HOKKAIDO PLUS

Toyoura (豊浦) features a scenic stretch of sandy beaches and craggy cliffs along the Uchiura Bay. The coastline is a part of Toya-Usu Unesco Global Geopark.

Ishikari Region’s smallest village of Shinshinotsu (新篠津) is ideal for family vacation. You can enjoy camping, ice fishing and getting into hot water around the lake.

About 40km southeast of Sapporo, Chitose (千歳) is home to Hokkaido’s main international airport and a transport hub for access to the lake Shikotsu-ko.

The vast and quiet Nopporo Forest Park (野幌森林公園) contains two of Sapporo’s most important museums: the Hokkaido Museum and the Historical Village of Hokkaido.

Shin-Sapporo (新札幌) is a compact transport hub on the JR Chitose Line and the Tozai subway line. It is a good location to visit Hokkaido Museum and Hokkaido Ball Park.

Moiwa-yama (藻岩山) offering breathtaking views over Sapporo, especially after dark. This preserved leafy mountain can be climb by ropeway, car or foot. There is also a scenic ski areas.

Hugging the gentle mountains and beautiful forest a few kilometers west of the city center, Maruyama Park (円山公園) is packed with a shrine, zoo and ski jump stadium.

On the southeastern side of Toyohira-gawa on the Toho subway line, Toyohira (豊平) has excellent sports facilities and scenic places around the residential area.

At the southern end of the Nanboku subway line, Makomanai (真駒内) is a transport hub for buses to Sapporo Art Park, Takino Susuzan Hillside Park and Jozankei Onsen.

About 15km southwest of Sapporo on Route 230, Fujino (藤野) is a busy and compact town surrounded by the mountains. Koganeyu (小金湯) is a tiny riverside onsen village.

Surrounding by the forested mountains and cut through by Toyohira-gawa’s scenic gorge, Jozankei (定山渓) is Sapporo’s closest onsen resort in the northern part of Shikotsu-Toya National Park.

Otaru’s eastern neighborhoods along the Ishikari Bay have some serene onsen, scenic ski areas, hiking trails and beaches. Otaru-chikko (小樽築港) is a gateway to Asarigawa Onsen.

Otaru’s neighboring area around JR Minami-Otaru Station is known as ‘Nantaru’ to locals, and home to the city’s sake brewing and the food market.

On the eastern side of Shikotsu-Toya National Park, Shikotsu-ko (支笏湖) is Japan’s northernmost ice-free lake plunges as deep as 363m – Japan’s second-deepest lake surrounded by volcanic mountains.

The Notsuke Peninsula (野付半島) is a 28km-long, shrimp-shaped sandbank arcing out into the Nemuro Strait. Reaching just a few meters above sea level.

Kiritappu is a foggy town and spreads out the vague wetlands at the eastern end of Kushiro Region, but the poetic natural landscape and fishing villages fascinates travelers from long ago.