Shibetsu (標津町, Shibetsu-chō) is a town located in Nemuro Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.

[1] Pioneer settlers established Shibetsu during the Meiji period (1868-1912) and it quickly became a thriving fishing and farming town.

Shibetsu made international news in 2021 when Vaas Feniks Nokard, a Russian national from Izhevsk, managed to swim 20 kilometres from the disputed Kunashiri Island to the town to seek asylum in Japan.

[2] Nokard, who intended to defect from Russia, made the crossing at night and used a compass to aid in his navigation of the Nemuro Strait.

As there is no railway line in or near Shibetsu, residents and tourists rely on airplanes and cars to travel to and from the town.