Today's Taiki Town Heavy snow fell across the Tokachi region today! In Taiki Town, about 50 cm accumulated from last night until this morning. It was the heaviest snowfall of the season! Tourist information for Taiki Town is here: https://visit-taiki.hokkaido.jp//

[ Taiki Town ’s Unremarkable Scenery — Winter ] To residents it’s an ordinary view, but looking again reveals the quiet beauty of Taiki Town’s landscape! This photo shows an evening scene from mid‑January this year. There’s surprisingly little snow…! Wide skies and open land, a straight road, and neatly aligned windbreak trees are my favorite points. Find more Taiki Town tourist information here!↓ https://visit-taiki.hokkaido.jp//

[Winter on the Rekifune River 2025] The year 2025 has begun! Best wishes for the year ahead! This winter feels colder than last year, and the Rekifune River running through the center of Taiki Town has frozen over a larger area than before. Placed side by side with photos from the same time last year, it looks like a completely different river! Being able to enjoy the sight of the river freezing is a unique pleasure of such a cold region. Find Taiki Town tourist information here! ↓ https://visit-taiki.hokkaido.jp//

[ Wakasa-gi Ice Fishing at Horokayanto Now Open! ] Wakasagi ice fishing opened on Sunday, December 29, 2024, at Horokayanto in Bansei, Taiki Town, located near the Hidaka Mountain Range. Please note that operations may be suspended without notice for safety reasons due to weather or ice conditions. Thank you for your understanding. [ Open Period ] From Sunday, December 29, 2024, until late February 2025, subject to ice conditions. [ Opening Hours ] From 5:00 AM to 4:00 PM. [ Fishing Fee ] Adults (junior high school students and older): 700 yen Elementary school students: 300 yen [ Contact ] Taiki Fisheries Cooperative Association, Horokayanto Management Building 01558-7-8866 [ Notes ] - Rental of ice drills, fishing rods, and sale of bait are not available on site. - A temporary toilet is installed beside the management building. There is no running water. - Because this pond adjoins the sea, a tsunami could occur in the event of an earthquake (including distant earthquakes). If there is any possibility of a tsunami, immediately return to your vehicle (even if you must leave belongings behind) and move to higher ground to protect your life. For the Taiki Town Office website, see below: https://www.town.taiki.hokkaido.jp/soshiki/nourinsuisan/suisan/wakasagi.html...

[Recent Taiki Town Report] Taiki Town is seeing fewer days with high temperatures above 0°C. Rivers are freezing and frost-covered trees are appearing as the season arrives! Snow is also beginning to accumulate little by little. For Taiki Town tourism information, visit Visit Taiki! https://visit-taiki.hokkaido.jp//

＼Oikamana Lake has frozen over!／ Nearly the entire surface of Oikamana Lake (Ikebana Nae Swamp) along the Pacific coast has frozen. In spots where the ice is thick enough, you can walk on it. You can also hear strange sounds when the ice shifts or cracks. This is a fleeting, otherworldly sight that lasts only until the snow begins to fall. Find Taiki Town tourist information here! ↓ https://visit-taiki.hokkaido.jp//

Souvenirs from Taiki Town ~Winter Seafood Souvenirs~ Facing the Pacific Ocean, Taiki Town offers a bounty of delicious seafood. This season is perfect for salmon roe, whelks, and shishamo smelt! You can buy them at Roadside Station Kosumoru Taiki. Also on sale is a frozen product of the “legendary giant clams,” which are caught only once a year when the fishery opens. Be sure to pick some up as souvenirs from Taiki Town!

December 4, 2024 — Taiki Town Snow began falling this morning, and the urban area looks set to see its first accumulation of the season. Real winter has arrived!

【 A town where you can meet the red-crowned crane, Taiki Town 】 Taiki Town is home to many red-crowned cranes, a species designated as a Special Natural Monument of Japan. The season when they are especially numerous is autumn, right around now. You can often see them searching for food in fields after the crops have been harvested. The cranes tend to appear more often on the seaside side than the mountain side. Give it a try and see if you can find them! By the way, the small bird in the center of the first photo is not a red-crowned crane but a hooded crane. Taiki Town is appealing because you can spot many different kinds of wildlife together ✨

Notice of Long-Term Closure of Bansei Onsen From December 2 this year until February 28 next year, Bansei Onsen will be closed for an extended period for facility renovations. Just the thing for a time like this is “Bansei no Yu Onsen Powder.” It recreates the scent and color of Bansei Onsen’s characteristic iodine-rich bath, so you can easily enjoy Bansei Onsen at home. It is on sale at Roadside Station Cosmoall Taiki, so please give it a try!

