Asahikawa and Daisetsuzan

Hokkaido, Japan · City, Mountain, Snow

Hokkaido's second city, home of lard-topped ramen and handmade furniture, is the gateway to Daisetsuzan, Japan's largest national park: steaming vents and alpine ponds on Asahidake, the basalt gorge of Sounkyo, and the country's first red maples in mid-September.

The essentials

Getting there

Train + bus — JR limited express from Sapporo to Asahikawa (about 1h25, every half hour). From the station, bus 66 climbs to Asahidake (about 1h50, four a day) and Dohoku buses reach Sounkyo (about 2 hours direct, or JR to Kamikawa plus a 30-minute bus); a rental car saves a lot of time for getting around Daisetsuzan.

Frequently asked questions about Asahikawa and Daisetsuzan

What to do in Asahikawa and Daisetsuzan: 26 activities

• Asahidake Ropeway and Sugatami Pond walk 3 h must-see Higashikawa · 70 min

  Ten minutes by ropeway to 1,600 metres, at the foot of Hokkaido's highest peak, then a 1.7 km loop (about 1h30) on boardwalks past ponds, alpine flowers and hissing, sulphur-scented fumaroles. Return ¥3,500 June to October and ¥2,800 the rest of the year; closed for maintenance 16 November-10 December. The trail is only snow-free from late June to early October, and the weather turns very fast.

• Asahikawa ramen at the classic shops (Hachiya and co.) 1 h must-see

  Local ramen is soy-based, with a double pork-and-dried-fish broth and a layer of lard that keeps it hot in winter. Hachiya, open downtown since 1947, adds scorched lard with a slightly bitter edge (from ¥930, 10:00-15:30, closed Wednesdays); Baikohken and Aoba are the other historic names.

• Asahiyama Zoo 3.5 h must-see

  Japan's best-known zoo, famous for its 'behavioural exhibits': the underwater penguin tunnel, the seals' vertical tube and polar bears seen from below. These are captive animals, and keeping polar bears or big cats in a zoo remains contested. Entry ¥1,000; bus 41 or 47 from the station (40 min, ¥670); closed 8-28 April and 4-10 November, and in winter it only opens 10:30-15:30.

• Asahikawa Winter Festival 3 h only about six days in early February

  It almost overlaps with Sapporo's, but with smaller crowds: a snow sculpture about 140 metres wide and 20 high by the Ishikari River, with projections and fireworks at night, huge slides for kids and the international ice-sculpture contest on Heiwa-dori. In 2026 it ran 6-11 February; the main site is 20 minutes' walk from the station.

• Ginga and Ryusei Falls and Sobakudai viewpoint (Sounkyo) 1.5 h Kamikawa (Sounkyo) · 80 min

  Twin waterfalls pouring down the columnar basalt walls of Sounkyo gorge: Ryusei (90 m), powerful, and Ginga (120 m), in fine threads. From the free car park, a steep 20-minute climb leads to the Sobakudai lookout, the only spot where you can see both at once. It is a few minutes from Sounkyo village.

• Japan's earliest autumn colours at Ginsendai 3 h booking Kamikawa (Ginsendai) · 110 min only 10-25 Sep

  Slopes of Mt Akadake that turn red and yellow in mid-September, before anywhere else in Japan. During those weeks the road is closed to private cars and you go up by shuttle or in booked time slots (12-23 September in 2026); the scheduled Akadake bus did not run in summer 2026. It is bear country.

• Kawamura Kaneto Ainu Memorial Museum 1.5 h

  Founded in 1916 by an Asahikawa Ainu family and run today by its fourth generation, in a new building since 2023: clothing, tools and carvings of the Kamikawa Ainu community, with mukkuri (mouth harp) and dance demonstrations. Entry ¥800, 9:00-17:00 (closed Tuesdays from December to April). For the national picture, the reference is Upopoy in Shiraoi.

• Kurodake Ropeway and chairlift 2 h Kamikawa (Sounkyo) · 75 min

  Leaves right from Sounkyo village: seven minutes by ropeway from 670 to 1,300 metres and a chairlift to 1,520 (the 7th station), facing the Daisetsuzan peaks, with red maples in late September. Ropeway return ¥3,000; the chairlift (¥1,200) only runs from late June to mid-October, and everything closes 9-30 November.

