The mouth of the Teshio River was an excellent port due to a natural breakwater formed by a sand spit that developed long into the Sarobetsu Plain, and it was blessed with abundant natural resources from the sea and mountains, so a kotan was built by the Ainu people as long as 3000 years ago and it became a key anchorage and trading point.

When Matsumae Domain advanced into the area in the early Edo period, it became a trading place between the Ainu and Japanese, and later a guard post was established.

During the Meiji period, an agricultural land development project was carried out to also serve as a defense for the north, and many pioneers from the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions settled here.

The population increased with the arrival of people engaged in the fishing of herring salmon, and trout, shipping companies, and various commercial and industrial businesses, and various administrative facilities such as the county office, police, and forestry office were also established, and the area flourished as one of the core cities in northern Hokkaido.

In the postwar period, like other towns and villages in northern Hokkaidō, depopulation has progressed due to the outflow of population to large cities following the collapse of the herring fisheries and decline of the forestry industries.

In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Hokkaidō 10th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.