Tokachi Coast

The Tokachi coast faces the Pacific where the great Tokachi River reaches the sea. Ainu communities lived along the coast and river, using salmon and other resources and maintaining trade with the Matsumae domain. Tokachibuto near the river mouth was an early trading center. In 1643 the Dutch ship Castricum encountered an Ainu canoe offshore, and its crew recorded the name Tokachi on their voyage.