city, southern Hokkaido, Japan, on the Tokachi River. Founded in 1883, it became a regional administrative centre in 1897. The arrival of two railway lines in the early 1900s made Obihiro a trade centre of agricultural products grown in the surrounding Tokachi Plain. Obihiro's industries are based on food processing; the city contains one of the largest beet-sugar factories in Japan, and the Obihiro College of Stock Raising is located there. Pop. (2005 prelim.) 170,586.