Shibetsu City, which is located inland in northern Hokkaido, is a rural city rich in nature, with mountains such as Mount Teshio, a prefectural natural park, and the headwaters of the Teshio River, the second longest river in Hokkaido.
Shibetsu City has a population of approximately 17,000 and an area of approximately 1,119 square kilometres, of which approximately 75% is mountain forest.
The city has a well-developed transportation network and is accessible to Sapporo, the central city of Hokkaido, in about 2.5 hours by car or 2 hours by train.
Shibetsu City has an inland climate with four distinct seasons, and is a heavily snow-covered and cold region with snowfall which starts around mid-November and can reach over 1 metre on the planes and 2 metres on the mountainous areas.
People can enjoy a variety of activities because there are campgrounds and ski resorts that take advantage of the natural surroundings, and various sporting events, such as the Suffolkland Shibetsu Half Marathon.
Blessed with abundant nature, Shibetsu City has developed agriculture and forestry as its core industries.
Shibetsu City produces a wide range of agricultural products, including rice, wheat, buckwheat, potatoes, beans, sugar beets, onions, pumpkins, broccoli, as well as livestock such as dairy cattle, beef cattle, pigs, and chickens.
As a sheep town, the city has been promoting town development with “Suffolk sheep” at its core, and is gaining recognition as a high-grade food product.
Restaurants in the city offer a variety of gourmet dishes using local ingredients, including Genghis Khan (Japanese grilled lamb)with Shibetsu Suffolk Lamb.
Through the common industry of sheep, Shibetsu City and Goulburn in New South Wales, Australia (now Goulburn Mulwaree) formed a sister city affiliation in 1999, and have continued to engage in mutual exchanges such as sending and receiving official delegations and mutual student exchanges.
Construction of the Shibetsu Garden has begun in Goulburn Mulwaree to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the sister city affiliation in 2019.
In conjunction with the visit of the Shibetsu City delegation in 2019, garden stones and garden lanterns for the Shibetsu Garden were sent to Goulburn Mulwaree and the garden is still under construction.
For the mutual student exchanges, high school student visits has started since 2002. Due to COVID-19, exchanges had been suspended since 2020, but they were finally able to resume it this July.
Five high school students visited Goulburn Mulwaree and had valuable experiences through homestays and classes at a local high school.
Shibetsu City values the exchange with Goulburn Mulwaree and hopes to further deepen it in the future.
The two cities will continue to build on the friendship that has developed over the years.
