Possible as a Day Trip! Popular Sightseeing Areas and Top Attractions Near and Around Sapporo

Otaru Port developed as the gateway to Hokkaido’s pioneering era.
As the volume of cargo handled increased year by year, “Otaru Canal” was completed in 1923 to make transport work more efficient.
Because it was created by reclaiming offshore coastal land, one of its defining features is its gentle curve rather than a straight line.
After World War II, it ceased to serve as a canal, and today it has been redeveloped with walking paths and green spaces, becoming one of Otaru’s most iconic sightseeing spots.

This specialty music box store has shops mainly in Otaru, as well as in Hakodate, Furano, Yokohama, Kamakura, Kyoto, and other locations.
Its main shop, the Main Building, was built in 1915 and is designated as a historical building by the city of Otaru, preserving much of the atmosphere of a bygone era.
The interior, made up of two buildings, one of red brick and one of stone, is divided into five floors, each displaying and selling music boxes based on a different concept.

Mount Tengu is a symbolic mountain of Otaru, with an elevation of 532.4m.
At the summit is an observation deck featured with one star in the Michelin Green Guide Japon, offering views over the city and the Sea of Japan.
At night, you can take in Otaru’s beautiful night view, known as one of Hokkaido’s top three night views alongside Mount Moiwa and Mount Hakodate.

A uniquely Hokkaido-style garden filled with plants, especially perennials, that thrive in the climate and natural environment of northern regions.
Because the blooming season and vivid flower colors change with the seasons, it is known as a dramatic garden.
At Gnome’s Garden, the central area of Ueno Farm made up of several gardens, wild plants with simple beauty and ornamental grasses coexist with brilliant flowers in a natural-style garden.

Asahikawa City Asahiyama Zoo, Japan’s northernmost zoo, is a popular zoo known for its behavioral exhibits, which create comfortable spaces suited to each animal’s ecology and bring out their natural behavior for visitors to observe.
These include the Penguin House, where penguins swim freely through an underwater tunnel, and the Seal House, where seals move up and down through a cylindrical tank, letting visitors watch the animals living lively, active lives.

This hill has long been loved as a scenic spot offering sweeping views from Mount Aibetsu at the northern end of Daisetsuzan National Park to Mount Minamifurano at the southern end, spanning 60km from north to south.
It is said that a local photographer gave it the name Shujitsu no Oka, and the view of the road stretching endlessly through beautiful rural scenery is a landscape unique to Hokkaido.

Known since the Edo period, this is a very rare place where one hot spring area contains many different types of spring water.
Many of the spring sources bubbling up throughout the area come from Jigokudani, formed by volcanic activity Approx. 10,000 years ago.
Boasting an abundant water output of 10,000 tons per day, the springs can be enjoyed in the varied baths and tubs thoughtfully designed by inns and hotels.
There are several spots where you can feel the breath of the earth, but the powerful sight of white steam rising from Jigokudani, a 450m-wide crater left by volcanic activity, is not to be missed.

Located at the summit of Mount Shihorei at an elevation of 550m, Noboribetsu Bear Park can be reached in Approx. 7 minutes by ropeway from the lower station in the Noboribetsu Onsen hot spring district. More than 60 brown bears live here in lively conditions.
The bears are displayed in separate male and female areas. At the No. 1 Ranch, where the male bears are kept, there is a glass-walled room called the “Human Cage,” where you can observe bears moving around all around the room.
The facility also includes a museum specializing in brown bears, an Ainu life museum, a café, and more.

This aquarium centers on Nixe Castle, modeled after Egeskov Castle, a real castle in Denmark, and displays Approx. 400 species and 20,000 living creatures.
The inside of the beautiful castle-like building with its brick-style exterior is used entirely as an aquarium.
At the entrance, visitors are welcomed by Napoleon fish swimming in a large 8m-high column-shaped tank called the Crystal Tower.

A tourist farm in Nakafurano, Hokkaido, famous for its elegant lavender fields spreading across a vast area.
Along with the grand lavender fields, one of its signature sights is the Irodori Field, where bands of vivid flowers, such as purple lavender, white baby’s breath, and red poppies, are painted across the canvas of gently sloping hills.
There are also a variety of other flower fields throughout the grounds, including the Hanabito Field, where colorful flowers such as violas and marigolds bloom, and the Hanabito Garden, where nearly 120 kinds of plants coexist in a small garden, delighting visitors’ eyes.

