakaya¥¥¥
A robatayaki and seafood izakaya near the station. Closed Sundays.
Rokkatei Obihiro Main Store六花亭 帯広本店cafe¥
The flagship of Tokachi's best-known confectioner has a café upstairs. Buy marusei butter sandwiches to take home.
Masuya Pan Honten満寿屋 本店bakery¥
This Tokachi bakery bakes with local wheat a few minutes from the station.
Drink · 飲む
RJD / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0 Kita no Yataibar
An alley of about twenty food stalls that opened in 2001 and kicked off Japan's yatai revival. Each stall seats a handful, and you can order dishes from neighbouring stalls.
Do · 遊ぶ
馬面長伊奈 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 Ban'ei Tokachiculture
At the Obihiro racecourse draft horses haul iron sleds over two sand hills, and the second hill stands 1.6 m high. Meetings run Saturday to Monday, and the free draft-horse museum next door closes on Wednesdays in winter.
pakku / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0 Obihiro Ice Festivalculture
Ice sculptures and slides on 29–31 January 2027, 10:00–20:00 with lights until 22:00. Use the free shuttle from the racecourse.
663highland / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5 Tokachigawa Onsenactivity
The onsen town across the river in Otofuke has brown, plant-rich moor water.
Obihiro is the city of the Tokachi plain, and in winter the plain is one of the sunniest corners of Japan as well as one of the coldest. Clear skies are normal from December to February and the snowfall is light. At night the cold settles on the plain hard enough to keep the ice festival sculptures crisp. The city is a flat, tidy grid first settled by the Banseisha company in 1883, with mountains on three horizons.
Most riders pass through on the way to the hills. Sahoro and Tomamu are about an hour west, with Karifuri-dake above the Karikachi pass, and the Tokachi-Obihiro airport sits south of town. Stay a night for the food. Obihiro invented butadon, which is grilled pork on rice in a sweet soy glaze, and Pancho by the station has served it since the 1930s. In the evening walk to Kita no Yatai. About twenty tiny food stalls have shared the alley since 2001, and you drink your way from one to the next with a heater at your back.
On the weekend go to Ban'ei Tokachi at the Obihiro racecourse, where huge draft horses haul iron sleds over two sand hills on a straight track. Nowhere else in the world runs races like it. Meetings run from Saturday to Monday, and an evening there is one of the strangest you will spend in Hokkaido.
Quick answers about Obihiroよくある質問
What does the name Obihiro mean?
Obihiro comes from the local name o-pere-perke-p, meaning the river whose mouth splits into many channels. The Obihiro River's Ainu name, o-pere-perke-p, describes a river mouth that splits again and again. Settlers took the first sounds as Obi and added hiro (wide) for the breadth of the Tokachi plain. Yamada Hidezō linked the word to operkep, an Ainu word for a girl, and read the doubled pere as the river splitting into many streams. The Obihiro Centennial City Museum's Ainu culture centre gives 'a river whose mouth divides and divides'.
Is Obihiro a good place to stay?
Stay in Obihiro for a night of food and Ban'ei racing on a Tokachi road trip. It suits riders arriving at Tokachi-Obihiro airport on the way to Sahoro or Tomamu.
How do you get to Obihiro?
Limited express trains run from Sapporo via Tomamu and Shintoku. Tokachi-Obihiro Airport is about 40 minutes from the city by airport bus. Driving to Tomamu or Sahoro takes about an hour.
Ride from Obihiro近くの山
Stay in Obihiro宿
Hot springs nearby温泉
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