Tokachi (Obihiro)

Hokkaido, Japan · City, Countryside / satoyama

Japan's pantry: a vast plain of wheat, potatoes and dairy cows beneath the Hidaka Mountains, with draft-horse races found nowhere else on earth, designer gardens, amber-colored hot springs and Hokkaido's best pork rice bowl.

The essentials

Getting there

Train — The Tokachi or Ozora limited express runs from Sapporo to Obihiro in about 2h30-2h45 with no change, and there are direct flights from Tokyo Haneda to Tokachi-Obihiro Airport (about 1h35). The city itself is walkable and served by buses, but a rental car is strongly recommended for the gardens, farms and villages out on the plain.

Frequently asked questions about Tokachi (Obihiro)

What to do in Tokachi (Obihiro): 26 activities

• Ban'ei draft-horse racing at Obihiro Racecourse 2 h must-see

  The only races in the world where draft horses weighing over a tonne haul an iron sled along a sand track with two ramps, and you can follow the race on foot along the rail. Meetings run on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays for most of the year, usually into the evening (last race around 20:30); entry is free and there's a bus from Obihiro Station. Animal welfare groups criticize the effort demanded of the horses and the use of the whip.

• Butadon at Pancho, where the dish was born 1 h must-see

  Butadon (charcoal-grilled pork loin in sweet soy sauce over rice) is Obihiro's signature dish, and Pancho, near the station, claims to have invented it in 1933. It comes in four sizes (matsu, take, ume, hana) at roughly ¥1,000-1,500, cash only, with lunchtime queues; closed on Mondays and the first and third Tuesday of the month.

• Tokachigawa Onsen and its moor hot springs 3 h must-see Otofuke · 25 min

  A spa village on the Tokachi River in Otofuke with moor water: amber-colored, silky hot spring water rich in organic matter from fossilized plants, listed as a Hokkaido Heritage. Nearly every hotel offers day bathing (about ¥700-2,000); the bus from Obihiro Station takes about 30 minutes. A good alternative to staying in the city.

• Kita no Yatai night food-stall alley 2 h

  Around twenty stalls seating eight to ten people each, five minutes from the station, ranging from yakitori and izakaya fare to French or Italian cooking with Tokachi produce, where you easily end up chatting with your neighbor at the counter. They open in the evening, and each stall has its own day off.

• Manabe Garden 1.5 h only 25 Apr - 23 Nov

  Japan's first conifer garden, created by a family of nursery growers on the edge of Obihiro, blending Japanese, European and landscape styles with thousands of species; it's one of the few that still looks good in October and November. Admission ¥1,200, late April to late November.

• Obihiro Heigen (Plains) Festival 3 h only 14 and 15 August

  Obihiro's big summer festival, held during Obon: a taiko festival, an evening parade and a huge bon odori in the downtown streets that anyone can join. There are usually fireworks by the river the night before.

• Rokka no Mori, Rokkatei's forest 2 h Nakasatsunai · 40 min only 29 Apr - 12 Oct

  In Nakasatsunai, about forty minutes by car: a forest of Tokachi wildflowers with small galleries in relocated Croatian farmhouses, devoted to painter Naoyuki Sakamoto, who drew the flowers on Rokkatei's famous wrapping paper. Open from late April to mid-October; admission ¥1,000.

• Rokkatei flagship store and café 1 h

  Obihiro is Hokkaido's confectionery capital, and Rokkatei, maker of the Marusei Butter Sandwich, has its main shop here with a café upstairs and sweets sold only freshly made, such as the Sakusaku Pie. The café is closed on Wednesdays.

• Shikaribetsu Kotan ice village 3 h Shikaoi (lago Shikaribetsu) · 80 min only 28 Jan - 14 Mar

  For only about seven weeks a year, a village of igloos rises on frozen Lake Shikaribetsu (in Shikaoi, over an hour's drive away), with an ice bar, a chapel and an open-air hot spring bath on the lake. Admission ¥600; the 2027 season runs from 28 January to 14 March. Kotan means 'village' in Ainu, but it's a town event, not an Ainu-run space.

• Taushubetsu Bridge and Lake Nukabira 3 h Kamishihoro (Nukabira) · 90 min

  An hour and a half's drive away, by the Nukabira hot spring village: a 1937 concrete arch viaduct from an abandoned railway that the reservoir submerges and uncovers every year, and which is crumbling towards eventual collapse. It's usually fully visible from winter to early summer and underwater in autumn; there's a viewpoint reached on foot from Route 273, and getting closer requires a guided tour or booking the forest-road gate key (¥2,000 per person, late April to early November). This is bear country: walking or cycling on the forest road is not allowed.

• Tomamu Unkai Terrace, sea of clouds at dawn 2 h Shimukappu (Tomamu) · 70 min only 13 May - 13 Oct

  At the Hoshino resort in Tomamu, an hour from Obihiro by train or car: a gondola climbs before dawn to a terrace at 1,088 meters to see the valley filled with a sea of clouds, which appears roughly one day in three or four, mostly in summer. Runs mid-May to mid-October, 5:00-8:00; ¥2,500, free for resort guests. In practice it means staying overnight in Tomamu.

• Curry at the local Indian chain 0.5 h

  The Japanese curry Obihiro has eaten since 1968, from a chain that only exists in Tokachi and Kushiro; the basic plate is about ¥640. It's common to see locals turn up with their own pot to take curry home.

• Hokkaido Balloon Festival in Kamishihoro 3 h Kamishihoro · 50 min only one weekend in early August

  In Kamishihoro, about fifty minutes north: Japan's oldest hot-air balloon festival, with dozens of balloons lifting off over the fields at dawn and a balloon glow night with the balloons lit up on the ground (in 2026, 7-9 August). Flights depend on the wind, and you have to get up early.

