Notes on Hokkaido

my recs for where to go in about 10 days of hokkaido

A person walking down a snowy residential street between banks of snow, with power lines overhead

Most people fly into Sapporo and head straight for Niseko. This trip starts in central Hokkaido. I recommend flying into Asahikawa, which has its own airport, and Biei is about twenty minutes from the terminal. After a few days there, let's stop for a night in Sapporo before going south to the Niseko area and Yōtei for the last few days, and fly home from New Chitose (Sapporo).

Use Black Cat delivery from Tokyo at the start to send your bag to the first hotel. Yamato Transport, whose trucks carry a black cat logo, has counters at Narita and Haneda arrivals. Send the ski and board bags straight to the Asahikawa hotel and take the domestic flight north with only a carry-on. Delivery to Hokkaido usually takes about two days, so a night in Tokyo before flying north lines up well. Otherwise, keep boots in the carry-on. Hotels and convenience stores can send the bags on again later: Asahikawa to Sapporo, then Sapporo to the Yōtei side. How Yamato's hands-free travel works.

Day 1

Land and settle into Asahikawa

Let's stay in Asahikawa for 2 days at the start.

Day 2

Kamui Ski Links

Kamui is a small local hill on the west side of Asahikawa, roughly 45 minutes from Biei. One gondola runs up the middle of the mountain, and most of the good skiing is in the trees off the groomers. On a weekday there should be no lift line at all.

A snowboarder airs off a powder bank beneath the yellow Kamui gondola cabins, with snow-covered trees behind
The reason to come here is for fewer crowds,
terrific side country access, and there's
enough terrain for multiple days.

The best of Kamui is in the trees. We can even go off the backside and easily get back into the resort.

Day 3

Gear up and eat in Asahikawa

A rest day for the legs, and a chance to sort out gear before Asahidake. Asahikawa is Hokkaido's second city and has its own ramen style: shoyu broth, often with a layer of lard on top that keeps it hot in the cold.

Rows of low houses and apartment blocks with thick snow on every roof, seen from above in low sun
A red stop sign in front of a house with a deep layer of snow on the roof A red drink vending machine almost buried in snow
Someone shoveling a snow-filled lane between houses A pedestrian signal half buried beside a snowbank Road signs and a parked car beneath snow-laden power lines A bus stop sign standing in deep snow beside a building A blue vending machine capped with snow against a concrete wall A red Coca-Cola vending machine with a deep cap of snow, half buried in a drift A vending machine under a thick cap of snow beside a snowy tree
Day 4

Asahidake, then a long soak

Asahidake is the highest peak in Hokkaido and part of Daisetsuzan National Park. In winter the ropeway climbs from the onsen village to about 1,600 meters. Steam vents hiss on the slope above the top station, and the terrain is open alpine and birch glades.

Two skiers by a course sign near the top of the Asahidake ropeway, with the peak and a lenticular cloud behind Skiers following a skin track across open snow toward the summit of Asahidake, with steam rising from the vents

This is backcountry, not a resort. There are no groomed runs and no patrol beyond the ropeway. Hire a local guide, carry avalanche gear, and treat whiteouts seriously. On a clear day it is the best skiing of the trip. On a bad day, ski the lower trees and go to the onsen early.

Give the steam vents a wide berth. The ground around them is warm, the snow over them can be thin, and the gas is sulfurous up close.

A skier with arms out on the snow slope above a fumarole on Asahidake, with a huge plume of steam rising beside them

The onsen at the bottom

Asahidake Onsen is a handful of lodges at the foot of the ropeway. Yumoto Yukomanso is the one people rave about, with several natural hot spring baths, including an outdoor one in the snow. Most lodges open their baths to day visitors. Go straight there in ski clothes, then drive back through Higashikawa as it gets dark.

A steaming outdoor rock bath at Asahidake Onsen, with deep snow piled on the boulders and a blue sky behind

To confirm: is Yukomanso the onsen you had in mind? Swap it in here if not.

Day 5

The other side: Kurodake from Sōunkyō

Asahidake's ropeway climbs the west side of the Daisetsuzan massif. The Kurodake Ropeway climbs the northeast side, out of the gorge town of Sōunkyō, and a chairlift above it reaches higher still. The terrain is steeper and more committing than Asahidake, with long fall lines through birch. It is the same kind of backcountry, so the same rules apply: guide, avalanche gear, and an early turnaround if it gets dark or windy.

It is a longer drive from Biei, about 1 hour 45 minutes via Kamikawa, so leave early. Sōunkyō has its own hotel onsen for the evening. If the drive feels like too much, stay a night in Sōunkyō instead of driving back.

Day 6

Down to Furano for soup curry

Keep the morning open. If one of the mountains was socked in, go back. If the legs are done, do a slow loop around Biei: Shirahige Falls, the Blue Pond in daylight, and the farmland hills under snow.

