is a town located in Hidaka Subprefecture, Hokkaidà Â, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 11,048 in 6628 households, and a population density of 16 people per km<sup>2</sup>. The total area of the town is .
Urakawa is located in southern Hokkaido, in the central coastal area of the Hidaka Subprefecture. The mountainous area in the north, derived from the Hidaka Mountains, is designated as the Hidakasanmyaku-Erimo-Tokachi National Park. The southern part faces the Pacific Ocean. Earthquakes are relatively frequent in this region, and the Urakawa Meteorological Observatory (closed in October 2009) was the only place within the Hidaka region where seismic intensity information was available.
Urakawa has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with warm summers and cold winters. With an alternate definition, using the âÂÂ3 ðC (27 ðF) isotherm, Urakawa falls in the rare oceanic climate (Cfb) of the east coast of the continents due to the warm current of Tsushima. Owing to its slightly more southerly latitude, easterly aspect and location on the sea, snowfall is much lighter than in the major cities of western Hokkaido like Sapporo, Hakodate, Asahikawa and Wakkanai, with the most in one month being in January 1969. Precipitation in heaviest in the summer months when remnant typhoons may approach; the heaviest daily rainfall being on 5 August 1981, and the wettest month being in August 1995. The driest month has been in February 2003. Year-round sunshine, although less than in the Tokachi Plain, is also higher than western Hokkaido, with the dullest month being 48.0 hours in August 1941 and the sunniest, in April 2014, being 288.0 hours, which beats the previous record of 271.6 hours in May 1957.
Per Japanese census data, the population of Urakawa has declined in recent decades.
The area of Urakawa has been inhabited since the Jomon period. In the Edo period, Matsumae Domain is recorded to have built a Shinto shrine in what is now Urakawa in 1669. The Tokugawa shogunate established a horse ranch in 1858. More Japanese settlers arrive din the early Meiji period, and Urakawa was established as a village in 1902 under the second-class town and village system. Urakawa merged with two neighboring villages to form Urakawa Town in 1915.
Urakawa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 14 members. Urakawa, as part of Hidaka Subprefecture, contributes two members to the Hokkaidà  Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Hokkaidà  9th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.
The local economy is overwhelmingly agricultural, horse breeding and commercial fishing.
Urakawa has four public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town. The town has one public high school operated by the Hokkaido Board of Education. The town also has one vocational training school for nursing.
Urakawa was served by the JR Hokkaido Hidaka Main Line. However, no trains have operated between and since January 2015, due to storm damage. Plans to restore this section of the line have been abandoned, due to declining passenger numbers and very high maintenance costs, and the section was officially closed on 1 April 2021, and replaced by a bus service.
Defunct railway stations in Urakawa: - - - -
Urakawa's mascots are and . They are twin horses.