"Yukemuri Lumina" is an illumination that colors the nights of Jozankei, held every night from 6pm to 10pm at Jozangensen Park, Iwato Kannondo, Nuku no Mori and next to Omoideya. At Jozangensen Park, where you can soak your feet in a large foot bath, you can enjoy the illuminated trees and the projection mapping of "Bisen no Taki". Another popular winter event is the snow art festival "Snow Lantern Festival", which is unique to this hot spring area in the valley. At the main venue, "Prayer Forest", about 1,000 snow candles handmade by the people of the hot spring town are warmly lit, and the area is enveloped in a fantastic light created by the projection mapping and illumination.

Known as the inner sanctum of Sapporo, this hot spring town is located in the Toyohira River valley, about 50 minutes by car from central Sapporo. The water is a colorless, transparent sodium chloride spring with excellent heat retention. In recent years, it has also become popular as the "Sauna Powerhouse JZK (Jozankei)". In the hot spring town, stylish shops selling innovative Japanese-Western fusion sweets, gelato, bread, shaved ice, and more have attracted a lot of attention, with many young people lining up to get in. It has become common to see young people strolling through the hot spring town with their smartphones and sweets in hand, or relaxing in foot baths. The service "Stroll Jozankei," which introduces nearby stopover spots and walking courses for specific purposes when you scan the QR code on the sign with your mobile device, has also spurred tourism popularity.

The "Road to Encounter the Blue Lake Shikotsu" is a beautiful lakeside road that runs along the shores of Shikotsuko Onsen, where you can encounter the mysterious blue lake and volcanoes surrounded by virgin forest. You can enjoy a lakeside drive that allows you to enjoy the four seasons, with impressive morning mist and sunsets, the snow-capped mountains lining the lake, the deep green of summer, the autumn leaves, and the snowy scenery. As mountains such as Mt. Eniwa and Mt. Fuppushi drop off at a steep angle to the lake surface, you can view the scenic beauty from various angles by driving around the lake.
Leaving Lake Shikotsu and heading halfway down National Route 453 onto Prefectural Route 78, you will reach an observation deck over the mysterious Lake Okotanpe, located 324m above Lake Shikotsu. If you continue on from National Route 453 towards Eniwa City on the Prefectural Route Eniwadake Park Line, you will come to the Eniwa Valley on the Rarumanai River. You can see Shiraougi, Rarumanai, and Sandan Falls.

Lake Shikotsu does not freeze completely, but on the frozen days between January and March, you can enjoy the "Lake Shikotsu Ice Walk." You can break the ice and jump into the lake, climb onto drifting ice, or float on the lake - you can have fun however you like. You wear a wetsuit over your clothes, which keeps them dry, so you hardly feel the cold. In the mornings when the temperature drops, the water splashing off the roaring lake surface freezes and turns into "spray ice." It's a work of art created by nature.

Lake Shikotsu was born from volcanic activity about 40,000 years ago and is the northernmost ice-free lake in Japan, with a maximum depth of 363m. It is a gourd-shaped caldera lake with a circumference of about 42km, and according to a survey by the Ministry of the Environment, its transparency is 17.5m. From a sightseeing boat, you can see the columnar joints and aquatic plant forests below the surface. There are two hot springs , Marukoma Onsen and Ito Onsen, at the foot of Mt. Eniwa. The hot springs are colorless and transparent, and are good for your skin. The Shikotsuko Onsen: from Sapporo to the south, from Chitose to the west, and from Lake Toya to the east, so you can enjoy sightseeing around the lake. In winter, you can also enjoy the ice festival, the Chitose Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival. A group of ice sculptures of various sizes are made by spraying water from Lake Shikotsu onto a framework using sprinklers, and at night they are lit up, creating a world of fantasy.

