Esashi Town, the northernmost new town in Hokkaido, was formed through the great Heisei merger (of the former Esashi and Utanobori towns). It consists of the Esashi district facing the Sea of Okhotsk and the Utanobori district surrounded by mountains, making it a town rich in treasures from both the mountains and the sea.
About 80% of the town is covered by forests, and with a very low population density of 7 people per square kilometer, it is a town surrounded by the vast nature characteristic of Hokkaido.
Of the 1,160 to 1,500 tons of horsehair crab caught by 90 vessels in the Okhotsk area, known as a major production hub, about 232 tons are landed by 18 vessels in Esashi, making it Japan's number one horsehair crab town in both name and reality. The "Esashi Crab Festival," held every July, is a very popular event.
The town has the largest number of "Desmostylus" fossils excavated in Japan. This mysterious mammal is said to have lived about 13 million years ago, and its skeleton can be seen at the Okhotsk Museum Esashi.
In Menashidomari, there are ruins representative of the "Okhotsk Culture," a maritime hunting society. Among the artifacts that shed light on this culture, 319 items have been designated as Important Cultural Properties.