Hokuto (Hokkaido)

Not to be confused with Hokuto (Yamanashi) (北杜) City.

Hokuto (北斗市, Hokuto-shi) is a small city in Hokkaido.

Understand

Hokuto is located at the southern end of Japan's northernmost prefecture, Hokkaido, and is immediately west of Hakodate. The city was formed by the merger of Kamiiso and Ōno towns on February 1, 2006. It is now the 2nd largest city in Oshima Subprefecture with a population of about 50,000 people.

Hokuto is the northern terminus of the Hokkaido Shinkansen. Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station is located at the former site of Oshima-Ono Station.

Tourist information sites

• The local tourist association has a multilingual guide site.

• The city government's official site has a Japanese-only tourism section.

Get in

Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station can be reached from Sapporo via the Hokuto Limited Express line in three and a half hours, or from Tokyo via the Tohoku-Hokkaido Shinkansen in as little as four hours.

The nearest airport is Hakodate Airport, which is about 45 minutes away by car or taxi.

Get around

The JR Esashi Line runs east-west across Hokuto along the coast and connects most of the major residential and commercial areas. Services are infrequent with usually an hour gap between each train (in either direction). Kamiiso Station has a JR ticket office where one can reserve tickets for any JR service in Japan. The one-way fare from Kamiiso Station to Hakodate Station is ¥260.

A local bus service connects Ōno with Kamiiso.

See

Trappist Monastery

• Trappist Monastery (トラピスト修道院), 392 Mitsuishi (三ツ石３９２) (20 mins walk from JR Oshimatobetsu Station), ☏ +81 138-75-2139. The first monastery in Japan. Built in 1908, the building sits in a quiet forest in the hills behind Ishibetsu. Free (men only, with reservation). 

Go next

• Hakodate (函館市 hakodate-shi), a popular tourist destination and the largest city in Oshima Subprefecture. It's immediately to the east of Hokuto and is easily accessible by local trains and buses from Hokuto.
• Lake Onuma (大沼湖 ōnuma-ko), a "quasi-national park" that's about an hour to the northeast by local trains from Kamiiso (change at Goryokaku Station), offers a pleasant quick gateway. Oshima-Ōno Station (the future location of Shin-Hakodate Shinkansen Station) in northern Hokuto offers a direct local train to the park's entrance at Onuma Park Station.
• Nanae (函館七飯スノーパーク　hakodate nanae sunōpāku), a mid-sized ski resort adjacent to Lake Onuma and accessible by bus from Onuma Station. Features 2 chairlifts and a gondola as well as a rental shop.
• Matsumae (松前), an hour and a half drive from Hokuto along the coast, has the only castle in Hokkaidō, which is in Matsumae park, famed in southern Hokkaidō (南北海道 minami hokkaidō) for excellent cherry blossom viewing in late April/early May.
• Fukushima
• Kaminokuni
• Esashi
• Imabetsu
• Aomori
• Tokyo is the southern terminus of the new Tohoku-Hokkaido Shinkansen, and can be reached in just over four hours.