A resort town surrounded by nature. A long-standing hot spring town dotted with a variety of hot springs. The spring qualities include sodium bicarbonate sulfate springs, sodium chloride bicarbonate sulfate springs, and sulfur-containing magnesium sodium sulfate chloride springs. For about 20 years, Niseko's powdery snow has been popular with skiers and snowboarders from Japan and abroad, with foreign tourists accounting for 90% of the total number depending on the season. The high-priced services aimed at wealthy overseas visitors are well known.

Ginrinso is an inn that was opened by relocating the Herring Palace built in 1873, also known as the "Guest House of the North." It is a historic building that recalls the glory of Otaru with its exterior and furnishings. In 1986, successful drilling was carried out, and the hot spring water that welled up from 1,300 meters underground is a chloride spring, which can be enjoyed in the large circular oriental-style bath or in the guest rooms. In the back garden on the hill, there is an elegant open-air rock bath, where you can enjoy a hot spring bath while looking out over Otaru city and the sea (closed from January 5th to March 31st due to heavy snowfall). It is also famous as a culinary inn, where you can enjoy luxurious Japanese and French cuisine.

The hot springs began as a spring on the southern shore of Lake Toya when Mt. Usu erupted in 1917, and a 43 degree hot spring source was discovered on the lakeshore in 1917. The eruption of Mt. Usu in 2000 instantly turned the hot springs town into a town of ash, but after the eruption the amount of water flowing out increased dramatically and the water quality changed to a brownish color. The springs are sodium and calcium chloride springs. Lake Toya is a caldera lake of about 70 km2 formed by a huge eruption about 110,000 years ago, and is at the northernmost limit of ice-free lakes in Hokkaido due to its warm climate. There are many attractions around the hot springs, such as Mt. Usu, Showa Shinzan, and Showa Shinzan Bear Ranch. At the "Long Run Fireworks Festival" held every year from the end of April to the end of October, 400 fireworks are launched every night.

Take a sightseeing boat around Lake Toya. Nakajima, which floats in the center, is the collective name for four islands: Oshima, Bentenjima, Kannonjima, and Manjujima. In summer, you can enjoy a cruise that allows you to disembark on Oshima, one of these islands, and enjoy facilities on the island such as the Nakajima Lake Forest Museum and the Lake and Forest Cafe. In winter, you will be enchanted by the contrast between the pure white snow-covered mountains and the crystal clear lake. During the Lake Toya Long Run Fireworks Festival, which is held every day from April to the end of October, you can cruise for about 2km along the launch point as the Toya Long Run Fireworks Viewing Boat. The fireworks you can see up close from the lake surface are spectacular.

About 30 minutes from Noboribetsu on the JR Muroran Main Line. Upopoy (Symbolic Space for Ethnic Coexistence), which opened in Shiraoi Town in July 2020, is a base for the revival and development of Ainu culture. It is a national facility where people of all ages can enjoy experiencing the diverse culture of the indigenous Ainu people.
The central facility is the National Ethnic Coexistence Park, which is a fascinating space where you can learn about the Ainu worldview and outlook on nature, with attractions such as the "Traditional Kotan" where a group of cise (houses) have been reproduced, the "Experience Learning Center" where you can cook and taste Ainu food and experience playing traditional musical instruments, and the "Experience Exchange Hall" where traditional Ainu performing arts such as ancient Ainu dance and performances on the mukkuri (mouth harp) are performed.

It is the oldest hot spring area in Hokkaido and is one of Hokkaido's three major hot spring resorts along with Noboribetsu and Jozankei. It is about 30 minutes by streetcar from JR Hakodate Station. It is also known as the "hot spring town closest to the airport in Japan" and is full of attractions that are more than enough for a tourist destination, such as its history related to the Boshin War at Goryokaku and other sites, the million-dollar night view from Mt. Hakodate, the nostalgic port town atmosphere reminiscent of the Meiji and Taisho eras at the Kanamori Red Brick Warehouse, and the fresh seafood at the morning market and Daimon Yokocho. The Tsugaru Strait is right in front of you, and during squid fishing season you can see the fishing lights. The hot spring boasts a daily volume of more than 7,000 tons, and the spring quality is sodium-calcium chloride spring.

