Hamatonbetsu, Hokkaido


Hamatonbetsu is a town located in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 3,841 and a density of 9.6 persons per km². Hamatonbetsu is in a long period of sustained population loss. The total area is. Hamatonbetsu's claim to fame is its freshwater Lake Kutcharo, a world-famous wetlands area home to thousands of swans making their winter migration from northern Siberia to the southern climate of Japan.

Education

Hamatonbetsu has one local high school and a junior high school, as well as a kindergarten and nursery school within the town limits. The Hamatonbetsu Board of Education also oversees four additional elementary schools and another junior high school. Shanai Elementary School, Toyokanbetsu Elementary School, Usotan Elementary School, Shimotombetsu Elementary School, and Shimotombetsu Junior High School are all included.
The town of Hamatonbetsu participates in the JET Programme.

Economy

Hamatonbetsu's local economy depends mainly on dairy farming and a sea harvest of salmon, scallops, and crab.
Within the town there are several local businesses including a cell phone/glasses shop, an ACOOP grocery store, two Seicomart convenience stores, two gas stations, a handful of restaurants and a number of home goods-amenities stores. There is also a park golf course and an onsen on the edge of Lake Kutcharo.

Transportation

Hamatonbetsu does have its own bus terminal but if you want to take a train, one may take the bus 1.5 hours to Otoineppu station to the South.