Kamikawa 上川総合振興局

Population figures are 2020 Census counts, as republished in Hokkaido's preliminary report on the 2025 Census⁴. Each municipality's own file has the latest resident-register figures.

• Shape and setting: Kamikawa lies near the centre of Hokkaido and is long and narrow from north to south³. The Daisetsuzan range, crowned by Asahidake (2,291 m), fills the centre. The Teshio and Kitami mountains rise to the north, and the Yubari and Hidaka ranges to the south. Between them lie three broad basins: the Kamikawa Basin around Asahikawa, the Nayoro Basin in the north and the Furano Basin in the south³. Asahidake, in Higashikawa, is Hokkaido's highest peak¹⁰⁶.
• Three river systems: The Ishikari River rises in Daisetsuzan and runs through the centre. The Teshio River rises on Mt. Teshio in Shibetsu and flows north through the northern half. The Sorachi River, an Ishikari tributary, drains the south³⁶. The Teshio is 256 km long, the second-longest river in Hokkaido¹¹. Shimukappu, over a further watershed, lies in the basin of the Mukawa River, which flows to the Pacific⁶.
• The Shiokari divide: Shiokari Pass, at about 44° N, separates the Ishikari basin (old Ishikari Province) from the Teshio basin (old Teshio Province). The area north of the pass is always counted as Dōhoku (northern Hokkaido); the area south of it is sometimes grouped with Dōō (central Hokkaido)⁶.
• Forests: Forest covers about 809,000 ha, 14.6% of Hokkaido's forest and the largest forest area of any subprefecture. National forest makes up 57.4% of it¹².
• Natural parks: One national park and three Hokkaido natural parks cover 132,056 ha, about 12% of the subprefecture¹⁰:
  • Daisetsuzan National Park (大雪山国立公園), designated on 4 December 1934, covers 226,764 ha, of which 100,324 ha is in Kamikawa¹⁰¹³. It was Japan's largest national park until Hidaka-sanmyaku Erimo Tokachi National Park (245,668 ha) was designated on 25 June 2024¹⁴.
  • Furano-Ashibetsu (富良野芦別, 1955), around Ashibetsu-dake and Yubari-dake, whose alpine flora is a national Natural Monument¹⁰.
  • Shumarinai (朱鞠内, 1974), around Lake Shumarinai, Japan's largest artificial lake¹⁰.
  • Teshiodake (天塩岳, 1978), around Mt. Teshio¹⁰.
• Climate: Ringed by mountains, the basins have a strongly inland climate with very large seasonal swings³.
  • On 25 January 1902 Asahikawa recorded −41.0 °C, still the lowest temperature at any JMA observatory in Japan³¹⁵. Furano reached 38.5 °C on 7 August 2021³.
  • The Moshiri district of Horokanai recorded −41.2 °C on 17 February 1978, lower than the official record but not recognised as one⁹.
  • Asahikawa's 1991–2020 normals are an annual mean of 7.2 °C (January −7.0 °C, August 21.2 °C), 1,104.4 mm of precipitation and 557 cm of snowfall a year¹⁶.
  • The north is far snowier. Otoineppu averages 1,216 cm of snowfall and 1,391.2 mm of precipitation a year¹⁷.
  • Because the region is long, conditions differ widely between the central, Furano and northern districts³.
• Volcano: Tokachidake, on the Biei–Kamifurano border, was raised to Volcanic Alert Level 3 (entry restricted) on 12 September 2026. JMA warns of large volcanic rocks within about 3 km of the crater, and the alert covers Furano, Biei, Kamifurano, Minamifurano and Shintoku in Tokachi. A bulletin on 21 September 2026 reported that activity had intensified¹⁸.

