Hokkaido’s city of rivers · 川と橋のまち

Where four rivers meet below the Daisetsuzan大雪山のふもと、四つの川が出会うまち

Penguins on the snow, soy-sauce ramen, sake brewed from mountain snowmelt, and Japan’s official record low: −41.0 °C. Asahikawa is Hokkaido’s second city and the gateway to Biei, Furano and Asahidake.^{⁠[2][4][7][8][10][18]}

−41.0 °CJapan’s official record low, 25 January 1902^⁠[10]
750+bridges across 140 rivers^⁠[1][15]
1972Japan’s first permanent pedestrian street opens^⁠[2]
2019UNESCO Creative City of Design^⁠[1]

Asahikawa in five minutes

Autumn fields roll toward snow-capped mountains from Shūjitsu Hill, Asahikawa — © HOKKAIDO LOVE!

Shūjitsu Hill in autumnFields roll toward snow-capped peaks.

Hello! I’m Kawapen. Let’s follow the rivers around town.こんにちは、川ペンです。

Now and next

What’s on, and what’s next いまとこれから

IN SEASON NOW

Katakuri lilies carpet Otokoyama Nature Park, one of Hokkaido’s largest wild fields^⁠[19]mid-Apr – early May
Katakuri on Tosshōzan hill, one of Japan’s largest colonies^⁠[4]

IN SEASON NOW

Hokkaido Music Grand Parade, first held in 1929^⁠[1][33]early Jun
Summer Festival, opening with fireworks on the Ishikari riverbank by Asahibashi Bridge^⁠[34]late Jul – early Aug
Night Zoo: Asahiyama Zoo stays open into the evening^⁠[31]mid-Aug

IN SEASON NOW

Tabe Marche: a food festival from the station all the way down Heiwa-dōri^⁠[35]mid-Sep
Ainu Culture Festival, organized by the city museum^⁠[36]Sep
Autumn colors on Asahidake (Higashikawa) and Kurodake (Kamikawa); the tourist association forecasts the peak each year^{⁠[31][49][96][103]}Sep – Oct

IN SEASON NOW

Winter Festival: the main snow sculpture is 140 m wide and 20 m high^⁠[5]early Feb
Penguins walk on the snow at Asahiyama Zoo, daily when there is snow^⁠[7]
Ice Sculpture World Contest on the Heiwa-dōri pedestrian mall^⁠[2]early Feb

The year, month by month

River map

Where the four rivers meet 観る・遊ぶ

Drawn from OpenStreetMap. Pins are sights and names are the six districts: tap one to see what is there, and tap it again to open its page.

All places on the map (14)

All the sights The six districts

Special

Stories from the riverbanks 特集

Tap the heart to keep a story for later (saved in this browser).

Higashi-Asahikawa
The zoo that let animals be animals
Japan’s northernmost zoo turned “behavioral exhibits” into a national hit.
Nagayama
A bowl that keeps its heat
Double soup, wavy noodles and a lid of lard: the city’s soy-sauce ramen, and what to eat after it.
Photo: Asahikawa City
Nagayama
Sake from Daisetsuzan snowmelt
Three breweries, a free museum and spring water you can take home.
Photo: Jennifer Feuchter · CC BY 2.0 · 2010 · Wikimedia Commons
Nagayama
A furniture town that became a design city
Over 120 years of woodworking, and a UNESCO Creative City of Design since 2019.
Photo: Nissy-KITAQ · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2022 · Wikimedia Commons
Hokumon-chō
Chiw-pet: the river before the city
A museum that calls itself Japan’s oldest Ainu museum, Ainu place-name signs around the city, and ceremonies still held today.
Photo: Asahikawa City

Food & drink

Warm bowls, snowmelt sake 食べる・飲む

Shoyu ramen醤油ラーメン
Double soup, lard on top, wavy noodles.^⁠[8]
Shio-horumon塩ホルモン
Salted pork offal over charcoal, said to have started here.^⁠[24]
Shinko-yaki新子焼き
Half a young chicken, grilled crisp. A postwar favorite.^⁠[24]
Local sake地酒
Otokoyama, Takasago, Taisetsu no Kura.^⁠[2]
Taisetsu Ji Beer大雪地ビール
Brewed with Daisetsuzan water; beer hall in a historic warehouse.^⁠[8][4]
Jundogジュンドッグ
Half rice ball, half hot dog.^⁠[4]