• Penguin walk at Asahiyama Zoo 1 h only 20 Dec - 15 Mar

  Only when there is snow, from late December to mid-March: king penguins waddle about 500 metres through the crowd. The zoo presents it as exercise to make up for the lack of movement in winter; visitors may not touch or feed them, and it is called off if snow is short or the weather is bad. Included in the ticket; arrive early to get a spot by the rope.

• Shinkoyaki at Ginneko and Furari-to alley 2 h

  The city's other signature dish: half a young chicken charcoal-grilled whole, with sauce or salt, crackling skin and plenty of juice. Ginneko has served it since 1950 and is also known for hatokan, hot sake in a little pigeon-shaped flask; Furari-to alley, ten minutes' walk from the station, has 18 tiny bars to keep the evening going.

• Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival (Hyobaku Matsuri) 1.5 h Kamikawa (Sounkyo) · 75 min only 24 Jan - 8 Mar

  By the river, a complex of tunnels, towers and domes made from sprayed water that freezes over weeks, lit in colours after dark, with fireworks on some nights booming through the gorge. ¥1,000; weekdays 17:00-21:30, weekends from 11:00. It is bitterly cold: non-slip footwear is a must.

• A night out in Sanroku-gai 2.5 h

  Northern Hokkaido's biggest nightlife district, around the corner of 3-jo and 6-chome, with over a thousand bars and izakaya in neon-lit alleys. Order shio horumon (salt-grilled pork offal), Asahikawa-style soy yakisoba and fish from three seas; about 15 minutes' walk from the station.

• Asahikawa Design Center (Asahikawa furniture) 1.5 h

  Asahikawa is one of Japan's great wooden-furniture centres, and around 30 local workshops show and sell here, from designer chairs to small pieces that fit in a suitcase. Free entry, 10:00-17:00, closed Tuesdays; about 15 minutes by car from the station, in Nagayama. Asahikawa Design Week takes place in June.

• Asahikawa Ramen Village 1 h

  Eight of the city's ramen shops (Santouka and Tenkin among them) under one roof in the Powers mall in Nagayama, about 20 minutes by car from the main station and close to Minami-Nagayama station. Open all year, 11:00-20:00; handy for comparing styles, though it lacks the charm of a neighbourhood shop.

• Bathing at Asahidake Onsen (Yukomanso) 1.5 h Higashikawa · 70 min

  A small hot-spring hamlet in the forest at the foot of the ropeway. Yukomanso, a member of Japan's secluded-onsen association, opens its Kamigami no Yu bath building to day visitors from 12:00 to 18:00 for ¥1,200; the natural way to finish after Sugatami or a ski day.

• Climbing Asahidake (2,291 m) 6 h Higashikawa · 70 min only 1 Jul - 30 Sep

  From the top ropeway station, about 2h50 up and 2h down on loose, steep volcanic scree to the roof of Hokkaido, with views over the Ohachidaira crater. No water or toilets on the route, disorienting fog near the summit and brown bears in the area: proper mountain gear is needed, and check when the last ropeway goes down. Autumn colour starts at the summit in late August.

• Daisetsu Kogen Onsen pond trail (Numa-meguri) 5 h booking Kamikawa (Daisetsu Kogen Onsen) · 110 min only 10 Jun - 5 Oct

  A loop past alpine ponds deep in brown bear territory, managed from a bear information centre: nobody enters without its briefing (7:00-13:00) and you must be out by 15:00. From 6 July to 18 September, when bears frequent the area, entry is only in guided groups with advance registration (donation from ¥1,000). Reached by car on a road that requires a booking in the autumn-colour season.

• Daisetsu Mori no Garden (Forest Garden) 2 h Kamikawa · 65 min only 25 Apr - 12 Oct

  A Hokkaido Garden Path garden on a hill facing Daisetsuzan, with beds of northern flowers, woodland to wander and Fratello di Mikuni, the restaurant of chef Kiyomi Mikuni, cooking local produce. In 2026 it opens 25 April-12 October, 9:00-17:00; in the first weeks only the forest section is open.

