was a village located in Monbetsu District, Abashiri Subprefecture (now Okhotsk Subprefecture), Hokkaido, Japan.
Population
As of 2004, the village had an estimated population of 1,305 and a population density of 3.81 persons per km<sup>2</sup>. The total area was 342.96 km<sup>2</sup>.
History
On October 1, 2005, Shirataki, along with the towns of Ikutahara and Maruseppu (all from Monbetsu District), was merged into the expanded town of Engaru.
An Upper Palaeolithic site at Shirataki is the source of some Yubetsu technique stone blades dating from c 13,000 years ago.
Shirataki is considered the birthplace of Aikido. Leading a group of settlers, Morihei Ueshiba refined his martial art and developed the techniques he would later call Aikido.
Tourism
Shirataki Ruins Group - The ruins concentrated from the summit of Mount Akaishi (elevation 117 meters), located 6.5 kilometers north-northwest of Honmura, to the Yubetsu River basin can be divided into a quarry base at an elevation of over 800 meters, a relay station around an elevation of 600 meters, and a settlement built at an elevation of around 400 meters. It can be assumed that there was a division of labor system divided into stone extraction, transportation, and production. These were then transported to key relay points throughout the Hokkaido region[1].
Famous People
Morihei Ueshiba - Founder of Aikido. In 1912, he settled in the Shirataki wilderness of Kamiyubetsu Village, Monbetsu District, as the head of a group of 54 households from the Kishu region. A monument has been erected on the site of his former home in the Kamishirataki area. He was from Wakayama Prefecture.