Esashi Townscape

On the Sea of Japan coast in southwest Hokkaido, Esashi prospered during the 17th–19th centuries as one of Japan’s busiest herring ports. Each spring, herring runs transformed the town into a lively center of fishing and trade, inspiring the saying “Even Edo can’t rival Esashi in May.”
Esashi’s trade prosperity also gave rise to unique cultural traditions, like the folk songs (Esashi Oiwake) and energetic festivals such as the Ubagami Daijingu Shrine Festival, a shrine procession held for over 380 years. Offshore, Kamome Island offered natural protection to ships as a breakwater and remains a scenic spot with historic steps and panoramic views.
The townscape today still reflects its golden age: along the main street you’ll find gabled merchant houses and white plaster storehouses, and the descending warehouses, like a staircase down to the sea, that once stored herring products. Imported tiles from Japan’s main island of Honshu and blue-green shakudani stone from Echizen (modern day Fukui Prefecture) show how wealth flowed in from across Japan. Today, Esashi is designated a Japan Heritage Site, and its Inishie Kaido Street includes a variety of historic sites, former merchant homes, and some buildings dating from the Edo period that still echo the port town’s prosperous history.
In this historical townscape, visitors can enjoy walking around in kimonos, listening to the history of Esashi with a guide, or trying the local specialty, nishin (herring) soba.