Jōzankei Onsen — photo: Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Jozankei onsen: Sapporo's own onsen town — the bus, day trip or a night, and Jozankei or Noboribetsu
Jozankei is a town of large hotels in a river gorge in the hills south-west of Sapporo. It is inside the city limits, about an hour by bus from Sapporo Station, which makes it the onsen most visitors to Sapporo can fit into a trip without changing their plans. Most guides cover the hotels, the autumn leaves and the winter lantern festival. This one is about the rest: what the water is and how much of it there is, how to do it as a day trip, how to get there, and how it compares with Noboribetsu, the other name that comes up whenever someone in Sapporo asks where to soak.
What the numbers say
Jozankei is recorded in our database as a chloride (salt) spring, neutral and hypotonic, with a total flow of about 8,600 litres a minute.
- The flow is the figure that stands out. We hold a flow figure for 425 towns in Japan, and Jozankei is in the top 15. In Hokkaido, 60 towns have a flow figure, and Jozankei has the most by a wide margin: the next is under 4,900 litres a minute.
- The water type is the most common one in Japan. Of the 1,468 towns with a water type on record, 689 have chloride water; in Hokkaido it is 107 of 162.
- Hokkaido has 165 onsen towns in our records. Jozankei's Wikipedia article is the third most read of them, after Noboribetsu and Toyotomi, and 64th of 1,538 towns nationwide (950 in our count).
- We do not hold a source temperature or a pH for Jozankei, so we will not guess one.
So Jozankei is not a rare water. What it has is a lot of ordinary, comfortable water, a short bus ride from a city of two million people.
What a chloride spring is like in the bath
Chloride water is salty. It is usually clear, it does not have the rotten-egg smell of sulfur water, and it leaves a thin film of salt on the skin, so you tend to stay warm for a while after you get out. That is a useful thing in a Sapporo winter. Do not rub your eyes with wet hands, and rinse off at the shower before you leave if the salt bothers you.
"Neutral" means the water is neither acidic nor strongly alkaline, so it does not sting and is not especially slippery. "Hypotonic" is a technical term: the water carries less dissolved material than body fluids. For how to read the sign in the changing room, see reading the water sign.
Almost every hotel in Jozankei has its own large indoor and outdoor baths, and the water in them comes from the same town supply. Choose a hotel for its baths, its view of the gorge, or its price, not for a different kind of water.
Day trip or a night?
A day trip from Sapporo is easy and very common. The bus takes about an hour each way, many of the large hotels sell day-use bathing in the middle of the day, and the town is small enough to walk end to end. Hours for day visitors are set by each hotel and often stop in the late afternoon, so check before you go. Bring a small towel; some places rent or sell one, others do not. See onsen without staying the night.
A night is better if you can spare one. You can use the hotel baths late in the evening and early in the morning, when the day visitors have gone, and you are not watching the clock for the last bus. Most hotels here sell dinner and breakfast as part of the stay; see what "two meals included" means. If you would rather not bathe in front of strangers, or have tattoos, look for a hotel with a private bath or a room with its own outdoor tub; policies on tattoos vary by hotel (see going to an onsen with tattoos).
Jozankei is a resort town of big hotels, not a quiet village of small inns. Weekends, the autumn leaves and the winter festival book up early.
In town, and through the year
- The footbaths. There are free footbaths in the centre of town, including one in a small park by the hot spring source. They are an easy way to try the water without undressing. Bring a towel for your feet.
- The founder and the kappa. The town is named after Jōzan, a Buddhist monk who opened the springs to travellers in the 1860s; there is a statue of him in town. The other figure you will see everywhere is the kappa, a river creature from Japanese folklore, which the town uses as its mascot.
- The gorge. Walking paths follow the river through the town and out to a suspension bridge, and Mount Yūhi rises about a kilometre away. Hōheikyō Dam, further up the valley, is a popular stop in autumn.
- Autumn. The leaves in the gorge usually turn in October, earlier than in the city. This is the busiest season.
- Winter. The 雪灯路 (Yuki Tōro, the Snow Light Path) is a lantern festival held for a couple of weeks in late January and early February, with candles set in snow along the river paths. Dates change each year. The ski areas of Bankei (12 km) and Teine (15 km) are on the city side of Jozankei, so some skiers stay here and bathe after a day on the slopes; see onsen for skiers.
- Spring and summer. Carp streamers are strung across the river in spring, and rafting on the river runs in the warmer months.
For what to expect in each season more generally, see onsen through the year.
Getting there
Jozankei is about 19 km south-west of Sapporo Station in a straight line. There is no railway; the way in is by bus or car. No car is needed.
- From Sapporo. Local buses run from the bus stops by Sapporo Station to Jozankei, about an hour each way, and stop along the main street of the town. There is also a reserved-seat express bus from central Sapporo; check whether you need to book. In winter the road is cleared, but allow extra time after heavy snow.
- From New Chitose Airport. The airport is about 48 km away in a straight line. The usual route is the train to Sapporo and the bus from there. Some direct buses from the airport run in certain seasons; check before you rely on one.
- From Otaru. About 29 km away in a straight line, over the hills. Most people go back through Sapporo.
- The JR Pass covers the train from the airport or from elsewhere in Hokkaido to Sapporo, but not the bus to Jozankei. Our onsen on the JR Pass page lists towns you can reach entirely by JR.
Bus fares and timetables change; check them on the day.
Jozankei or Noboribetsu?
These two are the onsen most visitors to Sapporo choose between, and they are different trips. They are 52 km apart in a straight line.
- Jozankei is about an hour from Sapporo by bus, with one water type on record: clear, salty, comfortable chloride water, and a lot of it. Choose it for an easy afternoon from the city, a night without moving your luggage far, or a soak after skiing.
- Noboribetsu is about an hour and a half from Sapporo, by limited express train to Noboribetsu Station and then a bus up to the town. Our records list six water types there — chloride, bicarbonate, sulfate, iron, sulfur and radon — from sources between 45 and 90 °C, and the steaming crater of Jigokudani is a short walk from the hotels. It is the most read onsen town in Hokkaido in our records (1,724). Choose it if the water itself is the point, and if you have a night to spare.
If you have only an afternoon, Jozankei. If you have a night and want the strongest water near Sapporo, Noboribetsu. If you have two nights, you can do both: they are on different sides of the city, so go back through Sapporo rather than trying to cross between them. Our Hokkaido guide covers how they fit into a longer trip with Toya and Hakodate.
Nearby
The towns closest to Jozankei are around Lake Shikotsu and in the hills above Otaru, and most of them are easier with a car.
- Marukoma, 23.8 km south-east on the shore of Lake Shikotsu, has chloride, bicarbonate and sulfate water recorded at 54 °C.
- Shikotsuko Onsen, 28.9 km south-east by the lake, has chloride and bicarbonate water recorded at 33.2 °C, so it is heated before you bathe.
- Asarigawa, 22.4 km north-west in the hills toward Otaru, has chloride water recorded at 30 to 42 °C.
The road over the pass to Lake Shikotsu is a mountain road; in winter check conditions first.
Things not to do
Do not arrive at four in the afternoon expecting day-use bathing at the hotel you picked. Check its hours.
Do not assume your JR Pass gets you all the way. The last leg is a bus.
Do not miss the last bus back to Sapporo on a day trip, especially in winter.
Do not try to see Jozankei and Noboribetsu in one day. They are on opposite sides of the city.
Do not leave an autumn or festival weekend to the last minute.
New to this? Start with how an onsen stay actually works and onsen etiquette. For the rest of the island, see our guide to onsen in Hokkaido.