Autumn in Taiki Town 2024 At this time of year, you can see beautiful autumn foliage throughout Taiki Town. Top recommended spots include Keiseki Bridge, Sakashita Senkyo, and Kashiwa Park in the town center. ★Kashiwa Trivia The town tree of Taiki, the kashiwa (oak), is a symbol of Tokachi. Once, kashiwa groves spread across Tokachi, but they gradually disappeared as development advanced. Many kashiwa trees that remain here are large and impressive; the kashiwa in Kashiwa Park are said to be between 100 and 200 years old. By the way, even after kashiwa leaves turn color and wither, they often stay on the branches through winter and only fall when spring brings new green leaves.

Notice of the Hokkaido International Film Festival + Taiki From Friday, October 18th to Sunday, October 20th, the Hokkaido International Film Festival + Taiki will take place at the Taiki Town Lifelong Learning Center. Films connected to Hokkaido and Tokachi, as well as works unique to Taiki Town, a town of space, will be screened.🚀 Each film costs 1,000 yen (except for the opening and closing screenings), making it much cheaper than watching movies at a cinema. High school students and younger can watch for free.🎞️ In addition, directors and cast members of several films will attend as guests, so you might hear behind-the-scenes stories! Scheduled screenings include Bokuhaga Uchuu ni Itta Riyuu (The Reason I Went to Space), The Talkative Photo Studio, The New Nemuro Pro Wrestling Story, Hello Mom, and Uchuu Nanchara Kotetsu-kun, among many others! An international feature competition jury will also take place. Whether you love films or rarely get the chance to see them, come to Taiki Town and enjoy the screenings! Tickets are available at Roadside Station Cosmo-ru Taiki, the Taiki Town Hall Planning and Commerce Division on the second floor, and online. For more details, search for "Hokkaido International Film Festival".

The 48th Kashiwabayashi Park Festival was held! On Sunday, September 22, the 48th Kashiwabayashi Park Festival took place. Despite the unfortunate rain, many guests attended. Thank you very much!

Taiki Town Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Commerce Festival and the Town Bon Odori Dance again this year! [62nd Commerce Festival] Date and time: Thursday, August 15, 11:00 AM Location: Taiki Town Economic Center Event Plaza (behind Roadside Station Cosmall Taiki) [51st Taiki Town Citizens’ Bon Odori Dance] Date and time: Thursday, August 15, 6:00 PM Location: Kotobuki Fureai Street, Taiki Town (the road facing the back of Roadside Station Cosmall Taiki) Please come and join us!

August 4 (Sunday) Rekifune River Clear-Stream Festival takes place! The summer highlight of Taiki Town, the Rekifune River Clear-Stream Festival, will be held on August 4. During the day, enjoy a character show, prize draws, food stalls, gold panning experiences, yamabe (landlocked salmon) fishing, and many other fun activities! In the evening, the festival builds to its climax with the Perpune Fire Festival, where towering columnar bonfires seem to reach the sky, followed by an impressive fireworks display. Date and time: Sunday, August 4, 11:00– Venue: Rekifune River, riverbank upstream of Taiki Bridge Stage event schedule 11:00–11:10 Opening ceremony 11:20–11:50 Taiki Town street dance circle 12:00–12:50 Kamen Rider Gatchard & Geats 13:00–14:10 Taiki Town Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association Lychee Seed Spitting Contest 14:20–15:10 Kamen Rider Gatchard & Geats 15:40–16:20 Keishi Tanaka acoustic live performance 16:30–17:30 Prize draw 18:00–19:10 Houto (ceremonial lanterns) and Perpune Fire Festival 19:10–19:20 Hikata River Taiko drumming 19:30–21:00 Doshin Fireworks Display

🌿 Haskap picking has begun 🫐 Haskap picking started on June 20 at Mukai Haskap Orchard in Taiki Town! Many berries are still unripe, so they should peak for picking toward July.✨ For details, visit Taiki Town’s tourism site Visit! Taiki.