• Ainu country: The upper Ishikari basin was the land of the Kamikawa Ainu, who revered Daisetsuzan as Kamuy Mintar (カムイミンタラ), "the garden where the gods play". They settled along the Ishikari River, and their sacred places, rituals and legends are tied to its banks¹⁹ (see Culture below).
• Edo-period exploration:
  • In 1798 three shogunate officials came up the Teshio River into Kamikawa.
  • In 1807 Kondō Jūzō (近藤重蔵) surveyed the upper Ishikari.
  • In 1857 Matsuura Takeshirō (松浦武四郎) explored Kamikawa³.
• The name: In 1869 Matsuura, then an official of the Hokkaido Development Commission (開拓使), named the land upstream of Kamuikotan on the Ishikari "Kamikawa District, Ishikari Province". This is the origin of "Kamikawa" (上川, "upper river")³. Hokkaido in fact has three different Kamikawa Districts, in the old Ishikari, Teshio and Tokachi provinces. They border each other but have different origins²⁰.
• Opening the basin (1885–1893): In 1885 Iwamura Michitoshi (岩村通俊) and Nagayama Takeshirō (永山武四郎) climbed Chikabumi-yama to survey the basin. In 1890 the villages of Kamui, Asahikawa and Nagayama were created, and in 1891 400 tondenhei (farmer-soldier) households settled at Nagayama³. Further tondenhei villages followed: 400 households at Higashi-Asahikawa in 1892 and 400 at Toma in 1893²¹.
• The last tondenhei (1899): The final new tondenhei settlements were South and North Kenbuchi and Shibetsu, in July 1899. The system was abolished in 1904²¹. Wikipedia's company table gives 167 households for each Kenbuchi village and 100 for Shibetsu²¹, while Kenbuchi's own museum gives 337 households for Kenbuchi²².
• A subprefecture and an army town (1897–1922):
  • Kamikawa Subprefecture (上川支庁) was set up in Kamikawa District, Ishikari Province, in 1897³.
  • The government railway reached Asahikawa from Takikawa in 1898, and the Imperial Army's 7th Division moved to Asahikawa from Sapporo in 1901²³.
  • Asahikawa became a city on 1 August 1922⁸.
• Growing boundaries (1899–1906):
  • In 1899 the eastern part of Sorachi District, then Furano Village (today's Furano, Kamifurano, Nakafurano and Minamifurano), was transferred from Sorachi Subprefecture. The same year the Kamikawa District of Teshio Province was taken over from Mashike Subprefecture.
  • Nakagawa District (Teshio) followed from Mashike in 1901.
  • Shimukappu came from Muroran Subprefecture in 1906⁶.
• Population: The census population rose until 1965, fell for the first time in 1975, and grew again in 1985. It has fallen at every census since 1995³. In the Heisei-era mergers, the town of Asahi joined Shibetsu and the town of Furen joined Nayoro²⁴. Between 2020 and 2025 only Higashikawa (+5.0%) and Shimukappu (+13.9%) grew; Nakagawa fell by 19.5%⁴.
• The 2010 reorganization:
  • On 1 April 2010 Hokkaido's ordinance on general and ordinary subprefectural bureaus took effect². Kamikawa Subprefecture became the Kamikawa General Subprefectural Bureau (上川総合振興局), and Horokanai was moved in from Sorachi³⁶.
  • The ordinance had first planned a "Dōhoku General Subprefectural Bureau" (道北総合振興局), with Rumoi as a subordinate office. After protests that Rumoi was being downgraded, it was amended in March 2009 to keep the Kamikawa name and give Rumoi equal status. For some wide-area tasks, Kamikawa still serves the whole Kamikawa–Rumoi area⁶.
• Recent changes:
  • JR closed the Furano–Shintoku section of the Nemuro Line on 1 April 2024 and replaced it with buses²⁵.
  • The Furano–Biei Norokko sightseeing train, run since 1998, was scheduled to make its last runs on 23 September 2026²⁶.