• Hiking to the summit of Kurodake 4.5 h Kamikawa (Sounkyo) · 75 min only 27 Jun - 10 Oct

  From the top of the chairlift, about 1h30 up and 1 hour down, steeply, to the nearly 2,000-metre summit overlooking the Daisetsuzan volcanic plateau; it is among the first places in Japan to turn red, in early September. Brown bear country: carry a bell, keep food out of sight and check with the information centre before setting off.

• Kamuikotan Gorge 1.5 h Asahikawa (Kamuikotan, a las afueras) · 40 min

  The Ainu name means 'place where the kamuy dwell': here the Ishikari River squeezes between green schist rocks, with whirlpools once dangerous for Ainu canoes. A suspension bridge leads to the old 1910 wooden station, with steam locomotives on display. Free; about 40 minutes by car from the city centre.

• Kurodake no Yu public bath (Sounkyo Onsen) 1.5 h Kamikawa (Sounkyo) · 75 min

  Sounkyo's only day-use-only bath, on the village main street: two large baths, a sauna and a third-floor rotenburo facing the cliffs. ¥800, no weekly closing day, 10:00-22:30 May to October and 11:00-21:30 the rest of the year.

• Otokoyama sake brewery and Sake Park 1 h

  A brewery with 350 years of history and a free three-floor museum of old tools, Edo-period documents and prints by Utamaro and Hokusai. Tasting and the shop are in the new Otokoyama Sake Park building (2024), which has a giant sake-bottle slide; the brewing spring water is free to take away. It is in Nagayama, about 20 minutes from the station.

• Powder skiing on Asahidake and Kurodake 5 h Higashikawa (Asahidake) y Kamikawa (Kurodake) · 70 min only 11 Dec - 30 Apr

  Not resorts in the usual sense: one ropeway on each mountain and barely groomed slopes, with bone-dry powder at -20 °C. Terrain for expert skiers or those with a guide, with avalanche risk and real chances of getting lost in a blizzard. Asahidake reopens for winter on 11 December; both stretch the season with spring snow.

• Sounkyo Gorge Fire Festival 3 h Kamikawa (Sounkyo) · 75 min only one Saturday in late July

  The hot-spring village's summer festival, with an Ainu ritual for the owl kamuy and traditional dances by the Kamikawa Ainu association, followed by torches, taiko and fireworks against the gorge walls. Free; in 2026 it was held on 25 July.

• Hokkaido Ice Pavilion (Kamikawa) 1 h Kamikawa · 60 min

  A hall kept at -20 °C all year, with 1,000 tonnes of ice walls built up over 25 years and a room recreating the -41 °C recorded in Asahikawa in 1902, Japan's record low. Made for summer visitors who want a taste of the local cold; paid entry, 9:00-17:00, five minutes by car from Kamikawa station.

• Kamikawa Taisetsu sake brewery (Ryokkyu-gura) 0.5 h Kamikawa · 60 min

  A small brewery opened in 2017 in Kamikawa, a town of about 3,200 people, making only pure-rice sake in short runs. No tours inside, but windows look onto the brewing area and a shop sells bottles that rarely leave the area (10:00-16:00 in summer, until 15:00 in winter). A good stop on the way to Sounkyo.

What only happens on specific dates

• Penguin walk at Asahiyama Zoo 20 Dec - 15 Mar
• Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival (Hyobaku Matsuri) 24 Jan - 8 Mar
• Powder skiing on Asahidake and Kurodake 11 Dec - 30 Apr
• Asahikawa Winter Festival about six days in early February
• Daisetsu Mori no Garden (Forest Garden) 25 Apr - 12 Oct
• Daisetsu Kogen Onsen pond trail (Numa-meguri) 10 Jun - 5 Oct
• Hiking to the summit of Kurodake 27 Jun - 10 Oct
• Climbing Asahidake (2,291 m) 1 Jul - 30 Sep
• Sounkyo Gorge Fire Festival one Saturday in late July
• Japan's earliest autumn colours at Ginsendai 10-25 Sep

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