Cherry blossoms around town are now at their best. You can see them in full bloom all over town, at places like Moiwa-yama Forest Park, Hakurin Park, and Taiki Shrine. Come and enjoy the cherry blossoms alongside the carp streamers✨

🎏 Announcement: Rekifune River Clear-Stream Koinobori Display 🎏 The 2024 Rekifune River Clear-Stream Koinobori display is open from April 19. Display period: from Friday, April 19 to Monday, May 6. The Rekifune River Clear-Stream Koinobori is a spring tradition in Taiki Town that stretches colorful carp streamers across the full width of the Rekifune River each year from late April to early May. This year we increased the number of koinobori, letting them swim from one bank of the Rekifune River across the river and up over the riverbed. On Sunday, May 5 a mini event for children will be held. Enjoy a bouncy dome, maze, smart-ball games, a balloon kite exhibit, a dance performance by the Taiki Town street dance circle, a Mölkky experience, plenty of fun activities, and delicious food! We look forward to your visit! Date and time: Sunday, May 5, 10:00–14:00 Location: Taiki Bridge Riverscape Plaza

- Outdoor Field in Taiki Town - A video showcasing Taiki Town’s natural beauty and outdoor activities, produced mainly by the local revitalization team in charge of outdoor promotion, has been completed! It introduces a variety of activities you can enjoy in Taiki Town year-round, including birdwatching, fishing, gold panning, and wakasagi (pond smelt) fishing. The video is posted on Taiki Town’s official YouTube channel, so please search for it!

Deep Spots in Taiki Town 📍Site of the Former JNR Hiroo Line Taiki Station In Taiki Town, you can still find the remains of the station building from the Hiroo Line, the railway that linked Obihiro and Hiroo and ran until 1987. Taiki Station opened in 1930, and at its peak it reportedly handled more than 1,000 passengers a day. The former track area is now a plaza called Taiki Traffic Park, but the station building still stands. You cannot enter the building, but looking through the windows you can see the ticket gate and waiting room still preserved inside. The platform area still shows the station sign and a signal lever. In Hakubayashi Park, north of Taiki Town Hall, a steam locomotive, No. 59611, which served around Hokkaido and ran on the Hiroo Line until 1975, is on display. It was installed thanks to efforts by local steam locomotive enthusiasts. Why not come and feel the traces of the railway that once ran through Taiki Town?

Want to try gold panning in Taiki Town? Gold panning, recently talked about because of the hit movie Golden Kamuy, can still be experienced the old-fashioned way on the Rekifune River in Taiki Town! The peak period for gold recovery on the Rekifune River is said to have been from the 1890s into the Taisho era, roughly the same time when the bullion battles in Golden Kamuy take place. Taiki Town also provided some cooperation for the movie’s gold panning scenes. See if you can spot Taiki Town in the end credits! This year’s gold panning season is scheduled to start around Golden Week. Come and give it a try!

Recent view of Rekifune River It is mid to late January, and the cold has deepened in Taiki Town. The Rekifune River running through Taiki Town has frozen over considerably 🧊 I compared photos of the Rekifune River seen from Furusato Bridge from last autumn and from this month. Temperatures will drop further, and the frozen sections are expected to grow! Will it freeze over completely…?

Happy New Year 2024! Happy New Year!🌅 We look forward to your continued support in 2024! On January 1st, we saw the first sunrise of the year through gaps in the clouds at Bansei Onsen✨ Afterward, the Hidaka Mountain Range came into clear view on a beautiful day🏔 We hope many people will come visit Taiki Town again this year!

Announcement: Bansei Onsen Open on New Year’s Day♨️ Bansei Onsen will be open on January 1, 2024 for New Year’s Day hours! If the weather is clear, you can soak in the hot springs while watching the first sunrise rise from the Pacific Ocean 🌅 How about starting the new year with your first bath at Bansei Onsen, with a sea view? The waters at Bansei Onsen are highly concentrated iodine springs, among the strongest in Japan. Iodine is found in mouthwash, dietary supplements, and antiseptics, and is said to have antibacterial and moisturizing effects. The hot water is also praised for keeping the body warm for a long time and for making it hard to catch a chill after bathing. Spend the New Year healthy by taking a bath at Bansei Onsen! Open from 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM (dining hall open from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM; last order at 2:00 PM). ＜New Year Holiday Hours＞ 2023 (Reiwa 5): Open through Saturday, December 30 ※Dining hall and lodging available through Thursday, December 28 2024 (Reiwa 6) January 1 (Monday): Open 6:00 AM–3:00 PM (dining hall 7:00 AM–3:00 PM; last order 2:00 PM) ※Complimentary shuttle bus will not operate January 2 (Tuesday): Open January 3 (Wednesday)–January 8 (Monday): Regular hours January 9 (Tuesday)–January 12 (Friday): Closed January 13 (Saturday) onward: Regular hours (closed every Tuesday through March) Bansei Onsen Address: Bansei 2, Taiki Town Phone: 01558-7-8161 Hours: April–September: 8:00 AM–9:00 PM (last admission 8:00 PM) October–March: 9:00 AM–9:00 PM (last admission 8:00 PM) Closed: April–September: No closures October–March: Tuesdays closed