• Kyodo Gakusha cheese farm in Shintoku 1 h Shintoku · 50 min

  A community farm in Shintoku where people with and without disabilities live and work together, making pasture-fed cheeses that have won international awards, such as Sakura. There's a shop and café to taste them, ten minutes from JR Shintoku Station; closed on Sundays.

• Obihiro Centennial City Museum and Riwka center 1.5 h

  Tokachi's history and nature museum in Midorigaoka Park, covering the region's farming settlement and its Ainu culture, which lives on in local dance and craft associations. Inside is Riwka ('bridge' in Ainu), an Ainu information center with a library and events calendar. Admission ¥380; closed Mondays. For the fuller picture, Upopoy (in Noboribetsu) is the reference.

• Obihiro Ice Festival 2 h only three days in late January

  Three days around the turn of January into February (in 2026, 30 January to 1 February) in Midorigaoka Park: ice and snow sculptures, a national ice-carving contest, ice slides, a snow maze, fireworks and Tokachi food stalls. Far smaller and more local than Sapporo's.

• Sairinka light and sound show at Tokachigawa 1 h Otofuke · 25 min only late January to mid-February

  During the Tokachigawa Onsen swan festival, hundreds of light triangles on a snowfield pulse in time with music every night from 19:00 to 21:00 (in 2026, from 24 January to 15 February). It's a walk from the spa hotels; dress warmly, it's well below freezing.

• Shichiku Garden 1.5 h Obihiro (afueras, Bisei) · 35 min only 18 Apr - 31 Oct

  A six-hectare garden out in the countryside south of the city that Akiyo Shichiku began planting at sixty to recreate the flower meadows of her childhood: some 2,500 varieties and a 150-meter perennial border. Open mid-April to late October, 8:00-17:00; admission ¥1,000.

• Skiing at Hoshino Resorts Tomamu 6 h Shimukappu (Tomamu) · 70 min only 1 Dec - 31 Mar

  A ski resort with very dry powder snow, runs for every level, controlled off-piste areas and plenty on offer for children. The season starts in early December and usually lasts until late March or early April; a free shuttle bus runs from JR Tomamu Station to the resort.

• Tokachi Hills 1.5 h Makubetsu · 15 min only 11 Apr - 31 Oct

  A hilltop garden in Makubetsu, fifteen minutes' drive away, with a kitchen garden, flowers and views over the plain, plus a restaurant serving Mangalica pork raised in Tokachi. From May to June hundreds of colorful umbrellas hang over one of the paths. Open April to October; admission around ¥1,000.

• Tokachi Mura market by the racecourse 1 h

  A small complex right next to the racecourse with a market for vegetables and local produce from the plain, stalls selling butadon, noodles, seafood and sweets, and a free museum about draft horses. Fits neatly before the races; closed on Wednesdays.

• Tomamu Ice Village 1.5 h Shimukappu (Tomamu) · 70 min only 10 Dec - 14 Mar

  Every winter the Tomamu resort builds a village of ice domes with a bar serving drinks in ice glasses, a skating rink and, from late January to mid-February, an ice chapel and ice hotel. Open 17:00-22:00 from December to mid-March; ¥600, free for guests. Expect -10 to -20 °C.

• Ikeda Wine Castle 1.5 h Ikeda · 30 min

  In 1963 Ikeda became one of the first towns in Japan to make its own wine. At the municipal winery you can visit the barrel cellar for free, and there's a shop with Tokachi wines and brandy, a restaurant serving local beef (closed Tuesdays) and a lookout over the plain. Ikeda is about 30 minutes away by train or car.

• Kofuku and Aikoku stations 1.5 h Obihiro (sur rural) · 40 min

  Two stations on the Hiroo Line, closed in 1987, which became famous in the 1970s for the 'from the land of love to happiness' ticket (Aikoku to Kofuku). Kofuku keeps its wooden platform, the station hut and two diesel railcars covered in couples' notes; Aikoku has a small free museum. 40-50 minutes by bus from Obihiro.

• Nakasatsunai Art Village 1.5 h Nakasatsunai · 40 min only 29 Apr - 10 Oct

  Also run by Rokkatei and close to the previous one: small museums scattered through an oak forest, linked by a boardwalk of old railway sleepers, plus a restaurant. Free entry, but it only opens on weekends and holidays, during Golden Week and from late July to mid-August, 10:00-15:00.

• Obihiro Zoo 2 h

  A small, cheap municipal zoo in Midorigaoka Park (¥420, free up to junior high school age), with animals kept in captivity, some in old and modest enclosures. Open from late April to early November and, in winter, only on weekends and holidays from 11:00 to 14:00.

What only happens on specific dates

• Shikaribetsu Kotan ice village 28 Jan - 14 Mar
• Obihiro Ice Festival three days in late January
• Sairinka light and sound show at Tokachigawa late January to mid-February
• Skiing at Hoshino Resorts Tomamu 1 Dec - 31 Mar
• Tomamu Ice Village 10 Dec - 14 Mar
• Manabe Garden 25 Apr - 23 Nov
• Rokka no Mori, Rokkatei's forest 29 Apr - 12 Oct
• Shichiku Garden 18 Apr - 31 Oct
• Tokachi Hills 11 Apr - 31 Oct
• Nakasatsunai Art Village 29 Apr - 10 Oct
• Tomamu Unkai Terrace, sea of clouds at dawn 13 May - 13 Oct
• Obihiro Heigen (Plains) Festival 14 and 15 August
• Hokkaido Balloon Festival in Kamishihoro one weekend in early August

Chains well with

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