This town has what is held to be the oldest shrine in Hokkaido, and an old document is handed down there. By that document, in the Kamakura era someone who came from the main island began to pan for placer gold in this place — the first placer-gold mining in Hokkaido, it is said. While much of Hokkaido’s history begins from the pioneering of the Meiji era, this town holds one off-the-scale older layer: one of the places where the life of the Wajin put down roots earliest. Without knowing that oldness, this seaside town’s numbers cannot be read. Shiriuchi-cho’s numbers record a town inscribed with the history of the place where Wajin lived earliest in Hokkaido.
A town in the southern Oshima Peninsula of Hokkaido, facing the Tsugaru Strait. What is held to be the oldest shrine in Hokkaido hands down an old document recording the town’s founding, and that document records that placer gold was panned in the Kamakura era — one of the places where the life of the Wajin put down roots earliest in Hokkaido. It is now known as a producer of garlic chives and oysters, and as the birthplace of a famous singer. The population fell from 5,832 in 2000 to 4,167 in 2020 — by about three-tenths in twenty years. What I (Atlas) want to read here is not the sign "the singer’s home," but the causal thread: how the history of the earliest Wajin life in the prefecture is translated into today’s population and employment.
01 · See the present Shiriuchi-cho in its numbers
In the latest Population Census the population is about four thousand two hundred (4,167 in 2020). From 5,832 in 2000 it fell by about three-tenths in twenty years, and the share aged 65 and over rose from 23.1% in 2000 to 39.6% in 2020. As a seaside town on the Tsugaru Strait, decline and aging advance steadily.
The Official Land Price of residential land is about 7,200 yen per m². The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.27 in fiscal 2023 — a level whose own tax revenue covers a little under three-tenths of expenditure. The employment rate was 55.4% in 2020, kept comparatively high for a small town in the prefecture. The number of elementary schools was three until 2022, then consolidated to two in 2023. These are numbers common to a small seaside town, but why this town can call itself "the oldest" cannot be read without tracing its history.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Official Land Price / Prefectural Land Price Survey (MLIT) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC)
02 · The oldest shrine, the Kamakura placer gold, the earliest Wajin life — the history behind the numbers
What sets Shiriuchi down is what is held to be the oldest shrine in Hokkaido, the old document handed down there, and the placer gold said to have been panned in the Kamakura era. The starting layer is that oldness. Much of Hokkaido’s history begins from the pioneering of the Meiji era. But this town has a memory of Wajin life far older than that. This shrine, which hands down an old document recording the town’s founding, is held to have the oldest history in the prefecture, and that document records that in the Kamakura era someone who came from the main island began to pan for placer gold in this place. It is handed down as the place of the first placer-gold mining in Hokkaido.
People came in search of placer gold, and life put down roots on the seaside. Facing the Tsugaru Strait, the southern Oshima Peninsula — the closest part to the main island — drew Wajin life earliest in Hokkaido to this place. In time, even as the placer gold ran out, a life that took the bounty of the sea and the bounty of the land continued. The town now sends out, among the prefecture’s leading producers, garlic chives that grow even under the snow, and counts as a specialty the oysters that the rough waves of the Tsugaru Strait raised. The place of the oldest life, begun from the Kamakura placer gold, continues even now, taking the bounty of the sea and the land.
Source: The historic town of Shiriuchi, the Shiriuchi legend (the Raiko Shrine, which preserves the old document “Ono Tosa Nikki,” is held to be the oldest shrine in Hokkaido; in 1205, in the Kamakura era, Araki Daigaku is said to have come from Kai and begun panning for placer gold — the first placer-gold mining in Hokkaido) / Raiko Shrine (held to be the oldest shrine in Hokkaido; it preserves the “Ono Tosa Nikki,” which records the founding of Shiriuchi — overview)
03 · Even in an old town, the number of children quietly thins
Even in a town holding the oldest Wajin life in Hokkaido, it lies within the modern current of a falling number of children. Shiriuchi Town’s elementary schools held at three until 2022, but in 2023 were consolidated to two. The number of pupils shrank from 365 in 2000 to 131 in 2023 — to nearly a third. An old history is not a force that holds back the falling number of children.
