Shintoku
新得43°05′ N 142°50′ ETownPop. 5,476Tokachi
Shintoku grows soba on the western edge of the Tokachi plain and serves as the station for Sahoro and the Karifuri-dake backcountry.
Photo inunami · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Stay in Shintoku for cheap rooms near Sahoro and quick access to the Karifuri-dake touring zone. It suits riders travelling by train or splitboarders with a guide.
The name
sittok
シットㇰAn elbow; the jutting spur of a mountain
ainu
The town's explanation: Mt. Shintoku pushes out toward the Sahoro River like a bent elbow, and the Ainu called the spot sittok. The Obihiro Centennial City Museum's Ainu place-name guide gives the same word with the gloss 'elbow'.
SourceEat · 食べる
Minatoyasoba¥
Soba and tempura bowls a few minutes from Shintoku Station. Lunch only until sold out; closed Thursdays and Sundays.
Shintoku Soba no Yakata新得そばの館soba¥
This soba restaurant and local produce shop on the main road makes its noodles from Shintoku buckwheat. Winter hours 11:00–17:00.
Soba Tobakosoba¥
A small soba shop in town. Closed Thursdays.
Eki Soba Sekiguchisoba¥
This standing soba counter right by the station is good for a bowl between trains. Closed Wednesdays.
Ramen Rocky Karikachiramen¥
Ramen and rice bowls on the road toward Karikachi pass. Closed Thursdays.
Do · 遊ぶ
Mintaru cheese shopshop
Kyodo Gakusha Shintoku Farm runs this shop, and the farm community is known for its natural cheeses. From December to April it sells cheese only and the café is closed.
Karifuri-dake touringactivity
The peaks above the Karikachi pass hold some of the coldest, driest snow in Tokachi. Go with a local guide.
Shintoku sits where the Tokachi plain runs into the Hidaka and Daisetsuzan mountains, and the trains slow down here before climbing through the Karikachi pass toward Tomamu. It is a quiet town of soba fields and dairy farms strung along a long, straight main street. On a clear winter night the cold drops hard off the hills behind it.
It is the station for Sahoro, about fifteen minutes up the road, and a good base for touring Karifuri-dake and the ridges above the Karikachi pass. Shintoku calls itself a soba town, and lunch should be soba. Minatoya by the station does soba and tempura bowls until it sells out, and the Shintoku Soba no Yakata on the highway mills local buckwheat for its noodles. The Kyodo Gakusha farm's cheese shop, Mintaru, sells its award-winning cheeses year-round, though the café closes in winter.
Quick answers about Shintokuよくある質問
What does the name Shintoku mean?
Shintoku comes from the local name sittok, meaning an elbow; the jutting spur of a mountain. The town's explanation: Mt. Shintoku pushes out toward the Sahoro River like a bent elbow, and the Ainu called the spot sittok. The Obihiro Centennial City Museum's Ainu place-name guide gives the same word with the gloss 'elbow'.
Is Shintoku a good place to stay?
Stay in Shintoku for cheap rooms near Sahoro and quick access to the Karifuri-dake touring zone. It suits riders travelling by train or splitboarders with a guide.
How do you get to Shintoku?
Limited express trains between Sapporo and Obihiro stop at Shintoku. Sahoro Resort is about 15 minutes by car or shuttle from the station. Obihiro is about 40 minutes east by train.
Ride from Shintoku近くの山
Stay in Shintoku宿
Hot springs nearby温泉
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