• Jobs: The 2020 Census counted 223,811 workers, 9.5% of Hokkaido's total. Of these, 8.4% worked in primary industries (Hokkaido: 6.7%), 15.3% in secondary and 74.2% in tertiary³.
• Farming: Kamikawa is one of Hokkaido's main farm regions²⁷.
  • Land and farms: In 2023 it had 129,900 ha of farmland, 11% of Hokkaido's and third after Tokachi and Okhotsk. Paddy made up 60,600 ha (47%). Its 6,555 farm households (2020) were 17% of Hokkaido's, second after Sorachi²⁷.
  • Rice: The 2023 rice crop covered 27,500 ha, 29% of Hokkaido's and second after Sorachi. The leading varieties were Nanatsuboshi (11,053 ha) and Yumepirka (6,922 ha, 28% of Hokkaido's Yumepirka)²⁷.
  • Mochi rice: Glutinous rice covered 5,029 ha in 2023, 67% of Hokkaido's and the largest area of any subprefecture²⁷.
  • Buckwheat: 12,000 ha in 2023, 48% of Hokkaido's and first in Hokkaido, led by Horokanai, Asahikawa's Etanbetsu district and Otoineppu²⁷.
  • Other crops (2022–2023): vegetables 8,544 ha (2022), with asparagus and pumpkins first in Hokkaido by area; wheat 16,900 ha (fourth); soybeans 8,640 ha (third); sugar beet 2,940 ha (third); potatoes 2,350 ha (fourth); and malting barley 339 ha (second)²⁷.
  • Milk: Raw-milk deliveries through Hokuren's Asahikawa branch were 171,663 t in FY2023²⁷.
• Rice breeding: The Kamikawa Agricultural Experiment Station in Pippu breeds rice varieties for all of Hokkaido²⁸. Yumepirka was crossed there in 1997 and became a recommended Hokkaido variety in February 2008²⁹.
• Forestry and wood: In FY2023 Kamikawa harvested 653,000 m³ of timber, about 13% of Hokkaido's. It produced about 20% of Hokkaido's sawn timber and chips and about 50% of its glued-laminated timber. Its furniture and joinery lumber shipments are about 80% of Hokkaido's¹².
• Manufacturing: The 2021 Economic Census counted 544 plants with 12,593 workers and ¥306.6 billion in shipments, 5.6% of Hokkaido's. Food products made up 34.2% of shipments, and pulp and paper and wood products also rank high. Furniture makers account for about 30% of Hokkaido's furniture shipments³⁰.
• Commerce: Kamikawa had 4,388 wholesale and retail businesses with ¥1.398 trillion in annual sales in 2021. That is second only to Ishikari³¹.
• Tourism: In FY2025 the subprefecture counted 18.96 million visits, 98.6% of the previous year. The record is 20.00 million, in FY2007²⁴.
  • Visitors from outside Hokkaido rose to 47.0% of the total, and 2.76 million visitors stayed overnight²⁴.
  • Foreign overnight guests reached a record 892,296 (1,357,646 guest-nights). The largest groups came from Taiwan (30.7%), South Korea (15.9%) and China (11.4%). More than half of them (52.2%) came in winter²⁴.
• Aging: On 1 January 2024, 35.9% of residents were 65 or older, compared with 33.1% for Hokkaido³.

Regional specialties / 地域の特産品

Ainu heritage

• Japan Heritage: On 24 May 2018 the story "Kamikawa Ainu in Coexistence with Kamuy: Traditional World of the Gods at the Foot of Mt. Daisetsu" (カムイと共に生きる上川アイヌ) was recognised as Japan Heritage⁴⁰. Twelve municipalities take part. Eight are in Kamikawa: Asahikawa, Furano, Kamikawa, Aibetsu, Kamifurano, Toma, Higashikawa and Pippu. The other four are Kamishihoro, Shikaoi, Shihoro and Shintoku in Tokachi⁴¹⁴⁰.
• Its 21 component properties include⁴¹:
  • places: Kamuy Kotan gorge, the sacred mountain Cinomisir (Arashiyama), Cikapuni, the Ishikari River, Daisetsuzan as Kamuy Mintar, Tosshōzan Chashi and Mt. Ishigaki;
  • living rituals: the Cinomisir Kamuynomi, the Nupuri Kor Kamuynomi (a mountain prayer) and the owl-sending ceremony;
  • crafts and places of learning: Ainu dance, woodcarving, the Kawamura Kaneto Ainu Memorial Museum and the Asahikawa City Museum.
• Kawamura Kaneto Ainu Memorial Museum (川村カ子トアイヌ記念館), Asahikawa: opened by the Ainu Kawamura family in 1916 and described by the Hokkaido Government as Japan's oldest Ainu museum⁴².
• Kamikawa Town: The Kamikawa Ainu Association (上川アイヌ協会) and the association Peniunkur (ペニウンクル) carry on local traditions. A bamboo-grass chise (traditional house) was rebuilt in February 2016, and an owl-sending ceremony is part of the Sōunkyō Onsen Gorge Fire Festival⁴³.
• Bikky Sunazawa (砂澤ビッキ): The sculptor moved in 1978 to Osashima in Otoineppu. The Eco-Museum Osashima Center (Atelier 3 More), which recreates his studio, shows about 200 of his roughly 1,000 works (open 26 April–31 October; adults ¥300)⁴⁴.
• Chiri Yukie (知里幸恵): The film Kamui no Uta (カムイのうた) is based on this Ainu culture bearer, who was born in 1903 and died at 19. It was planned and produced by the town of Higashikawa⁴⁵.
• Naming Hokkaido: Matsuura Takeshirō is said to have named "Hokkaido" during his inland survey of the Teshio River¹¹. The naming site (北海道命名之地) is marked by a monument near Osashima in Otoineppu⁴⁶.
• Place names: Ainu place names cover the map, from Shibetsu (si-pet) and Furano (hura-nu-i) to Pippu, Biei and Wassamu; each municipality's file explains its own.