🌊Have you heard of a “torchka”?🌊 “Torchka” comes from the Russian word for “point” or “position.” It refers to small reinforced defensive emplacements made of concrete and other materials to protect militarily important sites. The torchkas along Taiki Town’s Pacific coast were built in large numbers near the end of the Pacific War to prepare for a possible US landing on the home islands, but they were never used and the war ended. Many remain today because they were built solidly with concrete. Despite erosion from waves, rain, and wind, they survive as historically valuable war relics. You can find them along the shore, partially buried in sand, and inland in various locations. The torchka known as “Asahihama Torchka,” set within a windbreak forest, has been developed for visitors and is open for viewing, so please consider visiting. ⚠️The areas around torchkas often include sandy beaches and rough terrain, so please take care when driving there.

Autumn colors around Taiki Town are at their peak✨ From popular spots like Sakashita Senkyo and Keiseki Bridge to other areas around town, the fall foliage is in full splendor. You might spot unexpectedly beautiful scenes even during a casual drive! Come and experience the beauty of autumn🍁

🚘 How to get to Keiseki Bridge 🚘 Here’s how to reach Keiseki Bridge, a little-known autumn foliage spot in Taiki Town that only those in the know visit! Keiseki Bridge is the only steel arch bridge in Taiki Town, spanning the Nubinai River. It’s a soothing spot where you can enjoy the beautiful river, the bridge, and the fall colors. There is a place beside the bridge where you can park your car, so you can take your time and breathe in the natural air. Be sure to take a drive and check it out!

🍁Taiki Town's Recommended Autumn Spots🍁 When it comes to places to feel autumn in Taiki Town, the stunning autumn leaves at Sakashita Senkyo stand out. It's tucked away a bit, so here are directions on how to get there! 1. On the Shimizu–Taiki Line (Hokkaido Route 55), you'll see a sign on the right if you come from Kamifutsunai, and on the left if you come from Taiki. Follow the arrow and turn. (Photo 2) 2. You will see the orange bridge “Bikei Bridge” ahead; continue across it. (Photo 3) 3. The paved road changes to gravel along the way. Keep going and you will pass the orange bridge “Sakashita Ohashi.” (Photo 4) 4. After passing another gray bridge you will spot a dairy farm. Go past the farm a short distance until the road splits left and right, then follow the left sign. The sign reads “Rekifune River Tributary Forest Road,” and this is where the forest road begins. (Photos 5–6) 5. Continue along the forest road for a while. Some sections get muddy after rain and fallen branches may block the way, so proceed slowly. (Photo 7) 6. You will arrive at Higata Bridge, which spans Sakashita Senkyo. (Photo 8) There is a small space on the right after crossing the bridge where you can park or make a U-turn. For more detailed directions, see the Visit Taiki topic article “How to Get to Sakashita Senkyo.” Use it as a reference and go enjoy the autumn scenery!

Today, September 12, is Space Day 🚀🌕 At the Space Exchange Center SORA in Taiki Town, you can learn in depth about the roughly 30-year history of the town’s ventures into space and the future of this space-focused community 💫 This year the center plans to remain open through the end of October. Come visit us!

🌳 Six days until the Hakurin Park Festival 🌳 Here’s a look at the events taking place at the Hakurin Park Festival! 🥩 Taiki Town Wagyu Festival The popular Taiki-produced beef direct-sale event, the Wagyu Festival, draws long lines every year. For the first time in four years, visitors can enjoy beef barbecue on site. We will offer free rental barbecue grills, so you can come empty-handed! (The number of grills available for rent is limited.) In addition, we will provide free charcoal to those who bring their own grills! We will also sell meat for hamburgers and other cuts, making great souvenirs. *Photos are from past Hakurin Park Festivals.*