This hot spring is located north of Noboribetsu Station, at an altitude of about 200m, surrounded by virgin forest. It later developed when Kinzo Takimoto, known as the father of hot spring therapy, built a hot spring inn and built a new road himself. The first attraction is Jigokudani. The area, which is 450m in diameter, exposes the reddish-brown earth and spews hot water and smoke. Nine of Japan's top 10 hot spring qualities bubble up here, with about 10,000 tons of water flowing out every day and a spring temperature of about 230 degrees. It is said that if this energy were collected for a year, it would be equivalent to a large volcanic eruption. You can also go around the nature trails that allow you to see the various hells. Inns, souvenir shops, and restaurants are lined up from the entrance to the hot spring town to Jigokudani. There are also many sightseeing spots nearby, such as Oyunuma, Shihomine, and Lake Kuttara.

From Otofuke Town, where Tokachigawa Onsen is located, head north on National Route 271 (Ashoro Kaido), and from Kamishihoro Town continue on National Route 273 to Lake Nukabira, a reservoir lake at the source of the Otofuke River. A must-see is the Shihoro Line's Taushubetsu River Bridge Ruins. It is a mysterious bridge that appears on the frozen lake surface in January when there is little water in the dam, begins to sink in June when the water level rises, and sinks to the bottom of the lake between August and October.
If you continue north on National Route 273, you will eventually reach the "Road in the Sky Standing in the Sea of ​​Trees," which continues to the Mikuni Pass Observatory, the highest point in Hokkaido. Surrounded by the mountains of the Daisetsu Mountains and virgin forests, the "Matsumi Ohashi Bridge" is 330 meters long. The dynamic and impressive scenery will take your breath away.

About 30 minutes by car from Tokachi Obihiro Airport. A hot spring town on the banks of the Tokachi River, on the outskirts of Obihiro City. Modern accommodations are dotted among the idyllic Tokachi Plain, which is filled with farmland. The hot spring, which has been loved by the Ainu people as a "medicinal swamp," is a rare moor hot spring in the world. It is a hot spring that springs up through a layer of ancient reeds and other plants, and is characterized by its high content of organic plant matter. The spring quality is sodium chloride and bicarbonate. There are multiple foot baths, so you can enjoy the moor hot spring even if you just drop in. Located almost in the center of the Tokachi Plain, surrounded by the Daisetsu Mountains to the north, the Hidaka Mountains to the west, and the Pacific Ocean to the south, it is also attractive because you can enjoy a variety of Hokkaido gourmet foods. If you go a little further, you will reach Toyokoro Town. You can encounter jewelry ice, which is only found here in the world.

National Route 334, which runs from Shari City along the deep blue coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, is a welcome road to Shiretoko, a World Heritage Site that is captivating with its untouched nature. You can experience the diverse faces of the Sea of Okhotsk, such as drift ice and sunsets, as well as the wild nature of waterfalls and wild animals.

Located on the west side of the Shiretoko Peninsula, there are Shiretoko Onsen along the coast looking due east towards Mt. Rausu, and Utoro Onsen which wells up on the Sea of ​​Okhotsk side of the Shiretoko Cross-Island Road. The hot springs are sodium-calcium chloride bicarbonate springs. The first spring, discovered by drilling in 1971, was located on high ground overlooking the sea, and subsequent springs have been located along the coast. There are three reasons why Shiretoko was selected as a Natural World Heritage Site in 2005: "the presence of an ecosystem of sea and mountains nurtured by drift ice," "biodiversity where rare plants and animals live," and "the wonderful conservation and management system." Shiretoko's precious environment is not left to nature, but is protected by people's hands.

Photo courtesy of Hokkaido Tourism Organization, Shiretoko Branch of the Natural Parks Foundation, and Shiretoko Shari Town Tourism Association