Hokkaido

Hokkaido is Japan's largest hot-spring island: 226 onsen areas and 2,249 springs (Ministry of the Environment, FY2024), with more than 13.5 million overnight stays a year. Water rises beside volcanoes and marshes, lakes and the sea. Some baths, such as Noboribetsu and Yunokawa, date from the late Edo period; others, like Tokachigawa, were drilled during the pioneer era. What sets the island apart is less the depth of its history than the sheer breadth and variety of its springs.

Main onsen areas

Springs are spread across the whole island. The volcanic belt in the southwest holds Noboribetsu, Karurusu, Toyako and the Niseko area; Jozankei is Sapporo's own retreat in the hills. In the east, Akanko and Kawayu draw on active volcanoes, while Tokachigawa on the Tokachi plain is known for its moor water. The Daisetsuzan range has Sounkyo and Asahidake, Toyotomi sits in the far north, and Yunokawa lies on the edge of Hakodate.

Characteristic spring types

Chloride springs are the most common in our records, followed by bicarbonate, sulfate and sulfur. Noboribetsu is unusual in gathering many spring types in a single resort, from sulfur and acidic water to iron-rich baths. Tokachigawa's brown moor water, Toyotomi's oily iodine spring and Kawayu's strongly acidic water give the island an unusual number of coloured baths, with brown and yellow water especially common.

Reachable by public transport

From New Chitose Airport it is about 40 minutes by rapid train to Sapporo, then roughly 1 hour 20 minutes by bus to Jozankei. Noboribetsu is about 15 minutes by bus from JR Noboribetsu Station; Toyako is reached by bus from Toya Station. Yunokawa sits near the end of the Hakodate tram line, Kawayu has its own station on the JR Senmo Line with a connecting bus, and Akanko is about two hours by bus from Kushiro. Kutchan and Niseko stations are the gateways to the Niseko area.

For solo travellers

Yunokawa is part of Hakodate itself, easy for a solo stay and reachable by tram. Noboribetsu has plenty of inns and day-use baths and pairs naturally with a walk through Jigokudani. Toyotomi has lodgings and facilities geared to long therapeutic stays.

Food & culture

Seafood and hot water are the island's signature pairing: Hakodate's morning market with Yunokawa, Kushiro's fish with Akanko, and winter crab and scallops on inn tables across the region. At Akanko, the Ainu village offers traditional dance and the mukkuri mouth harp; around Tokachigawa, Tokachi's dairy and beans fill the menu. The Niseko area is known to overseas travellers as a place to combine skiing and onsen in one trip.