Ashoro 足寄町

• Largest town in Japan: 1,408.04 km² of land, mostly mountains and forest⁴⁵.
• Lake Onneto (オンネトー): a 2.5 km lake at the western foot of Meakan-dake that changes between clear blue, emerald green and dark blue⁸. It is counted among Hokkaido's "three secret lakes" (北海道三大秘湖)⁹. It was the first sight in Tokachi to get two stars in the Michelin travel guide⁴.
• Onneto Yunotaki (オンネトー湯の滝): a hot-spring waterfall where microbes lay down manganese oxide. It became a national natural monument in 2000¹⁰⁹.
• Rawan butterbur (ラワンぶき): a giant butterbur from the Rawan valley, 2–3 m tall, with stalks up to 10 cm thick. It has been selected as Hokkaido Heritage (北海道遺産)¹¹⁴.
• Fossils: the Ashoro Museum of Paleontology displays desmostylians such as Ashoroa laticosta and toothed baleen whales, all found in the town since 1976¹².
• Hometown of Chiharu Matsuyama (松山千春): the folk singer was born in Ashoro in 1955¹³. The Michi-no-Eki has a gallery about him¹⁴.
• Pasture-based dairy and cattle: about 25,000 dairy and beef cattle⁴. The town declared itself a "town promoting pasture dairy farming" (放牧酪農推進のまち) in 2004¹⁵. Local milk is made into natural cheese⁴.
• Meakan Onsen (雌阿寒温泉): a sulphur spring at the foot of the volcano, listed as a national health-resort spa (国民保養温泉地)⁵. It is linked with Masazō Nonaka, who ran the family inn there and was the world's oldest living man¹⁶¹⁷.

Nature & scenery

• Lake Onneto: the Meakan Onsen–Onneto area is about 50 minutes by car from the town centre²⁷. Four trails start here:
  • the observation-deck climb (800 m);
  • the east-shore course (1.6 km);
  • the pure spruce forest / Meakan Onsen course (2.2 km);
  • the Yunotaki course (1.4 km). In some years, when snowfall is light, the lake freezes clear between late November and early December⁸.
• Onneto Yunotaki: two falls 30 m high where algae and bacteria turn manganese in the water into black ore. This is described as the only place in the world where it happens on land. Bathing is banned to protect the deposit¹⁰.
• Nishikinuma (錦沼): a red-brown pond on prefectural road 949. Its colour contrasts with the pink rhododendrons (ハクサンシャクナゲ) in spring and the green spruce in summer²⁸.
• Sakhalin-spruce forest (アカエゾマツ純林): an almost pure stand near Meakan Onsen. Some trees are about 250 years old, and many reach 30 m⁴⁴.
• Rawan butterbur viewing field (ラワンぶき鑑賞圃場): a roadside plot at the Rawan-fuki-no-Sato building on Route 241, about 15 minutes towards Lake Akan from the town centre. The plants are at their best in June and July. A typhoon in 2016 damaged the Kami-Rawan patch, and visitors were allowed back into the field in 2021¹¹.
• Shirafuji Falls (白藤の滝): a 20 m waterfall that is cloudy all year from volcanic sulphur. It is reached by a gravel forest road off Route 241 and a steep 5-minute path⁴⁵.
• Ashoro Town Large-scale Grassland Ranch (大規模草地育成牧場): a 1,300 ha pasture with views of Meakan-dake and Akan-Fuji⁴.
• Shiowakka (シオワッカ): a mound of mineral deposit that is still growing from groundwater. It was designated the town's first cultural property in 1992⁴.

Onsen

• Yama-no-yado Nonaka Onsen (山の宿 野中温泉) at Meakan Onsen: now the only inn operating there. It has a strong hydrogen-sulphide spring. People call it the "longevity bath" because the world's oldest man lived here¹⁶. Masazō Nonaka ran the inn and died in January 2019 at 113¹⁷.
• Meto Onsen Hotel (芽登温泉ホテル): the spring rises naturally and flows unheated and unrecycled into the baths (自然湧出・源泉100%・かけ流し・加温なし)⁴⁶.
• Ginga-no-yu Ashoro (銀河の湯あしょろ): the town's day-use bathhouse in Nishimachi⁴⁶.

