Nemuro-shi

In the most recent Population Census the population is about 25,000 (24,636 in 2020). From 33,150 in 2000, through 31,202 in 2005, 29,201 in 2010, and 26,917 in 2015, it fell to 24,636 in 2020 — a loss of more than eight thousand over twenty years. As befits a fishing city at the eastern edge of Hokkaido, the slope is somewhat steep.

Looking inside the figures, the shape of the easternmost fishing port appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 18.0% in 2000 to 35.1% in 2020 — up some seventeen points over twenty years, passing three in ten. Households with children make up 15.6% (2020). The employment rate was 57.8% in 2020, on the higher side among cities of Hokkaido — readable as a sign that the port’s fishing and seafood processing support the jobs. The Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.34 in fiscal 2023 — a level whose own tax revenue covers a third or so of expenditure. The numbers show the easternmost port city that looks upon islands before it raising the town’s age while losing population. Why it takes this shape cannot be read without tracing the history of the islands and the fishing grounds.

This town’s skeleton is set by its position at the easternmost edge of the Hokkaido main island, by the islands looked upon off Cape Nosappu, and by the fishing grounds that grew distant along with those islands. The opening layer is position. This town lies at the easternmost edge of the Hokkaido main island. In the early Meiji era, ahead of others in eastern Hokkaido, a province was established at this land and a colonization branch office was placed. The position at the tip of a peninsula jutting toward the sea was this town’s foundation.

Upon that position, the history of the islands is layered. Stand at Cape Nosappu and several islands can be seen lying across the sea before you. Those islands once belonged to the same province as this town and, together with the nearby sea, were people’s fishing grounds. The fishing port flourished by relying on the rich grounds before it. But from a certain time, those islands became places beyond reach, and the grounds around the islands grew distant too. Looking upon islands before it yet unable to cross to them, unable to fish freely in the nearby grounds — even in such circumstances, this town’s port went out to distant seas to take fish, and came to boast the nation’s top landings of one autumn fish in particular. The easternmost point of the main island, the islands before it, and the fishing grounds that grew distant. All three derive from a single position — “the tip of a peninsula jutting into the sea.” The geography of being farthest east decided Nemuro’s way of living: to live by fishing still, even with the islands looked upon before it and their grounds set at a distance.

What characterizes Nemuro-shi is that, while carrying the position of the easternmost point and the history of fishing grounds that grew distant, it has lost more than eight thousand people over twenty years. From 33,150 in 2000 to 24,636 in 2020, the loss exceeds twenty percent. That the islands before it and their grounds were set at a distance has worked to narrow this port’s fishing field and thin the foundation of the town’s life. In addition, the position of the easternmost point of the main island is far from the larger cities, making it easy for the younger generation to leave the town in search of places of learning and work. Two conditions — the fishing grounds and the distance — can be read as having pushed the population outflow. That the share aged 65 and over reached 35.1%, passing three in ten, in 2020 is the sign of that.

Meanwhile the employment rate of 57.8% in 2020 is on the higher side among cities of Hokkaido. This can be read as a sign that, even while holding fishing grounds that grew distant, the fishing that goes out to distant seas and the livelihood of processing the landed fish still support the jobs with a certain thickness. The Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025, and households with children make up 15.6% (2020). A Fiscal Capacity Index of 0.34 is a level whose own tax revenue covers a third or so of expenditure, with the livelihoods of fishing and seafood processing supporting the tax source somewhat. The easternmost port city whose fishing grounds were set at a distance is now raising the town’s age while losing population. The population loss exceeds twenty percent, aging passes three in ten, the employment rate is on the higher side. A high employment rate beside a falling population — this twist comes into focus once one reads it as two forces, the distance of the sea and the tenacity of the fishing, in a tug-of-war at the same port. Cutting out a single figure cannot show this twist.

Two characters are layered in the town of Nemuro. One is its position: at the easternmost edge of the Hokkaido main island, a land where a province was established early in the east. The other is its character: it looks upon islands off Cape Nosappu that once belonged to the same province, and even with those islands and grounds set at a distance, it has lived by fishing still. And its port went out to distant seas, coming to boast the nation’s top landings of one autumn fish. The landform of the tip of a peninsula jutting toward the sea gave this town both the rich fishing grounds before it and the remoteness of being the easternmost point.

In short, Nemuro is a town where the easternmost port had the islands before it and its fishing grounds set at a distance. From the easternmost point of the main island, to the islands before it, the fishing grounds that grew distant, and the nation’s top landings — all of it is run through by the single-word geography of “the tip of a peninsula jutting into the sea.” The position of the tip of a peninsula jutting toward the sea bestowed rich fishing grounds and, at the same time, made the town carry the remoteness of being farthest east. The rich fishing grounds bestowed, and the remoteness of being farthest east that it did not choose — which of the two will more strongly decide this port’s tomorrow?