Exploring Hokkaido by Train

You will often hear people saying that you need a car to explore Hokkaido. We will not argue that you can get to more places, more easily by car, but Exploring Hokkaido by train is still a good way to see and experience the charms of Hokkaido. TSJR recently undertook a Hokkaido Rail Trip travelling from Hakodate in the south to Wakkanai Japan’s most northerly railway station.

This article only covers some of the railways in Hokkaido. We hope to publish more Hokkaido articles in due course.

Explore Hokkaido by train…Explore Hokkaido’s Railways

We actually arrived in Hokkaido using the Hokkaido Shinkansen, but our aim on this trip was to travel as much as we could on local trains, where we could. However, we have to admit that in order to do our planned course we did have to travel quite a bit by Limited Express train, but as these travel along conventional lines we could still see a lot of Hokkaido’s great scenery.

For the rail enthusiast, Hokkaido has a lot to offer as well. All of its EMU rolling stock is unique to JR Hokkaido with its harsher winter weather. It is no secret that JR Hokkaido is not in a good financial position and many of its lines have low passenger usage, so it is still operating many JNR era trains, although in recent years they are being replaced by new H100 diesel cars (based on JR East’s GV-E400)

South Hokkaido Railway – View the Tsugaru Straits

Before the Hokkaido Shinkansen opened, by rail you had to take the Limited Express Hakucho or Limited Express Super Hakucho, between Honshu and Hokkaido. Today the only way by rail to get across the Tsugaru Straits which separate Honshu from Hokkaido is by using the Hokkaido Shinkansen. It uses the Seikan tunnel as did the previous limited express trains, but much of the scenic views you could see, you cannot from the shinkansen.

The South Hokkaido Railway, or Donan Isaribi Railway or Isatetsu as it is known locally(道南いさりび鉄道 or “いさ鉄” ) uses part of the former JR Esashi Line between Goryokaku and Kikonai. For much of the way the Isatetsu Line runs close to the coastline and you can see the Hakodate Peninsula. For those who travelled on the non shinkansen route from Aomori to Hakodate it will bring back memories.

Places to see / visit along the South Hokkaido railway are:

• Trappist Monastery – Oshima Tobetsu
• Yafurai Tenmangu Shrine & Old cars from the Hokutosei Sleeper train – Moheji
• Samegawa Shrine – Kikonai
• Tsugaru Straits and Mt Hakodate

Hakodate & Sapporo Trams

Both Hakodate and Sapporo have city tram systems. The Hakodate Tram in particular is a great way to get around the city. The Sapporo Tram goes in a large circular route , which although does not serve some of the top tourist spots it does nevertheless provide a good way to get round central Sapporo including the Odori shopping area, the Mt Moiwa ropeway entrance and the Susukino entertainment area.

The Hakodate Tram has two routes both of which serve Hakodate Station and have stops near to the Mt Hakodate Ropeway and Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse shopping & restaurant area, the Goryokaku Fort and Yunokawa Onsen area. Route 2 is convenient for the historical buildings & churches area of Motomachi.

For more information:

• Hakodate Tram: Hakodate Station Guide Hakodate Travel Guide
• Sapporo Tram: Sapporo Station Guide Sapporo Tourist Guide

Hakodate to Sapporo – the shortest distance but longest time…

The reason for this is actually quite logical, the route via Muroran and Chitose although still very rural, does serve more cities and also gives access to Lake Toya area. The Longer route however is a very scenic route as it travels between the mountains.

On the day that TSJR travelled on the route our train was bought to a sudden stop due to a bear on the line. Fortunately it was not hit and after a short while moved on.

There are only a few trains a day, so travelling this route does need some planning. We also had quite a long wait, and we were also quite surprised at the number of other passengers who were waiting for the same train. There is a soba noodle restaurant close to the station and you can walk to the coast line quite quickly.

To the most northern station in Japan – Wakkanai – a 5 hour Journey by Limited Express!

This is the longest Limited Express run in Japan, taking just over 5 hours to complete the journey one way between Sapporo and Wakkanai. You can actually do it by local train, but that will take you up to 15 hours, although you will only have to change trains twice. This is a challenge that many rail enthusiast in Japan aspires to achieve 8and many have!) The route is along the Hakodate Main Line to Asahikawa and then the Soya Line from Asahikawa to Wakkanai.

Whichever way you take, you are in for a long ride, so make sure to pick up some food, in particular look to get an Obento – packed meal).

There is quite a lot to see as you travel through the northern part of Japan, although apart from Sapporo and its outskirts and Asahikawa it is all very rural, although as you approach Toyotomi, the train line does come close to the sea line. On the TSJR trip we returned from Wakkanai on the return Limited Express Soya, which in the summer means that you have a chance to see the sunset

There are quite a few, mainly railway enthusiasts, who do this journey for the sake of the train ride, so at Wakkanai Station there are places to eat and buy snacks.

In fact the station is quite modern and a few meters back from the original station, but the end of the original line has been preserved and is a popular photo spot.

You may be interested to know that Wakkanai is closer to Russia (all be it disputed territory ) than it is to Sapporo and definitely Tokyo. You get a feel of how close by the fact that many of the road signs are in Japanese and Russian (Otaru is similar as many Russian ships used to call at Otaru Port).

Back to Hakodate but with an interesting diversion…

We returned to Hakodate along the Soya Main Line and Hakodate Main line to Sapporo and then along the Chitose Line and Muroran Line, with a brief stop off at Muroran, but our main goal was one of the Hakodate Main Line branches, the former Sawara Line branch

The first thing that strikes you when travelling on this line is that it is truly rural, with vegetation overhanging the line. The second thing is the station buildings, all now unstaffed, some very rudimentary (little more than huts) others a bit more substantial.

Ideas for travelling to / from Hokkaido