Museums & heritage

• Ashoro Museum of Paleontology (足寄動物化石博物館, "Fostory Ashoro"), at 1-29-25 Kōnan¹². It opened in 1998¹²⁴⁷.
  • Collection: fossils of the Late Oligocene "Ashoro fauna"⁴⁷. These include the desmostylians Ashoroa laticosta (found in 1976) and Behemotops katsuiei (found in 1980 by the Yabuki brothers, local amateurs)¹².
  • Whales: about 20 fossil whales have been found since 1982, the first including Morawanocetus yabukii. In 1995 four Ashoro specimens of toothed baleen whales received new scientific names¹².
  • Hours: 9:30–16:30. Closed on Tuesdays (the next day if Tuesday is a holiday) and from 28 December to 4 January. It opens on Tuesdays during Golden Week and school summer holidays⁴⁸.
  • Admission: ¥400 for adults and ¥200 for elementary to high-school students and people 65 or older. Preschoolers and Ashoro schoolchildren get in free⁴⁸.
  • Activities: a mini fossil dig (¥200), plaster replicas (¥200) and model-making (¥400). No booking is needed for individuals⁴⁹.
• Furusato Ginga Line display and Chiharu Matsuyama gallery at the Michi-no-Eki: see below⁴².

Outdoor & seasonal activities

• Climbing Meakan-dake: there are three routes:
  • from Meakan Onsen: 3.0 km, 800 m of ascent;
  • from Onneto: 4.4 km;
  • from Lake Akan: 6.2 km. A round trip takes 4–6 hours. A side trip to Akan-Fuji adds about 1.5 hours. Alpine flowers bloom from June to August, including Meakan-fusuma and Meakan-kinbai, which were both first found on Meakan-dake²⁶.
• Onneto National Campground (オンネトー国設野営場): open 1 June–31 October. It costs ¥1,000 per adult per night, and individuals cannot book. It has showers and Wi-Fi in the rest house and parking for 80 cars⁵⁰.
• Satomigaoka Park (里見が丘公園):
  • Children's play: bouncy "fuwafuwa" domes and a hillside play structure, open from late April to about the end of October, and water channels open from late April to late September⁵¹.
  • A foot bath that is open all year⁵¹.
  • A campground with tent pitches (¥400) and bungalows⁵².
• Winter: the Onneto road is closed, but you can snowshoe in to the lake²⁷.

Food experiences

• The Rawan butterbur harvest festival in June is the main chance to buy fresh stalks³⁶.
• At the Michi-no-Eki you can try Rawan-butterbur soft-serve and the Ashoro bento, and buy local strawberries at Yotte Bisai¹⁴³¹.

Ashoro Ginga Hall 21 (道の駅あしょろ銀河ホール21)

• Location: Kita 1-jō 1-chōme 3, Ashoro. It is at the junction of National Routes 241 and 242, which link Kitami–Abashiri, Kushiro and Tokachi, and is 5 km from the Ashoro IC on the Dōtō Expressway¹⁴. The building was the former Ashoro Station of the Furusato Ginga Line: the new station building was completed in December 1994, and Ginga Hall 21 opened on 1 April 1995²⁰. (The town's tourism page says it was built in 2004⁴².) Tel. 0156-25-6131¹⁴.
• Hours (as of September 2026 — check before visiting):
  • The official Hokkaido Michi-no-Eki site lists the station as open 8:00–18:00 from May to September and 8:00–17:00 from October to April. The shop opens 10:00–18:00 (May–September) or 10:00–17:00 (October–April), and the restaurant 11:00–15:00. It closes on Thursdays except in July and August, and from 30 December to 3 January¹⁴.
  • The town's own page gives 9:00–18:00 from late April to mid-October and 9:00–17:00 in the off-season. It says the shop and restaurant have closed on Thursdays since April 2025, except during Golden Week and summer⁴².
• Shops & products:
  • Local cheeses, including Ashoro's matured mozzarella Koro, Rawan-butterbur products, cheesecake and other local products¹⁴⁴².
  • A bakery with fresh bread⁴².
  • Wood candles and kindling³⁵.
  • On the south side of the site are JA Ashoro's farm shop Yotte Bisai (9:00–16:00, closed Tuesdays), which sells strawberries grown in the town, and two small "challenge shop" eateries. A branch of the long-established Kappō Kumanoko (割烹熊の子) serves its butadon and closes in winter⁴²³¹.
• Food: Restaurant Ashoro serves Chinese dishes such as tantanmen and gomoku ankake yakisoba. It also serves the Ashoro bento with Rawan butterbur¹⁴. A takeout counter sells croquettes and soft-serve, and the signature flavour is Rawan-butterbur soft-serve (ラワンぶきソフト)⁴²¹⁴.
• Facilities:
  • Parking for 10 large vehicles and 82 cars.
  • 24-hour toilets, including an accessible toilet with an ostomate fitting.
  • An EV charger and Wi-Fi.
  • A tourist information desk, a nursing room and a kids' space¹⁴.
  • It is also the town's bus terminal, where Tokachi Bus services stop²⁰⁵³. The bus stop is in front of a multipurpose building in the transport plaza on the north side, which recreates the old wooden station building in local larch. It holds the bus waiting room and the Ashigata Kōbō footprint workshop (¥3,000 for non-residents, 10:00–16:00, closed Mondays and in winter)¹⁴²⁰.
  • The NPO Ashoro Tourism Association has its office in the building²⁰⁵⁴.
  • Inside are a hall and meeting rooms⁴².
• Notes:
  • Registered on 9 August 2004 as Hokkaido station No. 84¹⁴.
  • The building was renovated and reopened on 18 April 2011⁴².
  • A Furusato Ginga Line display recreates the platform and trains⁴².
  • The stamp can be used 24 hours a day, even on closing days¹⁴.
• Former station: Michi-no-Eki Ashoro-ko (足寄湖) on Route 241 at Nakaya was registered on 22 April 1993 as No. 10. It had a park and a 1.6 ha dog run. Its registration was cancelled on 31 January 2022 at the town's request, to merge its role into Ginga Hall 21, so it no longer counts as a Michi-no-Eki²⁴⁵⁵²³. The dog run, parking and toilets stayed open²³.

