is a town located in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of September 2016, the town had a population of 2,215, and a density of 9.3 persons per km2. The total area of the town is , and located west of Sapporo, the capital and economic hub of Hokkaido. Shakotan occupies the north of the Shakotan Peninsula. It was founded in 1869 as part of the short-lived Shiribeshi Province, which was dissolved in 1882 to become Hokkaido. Shakotan, along with neighboring Otaru, is home to Japan's only national-level marine sanctuary. Shakotan is home to the three great capes of the Shakotan Peninsula: Kamui, Shakotan, and Ōgon. Etymology The name of the town originates from the word "ShakKotan" in the Ainu language. It is formed from two words, the first, "shak", meaning "summer", and the second, "kotan", meaning "village". In the Japanese language the name of the town is written with ateji, or kanji characters used to phonetically represent native or borrowed words. The first, , means to "store" or "accumulate", and the second, , means "red" or "red earth". The meaning of the written form of Shakotan has no relationship to the meaning of "Shakotan" in the Ainu language. History Shakotan was first settled by the Japanese immigrants in the Edo period (1603 – 1868). The Tokugawa shogunate, the feudal rulers of Japan of the period, granted the Matsumae Clan rights to trade with the Ainu people in the southern Hokkaido region. With the decline of the fortune of samurai families during the Edo period, many chose to give up life as a warrior and migrate to Shakotan and other coastal areas of southern Hokkaido to farm and develop the rich herring industry. The settlements on Shakotan were connected to the rest of Japan only by sea; the construction of roads across Hokkaido did not occur until the early 20th century. During the Bakumatsu (1853 – 1867), the final years of the Edo period, fishermen began using large nets to harvest herring. Shakotan developed a large population, rivaling that of nearby Otaru. A census taken in 1879 revealed that the Funama area of Shakotan consisted of 75 households, had a population of 350, 10 horses, a school, a temple, and three Shinto shrines. The census noted the catch of Pacific herring and salmon, as well as the gathering of abalone and konbu. Shakotan was connected to other areas of Hokkaido by