Furano Jam Garden is located in Higashi-Rokugo, Furano City.
Within the facility, Rokugo Observatory is a popular spot where you can enjoy beautiful scenery throughout the four seasons.
In spring, fresh greenery and flowers spread in vivid colors; in summer, lavender, poppies, sunflowers, and more come into bloom. In autumn, you can see colorful leaves, and in winter, snowy scenery.
From the observatory, you can take in sweeping views of the Yubari Mountains and the Daisetsu-Tokachi mountain range, along with spectacular scenery selected as one of Japan’s 100 Best Rural Landscapes.
There is also a Jam Workshop where you can try making handmade jam and buy it, and at the sweets workshop, you can enjoy original sweets and soft serve ice cream.

Hokuseiyama, the symbol of Nakafurano, is popular as a ski area in winter.
On its middle slopes, a town-run lavender field has been created, and in summer you can enjoy beautiful flowers there.
Four types of lavender are cultivated here, with the best viewing season from mid-July to early August.
Along with the typical purple varieties, near the summit observation deck you can also see the white lavender “Misato Sekka,” gifted from Misato Town in Akita Prefecture.

One of the representative sightseeing spots of the Biei Shirogane Onsen area, this waterfall flows into the Biei River from the cliffs of the gorge with a drop of Approx. 30m, just like white facial hair as its name suggests.
It is classified as a “senryubaku,” a rare type of waterfall in Japan in which groundwater flows down from cracks in the rock face.
The water flowing from Mount Tokachi contains volcanic components that affect light reflection, causing the Biei River to shine cobalt blue, while the white waterfall crashes into it with dramatic force.

Famous as Biei’s top sightseeing spot, Shirogane Blue Pond captivates visitors with its vivid blue color.
It is an artificial pond that formed by chance when water collected behind a block dam built on the Biei River as part of disaster prevention work to protect against volcanic mudflows from Mount Tokachi.
The pond’s mysteriously beautiful blue color, together with the surrounding rich nature and standing dead larch trees, creates a fantastical atmosphere like something out of a fairy tale.

One of Biei’s finest scenic spots, where multiple hills roll like waves and grand views spread out before you.
This park, marked by a figure made from stacked hay rolls, offers a 360-degree panoramic view of Biei’s nature-rich scenery from the hills.
Looking east, you can enjoy a quintessential Hokkaido landscape woven from the Tokachi mountain range centered on 2,077m-high Mount Tokachi, the mountains of the Daisetsuzan range, mosaic-like farmland, and a photogenic house with a red roof.

Cape Kamui belongs to Niseko-Shakotan-Otaru Kaigan Quasi-National Park and extends in a long narrow shape into the Sea of Japan from the northwestern part of the Shakotan Peninsula.
From the parking lot to the tip of the cape is Approx. 770m, and it takes about 20 minutes to reach it via an undulating walking path.
The scenery along the way, filled with nature and overlooking the clear blue sea known as Shakotan Blue, is truly spectacular.
At the tip are Kamui Rock and Cape Kamui Lighthouse, and you can see a rounded horizon stretching across 300 degrees around you.

Located on the Shakotan Peninsula in Hokkaido, Shimamui Coast is a spectacular spot known for its highly transparent sea and steep cliffs.
It has also been selected as one of Japan’s 100 Best Beaches, and its clear, beautiful sea is known as Shakotan Blue.
You reach the coast by passing through a pedestrian-only tunnel. Beyond the dark tunnel, a dynamic landscape of massive rocks and towering cliffs opens up, along with a brilliantly blue sea.

Located in Shakotan Town, Hokkaido, Ogon Cape is a cape jutting out into the sea from Bikuni Port, about 44km northwest of Otaru City.
The greatest appeal of Ogon Cape is the spectacular scenery created by sheer cliffs and the beautiful sea.
Walk along the gentle promenade called Chashina Path, and you will reach an observatory overlooking a small island known as Treasure Island.
Another recommended experience is to board the Shakotan Underwater Sightseeing Boat “New Shakotan-go,” which departs from Bikuni Port near Ogon Cape, and enjoy the beautiful underwater world of Shakotan Blue while touring scenic spots around the Shakotan Peninsula.