• Rail: there has been no passenger railway since the Furusato Ginga Line closed in April 2006⁶²⁰. The nearest JR station is Ikeda on the Nemuro Line⁵. Tokachi Bus takes about 1 hour 15 minutes from Ashoro to Ikeda Station⁵⁶.
• Bus:
  • Tokachi Bus route 17, the Obihiro–Rikubetsu Line, runs through Ashoro⁵³. As of April 2026 there were nine trips each way on weekdays, with a few fewer at weekends and on holidays, and Ashoro to Obihiro Station bus terminal took about 2 hours 12 minutes⁵⁶.
  • Hokkaido Kitami Bus runs Kitami–Oketo–Rikubetsu and connects with it at Rikubetsu⁵⁶.
  • A community bus, Ashi-bus (あしバス), has served the town centre since 2014⁴.
• Road:
  • The Ashoro IC on the Dōtō Expressway opened in 2003⁴.
  • National Routes 241 (to Obihiro and Akan), 242 (Honbetsu to Rikubetsu) and 274 serve the town⁶.
  • Prefectural road 949 leads from Route 241 to Meakan Onsen and Onneto¹⁶⁸.
• Driving distances, according to the town profile⁴:
  • Sapporo: about 245 km, 3 hours 20 minutes.
  • Obihiro: 65 km, 1 hour 5 minutes.
  • Kushiro: 90 km, 1 hour 35 minutes.
  • Kitami: 85 km, 1 hour 25 minutes.
  • Asahikawa: 180 km, 3 hours.
• Air: the town profile lists four nearby airports: Tokachi-Obihiro, New Chitose, Kushiro and Memanbetsu. Flights from Tokyo to each take about 1½ hours⁴.

• Best seasons:
  • June for Rawan butterbur and the harvest festival³⁶.
  • June to August for the alpine flowers on Meakan-dake²⁶.
  • Summer and autumn for Lake Onneto. In years with little snow and the right conditions, the lake freezes clear between late November and early December⁸.
• Winter access:
  • Prefectural road 949 (the Onneto Line) is usually closed from early December to early April. Meakan Onsen can still be reached all year¹⁰⁸.
  • Road 664 closes from early November to early May⁸.
  • Record lows here are below −29 °C³⁰.
• Volcano: Meakan-dake is active and its alert level has moved between 1 and 2 since 2008. Check the current level before climbing²⁶.
• Wildlife:
  • The town publishes a brown-bear sighting map on its website⁵⁷.
  • Sika deer and other wildlife live in the Onneto forests²⁷.
  • Take bear precautions on trails and drive carefully at dusk.
• Opening days: the Michi-no-Eki closes on most Thursdays¹⁴, and the fossil museum on Tuesdays⁴⁸.
• Camping rules: the Onneto campground does not take bookings from individuals⁵⁰. Satomigaoka campground does not allow pets or sleeping in vehicles⁵².
• Tourist information: NPO Ashoro Tourism Association (NPO法人あしょろ観光協会), tel. 0156-25-6131⁵⁴.