Muroran

Muroran (室蘭) is a city in Hokkaido's Central Circuit.

Understand

Located on a hook-shaped peninsula, Muroran is a declining industrial town and a fishing port, overshadowed on the tourist radar by the hot springs of Noboribetsu nearby. Still the headquarters of Japan Steel Works, employment at the mill has plummeted from tens of thousands to hundreds and the town has shrunk with it, losing nearly half its population since 1980.

Tourist information

The local tourist association has a Japanese-only guide site, Otto! Muroran, with integrated machine translation.

Get in

By train

Muroran has two major stations. Roughly hourly Hokuto limited expresses between Sapporo (1 hr 15 min) and Hakodate (2 hr 30 min) stop at 1 Higashi-Muroran Station (東室蘭駅) on the eastern side of town, where you can connect to the JR Muroran Line for the final 10-minute trundle into 2 Muroran Station (室蘭駅) in the center of town. There are also around 5 Suzuran limited expresses daily directly from Sapporo to Muroran station.

The Hokkaido Shinkansen, due to be completed in 2030, will tunnel through the mountains and bypass Muroran entirely, requiring a transfer at Oshamambe (1:30 away) instead.

By ferry

Tsugaru Kaikyo Ferry operates a daily car ferry from Aomori (7 hours, from ¥5,090).

See

• Chikyu Misaki - A scenic cape with a lighthouse.
• Hakucho Bridge - The largest suspension bridge in eastern Japan.
• Senkai Temple

Eat

The original Muroran curry ramen at Ajinodaiō

Muroran's most famous dish is curry ramen, which is exactly what it sounds like: the unholy love child of Japanese curry with ramen.

• 1 Ajinodaiō Muroran Honten (味の大王 室蘭本店). W-M 11:00-15:00. The original inventors of curry ramen. Now franchised around the city, but this unassuming shop is the original. Curry ramen ¥930. (updated Mar 2024)

Go next

• Noboribetsu — one of Japan's largest hot spring resorts, only 15 minutes away by train
• Shiraoi
• Tomakomai
• Chitose
• Date
• Toyako
• Sobetsu
• Kuromatsunai
• Oshamambe

Routes through Muroran

Tomakomai ← Noboribetsu ←	N  S	→ Toyako → Oshamambe
Sapporo ← Noboribetsu ←	N  S	→ Toyako → Oshamambe