On the other hand, this town’s employment rate was 55.4% in 2020, comparatively high for a small town in the prefecture. That it holds industries which generate work within the town — garlic chives and oysters — can be read as supporting this figure. The childcare capacity was reduced from 80 in 2024 to 65 in 2025, and the Childcare Waitlist was zero in both years. That the capacity was reduced is a sign that the number of children is thinning, but the point that there is a place to work within the town can be read as a strength kept for a small seaside town. The falling number of children, and the work that the bounty of the land supports, exist at the same time in this town.
Source: School Basic Survey (MEXT, via e-Stat System of Social and Demographic Statistics) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency) / Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Shiriuchi Town (the “Kita no Hana” garlic chives are among the prefecture’s leading producers; oysters of the Tsugaru Strait; birthplace of the singer Saburo Kitajima — overview)
04 · A town of sea and land that holds the oldest life in Hokkaido
In Shiriuchi, two histories overlap. One is its starting point: handing down what is held to be the oldest shrine and old document in Hokkaido, with placer gold panned in the Kamakura era — one of the places where the life of the Wajin put down roots earliest in the prefecture. The other is its character of facing the Tsugaru Strait and holding industries that keep taking the bounty of the sea and the land — garlic chives under the snow, oysters of the rough waves. Its position in the southern Oshima Peninsula, the closest to the main island, has given this town both the old life and the bounty of the sea and the land.
This town is also the birthplace of a singer known throughout the country. An old history, the bounty of the land, and one famous person — these are the faces a small town of a few thousand holds out to the world. This town, which carries on the oldest Wajin life in Hokkaido, takes the bounty of the sea and the land and quietly loses population on the seaside of the Tsugaru Strait.
Source: The historic town of Shiriuchi, the Shiriuchi legend (the Raiko Shrine, which preserves the old document “Ono Tosa Nikki,” is held to be the oldest shrine in Hokkaido; in 1205, in the Kamakura era, Araki Daigaku is said to have come from Kai and begun panning for placer gold — the first placer-gold mining in Hokkaido) / Shiriuchi Town (the “Kita no Hana” garlic chives are among the prefecture’s leading producers; oysters of the Tsugaru Strait; birthplace of the singer Saburo Kitajima — overview)
05 · Atlas note — the oldest Wajin life, begun from the Kamakura placer gold
Lay out Shiriuchi’s numbers and the indicators of a small seaside town on the Tsugaru Strait line up: a population fall of about three-tenths, an aging rate of 39.6%, a land price of 7,200 yen, fiscal capacity of 0.27, an employment rate of 55.4%. But, counting the length of years as I (Atlas) do as a certified public accountant, what I want to read first here is the history that this town carries on "one of the oldest Wajin lives in Hokkaido." In the Kamakura era placer gold was panned, and people who came from the main island settled on the seaside. While much of Hokkaido’s history begins from the pioneering of the Meiji era, towns holding a memory of life centuries older are countable on the fingers, even within the prefecture. A single place’s worth dwells not only in its present scale but also in the thickness of how long people have lived there.
One more thing to weigh is the point that an employment rate of 55.4% is kept comparatively high for a small town in the prefecture. In my view, this is the expression of holding industries that generate work within the town — garlic chives and oysters. Both the memory of the old life and the work of the present are born from the same position: the seaside closest to the main island. Whether you can add your own life onto this seaside town — which began from the Kamakura placer gold and now keeps taking garlic chives under the snow and oysters of the rough waves — the measuring stick for that is held by you, the one reading this.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / The historic town of Shiriuchi, the Shiriuchi legend (the Raiko Shrine, which preserves the old document “Ono Tosa Nikki,” is held to be the oldest shrine in Hokkaido; in 1205, in the Kamakura era, Araki Daigaku is said to have come from Kai and begun panning for placer gold — the first placer-gold mining in Hokkaido) / Raiko Shrine (held to be the oldest shrine in Hokkaido; it preserves the “Ono Tosa Nikki,” which records the founding of Shiriuchi — overview) / Shiriuchi Town (the “Kita no Hana” garlic chives are among the prefecture’s leading producers; oysters of the Tsugaru Strait; birthplace of the singer Saburo Kitajima — overview)
Editor’s note: all figures and sources are drawn from official statistics. The prose follows Atlas’s voice, and AI (atlas-handcrafted-reverse-v1 (wave29-east 2026-06-04)) handled the shaping of the text. Evaluative or predictive language (such as “a good buy” or “attractive”) is intentionally left out. Revision id: w29e_a4b