Festivals and events

Hokkaido Heritage (北海道遺産): Six Hokkaido Heritage items are in Kamikawa¹¹:

• the Teshio River, shared by 12 municipalities along it;
• Asahibashi Bridge in Asahikawa;
• the soil museum "Tsuchi no Yakata" in Kamifurano;
• Asahikawa furniture;
• the Miura Ayako Literature Museum and Foreign Tree Species Sample Forest in Asahikawa;
• Shimokawa's recycling-based forest culture in Shimokawa. Shimokawa cuts and replants about 50 ha of forest a year on a 60-year cycle¹¹, and it builds its town vision on the SDGs⁵⁶.

• Where visitors go: In FY2025 the most-visited municipalities were²⁴:

  • Asahikawa: 5.25 million
  • Biei: 2.60 million
  • Furano: 1.81 million
  • Shimukappu: 1.50 million
  • Kamikawa: 1.49 million
  • Higashikawa: 1.46 million
  • Nakafurano: 1.11 million

  Most foreign guests stay in Asahikawa, Kamikawa (Sōunkyō), Furano and Shimukappu (Tomamu), which together had 89.8% of foreign overnight guests²⁴.

• Asahiyama Zoo (旭山動物園), Asahikawa: Opened in 1967 as Japan's northernmost zoo. Its "behavioural exhibits" (行動展示) let animals show their natural abilities, and it passed 3 million visitors a year in 2007 and 2008⁵⁷.

• Daisetsuzan:

  • From Sōunkyō in Kamikawa, the 101-passenger Kurodake Ropeway climbs from 670 m to 1,300 m in about 7 minutes. Autumn colours start near the summit in early September and are billed as "Japan's earliest"⁵⁸.
  • Asahidake, Hokkaido's highest peak, rises in Higashikawa, whose Asahidake and Tenninkyō hot springs are gateways to the national park¹⁰⁶.

• The hills and flowers of the south: The patchwork hills of Biei, shaped by Tokachidake's volcanic activity⁵⁹, and the lavender of Nakafurano, Kamifurano and Furano. Fragrance companies stopped buying lavender oil in 1973, and most fields vanished; then a 1976 JNR calendar photo of Farm Tomita's field made it famous, and tourists began to come³⁶. The subprefecture notes that the south also draws TV and film location visitors⁶⁰.

• Snow: Furano Ski Resort became known worldwide after hosting the FIS World Cup in 1977 and has since held it 10 times⁶¹. Shimukappu's Tomamu resort adds the summer Unkai Terrace, a sea-of-clouds viewpoint at 1,088 m⁶².

• The north: Lake Shumarinai (2,373 ha) in Horokanai⁹, and the Teshio River. Canoeists can paddle about 160 km to the river mouth without a break, from 20 canoe ports¹¹.

• Gardens: The Hokkaido Garden Path (北海道ガーデン街道) links nine gardens over about 250 km from Daisetsu through Furano to Tokachi⁶³. Three are in Kamikawa: Daisetsu Mori-no-Garden in Kamikawa, Ueno Farm in Asahikawa and Kaze no Garden in Furano.

• Regional tourism organisation: The Taisetsu Kamui Mintara DMO promotes Asahikawa and eight towns (Takasu, Higashikagura, Toma, Pippu, Aibetsu, Kamikawa, Higashikawa and Biei) as the "Heart of Hokkaido"⁶⁴.

Suggested routes / おすすめルート

1. Hills, lavender and Tomamu (2–3 days, south):
   • Start in Asahikawa (Asahiyama Zoo, ramen).
   • Take Route 237 to Biei for the Patchwork Road and the Shirogane Blue Pond.
   • Continue to Kamifurano and Nakafurano for lavender in July.
   • Stay in Furano (wine, cheese, Kita no Kuni kara sites).
   • Finish at Lake Kanayama in Minamifurano and the Unkai Terrace at Tomamu in Shimukappu.
   • Check the Tokachidake volcano status before going up to the Shirogane or Tokachidake onsen areas.
2. Around Daisetsuzan (2 days, centre):
   • From Asahikawa or the airport in Higashikagura, drive to Higashikawa and ride the ropeway up Asahidake.
   • The next day, head north-east through Toma (limestone cave, Densuke watermelons in summer) and Aibetsu (mushroom dishes at Kyowa Onsen).
   • Finish at Sōunkyō Gorge and the Kurodake Ropeway in Kamikawa.
   • Pippu makes a strawberry-picking detour in June and July.
3. Route 40 and the Teshio River (2–3 days, north):
   • Follow National Route 40 north from Asahikawa over Shiokari Pass in Wassamu.
   • Stop at Kenbuchi (Picture Book Museum), Shibetsu (Sheep and Cloud Hill) and Nayoro (mochi, sunflowers, stargazing).
   • Continue to Bifuka (trolley rides, sturgeon), Otoineppu (black soba, Bikky Sunazawa) and Nakagawa (fossils).
   • Side trips reach Shimokawa and Horokanai (soba, Lake Shumarinai).
   • Seven Michi-no-Eki lie along this route and its side trips (see below).

