is a village located in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of 2022, the village had an estimated population of 667 among 453 households. The total area of Otoineppu is . Otoineppu designates itself as the "smallest village in Hokkaido". Etymology In Ainu language, Otoineppu means "muddy river mouth". The name is probably a reference to muddy appearance of the water at the confluence of the Teshio River and one of its many tributaries, the Otoineppu River. Geography Otoineppu is a landlocked village at the north of Hokkaido. The village sits at the northern tip of the Nayoro Basin, and is flanked by the Kitami Mountains to the east and the Teshio Mountains to the west. The town covers , measures from east to west and from north to south. The village sits at an elevation of . 80% of the village is covered by forest. The Teshio River (), the fourth longest river in Japan, flows north through Otoineppu before turning sharply west near the village center. The JR Hokkaido Sōya Main Line and Japan National Route 40 runs along the Teshio River through Otoineppu. Neighboring municipalities Otoineppu borders on four towns in Hokkaido: Bifuka Nakagawa Nakatonbetsu Esashi (Sōya) Climate Otoineppu has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb). Otoineppu, which sits only from both the Sea of Okhotsk and Japan Sea, is located within a maritime climate. The village is ringed in by mountains from all four directions, and sees significant temperature extremes. The average temperatures from December to March are below , with days as low as ; temperatures from June to September are typically above , with some days reaching above . Otoineppu is noted for its deep snowfalls; some areas of the village have snowfalls as high as . In 1998 the village had Hokkaido's second-deepest snowfall on record. History Otoineppu was known as until 1963. The name of the village was changed due to the fact that center of the village is in the Otoineppu district, and Otoineppu Station was widely known as a terminus on the JR Sōya and Tenpoku Lines. In the 2017 Japanese general election, 55.97% of Otoineppu's proportional ballots were cast for one of the three parties in the pacifist opposition coalition (the Constitutional Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the Japanese Communist Party), making it the most left-leaning municipality in the country in this election under that definition. Transportation Rail