Ramen Village gathers eight counters under one roof in Nagayama.^⁠[25]

Everything to eat and drink

Model course

One day along the rivers モデルコース

MORNINGJR Asahikawa StationDrop bags at the visitor center on the east concourse.^⁠[42]
Heiwa-dōri Kaimono KōenJapan’s first permanent pedestrian shopping street, in the city center.^⁠[2]
Tokiwa ParkChidorigaike pond and the art museum.^⁠[15]
Asahibashi BridgeThe 1932 steel arch over the Ishikari, the city’s symbol.^⁠[1][15]
AFTERNOONAsahiyama ZooAsk the station visitor center about buses; the Asakuru Pass covers both city bus companies.^⁠[42][48]
EVENINGRamen Village, NagayamaEight counters, one roof. Shoyu, of course.^⁠[25][8]

All three model courses

Access & tips

Before you set off 旅の準備

Getting hereアクセス
Limited express from Sapporo: about 1 h 25 min, every 30 min. Asahikawa Airport has 7 round trips a day to Tokyo Haneda (about 1 h 45 min); the airport bus to the station takes about 40 min, and about 99% of flights operate.^⁠[47][18]
Visitor center観光案内所
At JR Asahikawa Station’s east concourse, with English and Chinese speakers. It stores large luggage, rents bicycles in summer and cross-country skis and snowshoes in winter, and rents bear spray.^⁠[42]
Getting around市内の移動
The “Asakuru Pass” gives unlimited rides for one or two days on both city bus companies.^⁠[48]
Winter冬の旅
January averages −7.0 °C and about 5.5 m of snow falls a season. Bring proper winter boots and allow extra time on the roads.^⁠[22][4]
Accommodation tax宿泊税
Since April 2026, ¥300–700 per person per night (city and Hokkaido tax combined), depending on the room rate.^⁠[17][23]
Brown bearsヒグマ
Sightings rose to 91 in FY2025, from 40 in FY2019. Avoid dawn and dusk walks near forest edges and rivers, and check the city’s live sighting map.^⁠[50]

Upstream and over the hills 日帰り

© HOKKAIDO LOVE!
Asahidake (Higashikawa)
Hokkaido’s highest peak and its hot-spring village.
Ideyu-gō bus from JR Asahikawa Station to Asahidake Onsen: first bus 7:15, arriving 9:03^⁠[52][96]
© HOKKAIDO LOVE!
Sōunkyō Gorge (Kamikawa)
Columnar cliffs, onsen and the Kurodake ropeway.
Limited express to Kamikawa, 40–45 min, then bus^{⁠[54][55][102][103]}
© HOKKAIDO LOVE!
Higashikagura
A “flower town”, with a lakeside park and an onsen hotel that looks out on the Daisetsuzan range.
About 25 min by car from the station^{⁠[56][107][106][108]}

Plan your visit in full Day trips in detail

Where to?

Where four rivers meet below the Daisetsuzan大雪山のふもと、四つの川が出会うまち

What’s on, and what’s next いまとこれから

Coming up これからの行事

Where the four rivers meet 観る・遊ぶ

Stories from the riverbanks 特集

The zoo that let animals be animals

A bowl that keeps its heat

Sake from Daisetsuzan snowmelt

A furniture town that became a design city

Chiw-pet: the river before the city

Warm bowls, snowmelt sake 食べる・飲む

One day along the rivers モデルコース

Before you set off 旅の準備

Getting hereアクセス

Visitor center観光案内所

Getting around市内の移動

Winter冬の旅

Accommodation tax宿泊税

Brown bearsヒグマ

Upstream and over the hills 日帰り

Biei

Asahidake (Higashikawa)

Sōunkyō Gorge (Kamikawa)

Higashikagura