Tokachidake Onsen — photo: Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
The 3 best onsen near Furano and Biei
If you are in Furano or Biei and want a real hot spring town, the three to look at are Tokachidake, Shirogane and Fukiage. None of them is in Furano city itself. All three are up on the slopes of Mount Tokachi, east of the JR Furano Line: Tokachidake and Fukiage by town bus from Kami-Furano Station, Shirogane by bus from Biei Station. Of the 4 onsen in our data in the Furano and Biei area, they are the three best known, and all of them can be reached without a car.
Why these three, in one paragraph
We did not pick by taste. We took every onsen in our data in the five towns of the Furano and Biei area (Furano, Kami-Furano, Naka-Furano, Minami-Furano and Biei), kept the ones where our travel data says you do not need a car, and ranked them by how often each town's Wikipedia article is read, as a measure of how established a place is. The full method, with numbers, is at the end.
A word about the hotel baths in Furano
Furano city has hotel baths and day baths, including the ones most skiers use after a day on the slopes, such as Highland Furano. Our data is organised by hot spring town, not by building, and none of the 4 towns in our data is in Furano city. The closest, Furanui, is 15 km from Furano Station in a straight line; the three on this page are 22 to 23 km away and much higher up. So this guide is about the trip up the mountain, not about which hotel bath to choose.
1. Tokachidake: the highest and most acidic
Why it made it. Tokachidake Onsen is the best known of the four, at 205 in our count, five points ahead of Shirogane. Its water is recorded at pH 2.4. Of the 596 onsen in our data with a pH on record, only 18 are that acidic or more.
The place. Three inns at the end of the road on the side of Mount Tokachi, an active volcano whose summit is 3.5 km away in a straight line. There is no town around them: you come for the bath and the mountain. In winter the road over from Biei is closed, so you reach it from Kami-Furano only.
The water. Recorded at 29 to 53 °C and listed under three labels: sulfate, iron and acidic. Iron water is clear at the source and turns reddish brown as it meets the air, so the baths here are often that colour. Acid water stings on cuts and grazes; do not rub your eyes, and rinse with plain water after.
Getting there. The JR Furano Line to 上富良野 (Kami-Furano Station), then the Kami-Furano town bus to the end of the line. Our data puts the bus at about 52 minutes; inn and travel sites say about 40. Our data puts it at about 3 hours from Sapporo. The JR Pass covers the train, not the bus.
Good for: strong, unusual water, a night in the mountains, the start of a walk on Mount Tokachi. Watch out for: the bus runs only a few times a day; check the timetable before you set out, and do not plan a late return.
2. Shirogane: the one with the most inns
Why it made it. Shirogane Onsen is second at 200. With 7 inns it is the largest of the three by far.
The place. A small spa village in Biei town, at the foot of the same mountains. Shirahige Falls, where spring water pours out of a cliff into the Biei River, is about three minutes' walk from the bus stop. Of the three it feels most like a place to stay rather than a single inn on a mountain.
The water. Recorded at 46 to 55 °C, the hottest of the three, and listed as chloride and sulfate. We have no pH on record for Shirogane, so we do not say how acidic it is.
Getting there. The JR Furano Line to 美瑛 (Biei Station), then a Dohoku Bus towards Shirogane of about 30 to 35 minutes, getting off at 白金温泉. Our data puts it at about 3 hours from Sapporo. The JR Pass covers the train, not the bus. Biei is also the station closest to Asahikawa, so it is the easiest of the three if you are coming from the north.
Good for: a first night in the area, a choice of inns, the falls in the evening. Watch out for: we have no map point for Shirogane in our data, so the distances on this page do not include it.
3. Fukiage: the free outdoor bath
Why it made it. Fukiage Onsen is third at 181. Its water is recorded at pH 2.6. In our data only 4 of the 78 onsen in Hokkaido with a pH on record are at 2.6 or lower, and two of them are Fukiage and Tokachidake, 2 km apart.
The place. One lodge with day baths, and below it a free open-air bath in the woods, known in Japanese as 吹上露天の湯. The free bath is mixed, open at all hours, unlit at night, and has no changing room. Many women wear a swimsuit or a bath towel there. Our guide to mixed bathing explains how that works.
The water. Recorded at 42 to 48 °C and listed under three labels: chloride, sulfate and acidic. Like Tokachidake's, it stings on cuts and should be rinsed off.
Getting there. The same Kami-Furano town bus as Tokachidake, about 30 minutes from 上富良野 (Kami-Furano Station). Get off at the lodge for the day baths; for the free bath, travel sites name a stop nearby, so ask the driver. Our data puts it at about 3 hours from Sapporo.
Good for: a free soak in the forest, combining with Tokachidake on the same bus line. Watch out for: take a torch if you go after dark, and change before you arrive.
Which of the three?
- The strongest water: Tokachidake, pH 2.4.
- The most choice of where to sleep: Shirogane, 7 inns.
- The hottest water on record: Shirogane, up to 55 °C.
- No budget, no booking: the free bath at Fukiage.
- Two baths in one trip: Fukiage and Tokachidake, on the same bus line.
The places that only just missed
Furanui Onsen (21) is the fourth onsen in the area and the closest to Furano, about 15 minutes on foot from Kami-Furano Station by our data. It is recorded at 34.2 °C and pH 7.2, chloride and bicarbonate, with about 240 litres a minute and one inn. It is the easy option if you do not want to ride a mountain bus, but far less known.
The best-known onsen nearby is outside the area. Tenninkyō (570) and Asahidake (223) are in Higashikawa, on the Asahikawa side of the mountains, about 45 and 47 km from Furano Station; we have no travel data for Tenninkyō, and Asahidake is reached from Asahikawa. Our guide to hiking to an onsen covers the walk from Asahidake. Ashibetsu (93) is 25 km west of Furano but in Ashibetsu city, over the hills, and its water is 10 to 15 °C, so the baths are heated.
For the island as a whole, see onsen in Hokkaido. Skiing in Furano? Our best onsen ski resorts compares it with the rest of the country. Coming from Sapporo, Jozankei and Noboribetsu are much closer.
How we picked these three
- Starting pool: every onsen in our data in Furano, Kami-Furano, Naka-Furano, Minami-Furano and Biei: 4 in all, three in Kami-Furano and one, Shirogane, in Biei.
- No car needed: all 4 are marked in our travel data as reached without a car: Tokachidake and Fukiage by town bus from Kami-Furano, Shirogane by bus from Biei, Furanui on foot from Kami-Furano.
- Known: we ranked the 4 by how often each place's Wikipedia article is read. Tokachidake 205, Shirogane 200, Fukiage 181, then Furanui 21.
- Not used: views, inn quality, price, tattoo policy, food, private baths or distance to the ski area. We have no data that ranks those fairly, so we did not pretend to.
- About the water: all 4 have a temperature on record, from Furanui at 34.2 °C to Shirogane at 55 °C. The water did not decide the ranking.
- Correction: our travel data marks Kami-Furano Station as "not a JR line". It is on the JR Furano Line, so the JR Pass covers the train there; the town buses are not covered.
- Distances are in a straight line from Furano Station or from the town's map point; travel times are rough estimates from our data, not a timetable. The Furano Line is 54.8 km from Asahikawa to Furano, with local trains only. Check the current route before you go.
For every onsen you can reach by train, see onsen on the JR Pass and onsen you can reach without a car. What do "acidic" and "sulfate" mean? See onsen water types. New to this? Start with how an onsen stay actually works and onsen etiquette. Tattooed? Read going to an onsen with tattoos before you book.