A small shed wearing a thick, rounded cap of snow

In the afternoon, drive about 40 minutes south to Furano for soup curry at Furanoya. It is Sapporo-style soup curry: a thin, spiced broth with big pieces of local vegetables and chicken leg, and you choose how hot. Go early, because the line builds fast.

Day 7

A night in Sapporo

Pack up in Biei and drive about two hours to Sapporo on the expressway. Stop at ajito for one last Asahikawa bowl on the way out. Stay near Susukino: dinner, drinks, and tomorrow's pancakes are all a short walk from the hotel.

Susukino is the city's nightlife district, and the big Nikka Whisky sign on the main crossing is the landmark everyone meets under. Streetcars run along the edge of it. Go out for dinner and a highball, and leave the car parked.

After dinner, find a seat at one of the quiet bars tucked into the buildings around the crossing. Many are up a flight of stairs or behind an unmarked door, with a long wooden counter and a back wall of Japanese whisky.

A dim, empty whisky bar with a long wooden counter, red leather stools, and shelves of bottles lit warmly behind it
Day 8

Pancakes, then south to Yōtei

Start with pancakes a short walk from the hotel, then drive southwest through Otaru, about two hours of driving in all, to the second base in Kutchan or Rusutsu, at the foot of Mount Yōtei.

A tall stack of three soufflé pancakes with butter, syrup, and powdered sugar, with berries on the plate

Otaru on the way

Otaru is about forty minutes from Sapporo and right on the route south, so stop for a couple of hours. Walk Sakaimachi Street, lined with old stone warehouses turned into glass shops like Kitaichi Glass, music box stores, and sweet shops including LeTAO. At the far end is the steam clock outside the Music Box Museum. Have lunch at one of the sushi counters, then loop past the canal before getting back on the road.

Gentemstick Niseko Showroom

Gentemstick's showroom and snowsurf shop sits in Kabayama, just outside Kutchan, which makes it an easy first stop on arrival. It has the full board line and a small café.

The Gentemstick showroom, with colorful snowsurf boards on the wall above racks of caps and clothing The small café counter at the Gentemstick showroom, with people sitting on stools under mint-green cabinets
Day 9

Rusutsu

Rusutsu covers three mountains connected by gondolas, with wide, well-spaced tree runs and much shorter lines than Niseko. The views of Yōtei from East Mountain are the best on the trip. It is a resort day, which is easier on the legs before Yōtei.

Day 10

Backcountry on Yōtei

Mount Yōtei is the volcano everyone photographs from Niseko. There are no lifts, so it is a full day of skinning up and skiing one of the bowls or gullies off the flanks. This is the most serious day of the trip. Go with a certified guide, start before dawn, and be ready to call it if the wind is up or visibility drops.

Afterward, soak at one of the onsen around Kutchan or Niseko, and eat somewhere close to the hotel.

Day 11

Home via New Chitose and Tokyo

Take the bus from Niseko to New Chitose Airport (CTS) instead of driving. It is about two and a half to three hours, and all of these need a reservation, so book a week or more ahead. If you do this, return the rental car in the Kutchan or Niseko area the day before, and check that your rental company allows a one-way drop-off there.

New Chitose is a good airport to have time to kill, so don't cut it close. Ramen Dojo on the third floor of the domestic terminal has around ten shops from across Hokkaido, and the second floor is a long run of food halls, seafood counters, and souvenir shops selling Royce chocolate and Shiroi Koibito. If there's a long layover, there's even an onsen inside the terminal. Grab a bag of Tough Gummy from the konbini for the flight home.

A night in Tokyo

Most flights home connect through Tokyo anyway, so take the domestic hop to Haneda and give yourself a night before the long flight. Walk the moat around the Imperial Palace in the morning, when the light hits the stone bridge and the white turret behind it. The East Gardens are free to enter, but they close on Mondays and Fridays.

The stone bridge over the Imperial Palace moat in Tokyo, with ornate lamps and a white palace turret among pine trees

If there's time: Rishiri

Rishiri is a volcanic island off the far northern tip of Hokkaido, and the whole island is basically one mountain rising out of the sea. Mount Rishiri is about 1,700 meters, with no lifts, so it is all ski touring. Long couloirs and open faces drop almost straight to the coast.

A wide snowy street lined with houses under a clear blue sky

Getting there takes a day. Drive about four hours north from Asahikawa to Wakkanai, then take the ferry across, which takes roughly 1 hour 40 minutes. The weather is fierce and changes quickly, and ferries get cancelled, so plan two or three days with buffer, and go with a local guide who knows the island. It would fit best between the Biei and Sapporo legs, or as its own trip.