Kamikawa has 14 registered Michi-no-Eki⁶⁵. Registration numbers are Hokkaido's official sequence.

Hours change by season, so check each station's page before you go. There is no Michi-no-Eki in Furano, Takasu, Higashikagura, Pippu, Aibetsu, Kamikawa, Kamifurano, Nakafurano, Wassamu or Shimokawa⁶⁵. Their files list the nearest alternatives.

• By air: Asahikawa Airport is in Higashikagura, about 4 km from the town hall⁸¹.
  • It opened in 1966, its runway was extended to 2,500 m in 1997, and an international terminal was added in November 2018. Private operators have run it since October 2020, as one of seven Hokkaido airports under a single concession⁸².
  • JAL, ANA and AIRDO fly to Tokyo Haneda 7 times a day (about 1 hour 45 minutes), and Jetstar once a day to Narita. There are also flights from Nagoya and Osaka. The airport bus to Asahikawa Station takes about 40 minutes⁸³.
  • The airport handled 1,049,553 passengers in FY2023⁸².
  • As of April 2025 its scheduled international flights were Tigerair Taiwan to Taipei and Asiana to Incheon⁸². The subprefecture's FY2025 tourism report notes that scheduled international flights at Asahikawa were suspended during that year²⁴.
  • Shimukappu, at the southern end, is linked to the New Chitose side by the Dōtō Expressway (see below)⁸⁴.
• By rail: Six JR lines run in Kamikawa: the Hakodate, Sekishō, Nemuro, Sekihoku, Sōya and Furano lines⁸².
  • The Kamui and Lilac limited expresses link Sapporo and Asahikawa in about 1 hour 25 minutes, every 30 minutes⁸³; the subprefecture gives about 1 hour 30 minutes⁸².
  • On the Sōya Line, the Sōya (Sapporo–Wakkanai) runs 396.2 km, the longest run of any diesel limited express in Japan. The Sarobetsu runs Asahikawa–Wakkanai⁸².
  • On the Sekihoku Line, the Okhotsk runs Sapporo–Abashiri and the special rapid Taisetsu runs Asahikawa–Abashiri⁸².
  • The Furano Line links Asahikawa, Biei and Furano. Since the Furano–Shintoku closure in 2024, buses link Furano, Ikutora and Tokachi, with Michi-no-Eki Minamifurano as the transfer point²⁵.
  • The Sekishō Line, one of the six, crosses Shimukappu⁸²; see that file for its Tomamu and Shimukappu stations.
• By road:
  • The Dō-Ō Expressway runs north from Sapporo past Asahikawa to its end at Shibetsu-Kenbuchi IC²⁰.
  • At Pippu JCT, the Asahikawa–Monbetsu Expressway (National Route 450) branches east through Aibetsu and Kamikawa toward the Okhotsk coast⁸⁵.
  • The Dōtō Expressway crosses Shimukappu, with Shimukappu and Tomamu interchanges. Its Yubari–Shimukappu section, opened on 29 October 2011, linked it to the Dō-Ō Expressway⁸⁴.
  • On the Asahikawa–Tokachi road, the 8.3 km Furano Road opened on 24 November 2018; the Furano-Kita and Asahikawa–Higashikagura sections are being built⁸².
  • In the far north, the toll-free, 19 km Otonaka Road (Otoineppu IC–Nakagawa IC) opened on 22 March 2026. It bypasses an avalanche-prone stretch of Route 40 and cuts about 10 minutes from the Asahikawa–Wakkanai drive⁸⁶.
  • By car, Sapporo to Asahikawa takes about 1 hour 50 minutes by expressway. The highway bus takes about 2 hours 5 minutes⁸³.
• Getting around: Distances are large, and many sights (Biei's hills, Asahidake, Sōunkyō, Lake Shumarinai) are easiest to reach by car. Each municipality file lists its local bus routes and taxis.
• Travel notes:
  • Winters are long and very cold; Kamikawa holds Japan's official low-temperature record³. Use winter tyres and allow extra time.
  • Brown bears live in the region's forests (general Hokkaido advice); check each municipality's sighting information before hiking.
  • Check Tokachidake's alert level before visiting the Biei and Kamifurano mountain onsen areas¹⁸.