One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Bifuka美深町
Sturgeon, birch sap and a moor in the northern woods
Kamikawa region · Lavender, patchwork hills and the roof of Hokkaido.
Bifuka farms sturgeon in the north woods — yes, Hokkaido caviar — beside the Teshio River and a high moor of dwarf pines.
Bifuka is a forestry and farming town on the Teshio River north of Nayoro, on the Soya line toward Wakkanai. Its odd claim to fame is sturgeon: the town has raised them for decades and produces Hokkaido caviar. Around the river island park with the sturgeon hall there are campgrounds and a hot spring, and in the eastern hills a high moor of dwarf pine and ponds sits at the end of a rough road. Birch sap tapped in spring is bottled here. A practical stop on the long road north.
- Region
- Kamikawa (上川)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~276 km · 4.2 h summer / 5 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~248 km · 3.8 h summer / 4.5 h winter
- Best season in Kamikawa
- July for lavender, September for Japan's first autumn colors on Daisetsuzan, winter for serious snow country.
Bifuka at a glance
Drive estimates: straight-line × 1.35, at 65 km/h (summer) / 55 km/h (winter). How we calculate
What to see in Bifuka
Bifuka Island and the Sturgeon Hall
びふかアイランドとチョウザメ館
A park on an island in the Teshio River with a town aquarium of sturgeon at every age, plus campgrounds, a hot spring and a lake. The base for everything in town.
Matsuyama Moor
松山湿原
One of Japan's northernmost high moors, on a plateau in the eastern hills with ponds, dwarf pine and boardwalks. Reached by a long gravel road and a short climb.
Michi-no-Eki Bifuka
道の駅びふか
The roadside station on Route 40 by the river, selling local vegetables, sturgeon products and birch sap. The road north gets emptier from here.
Getting to Bifuka
Asahikawa Airport is about two hours by car. Route 40 runs through town and the Doo Expressway ends well to the south at Shibetsu-Kenbuchi. JR Soya Main Line trains, including the Wakkanai limited expresses, stop at Bifuka station. Sapporo is about 3.5 hours by car.
Kamikawa region: Asahikawa has its own airport and fast JR links from Sapporo (about 85 minutes). Furano and Biei are best by car or the summer sightseeing trains.
When to visit Bifuka
July and August for the moor, the river island campground and the open hills. Late April and May for birch sap season. Autumn colors come in early October, and winter is long, dark and very cold, with the river park closed.
What to eat in Bifuka
Sturgeon is the specialty, sold as caviar and as fillets in local restaurants. Birch sap, tapped in spring, is bottled as a drink. Rice, pumpkins and asparagus come from the Teshio valley farms.
Bifuka in context: the Kamikawa region
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Kamikawa holds the two images most people picture when they think of Hokkaido in summer: Furano's purple lavender fields and Biei's rolling patchwork hills. Asahikawa, the island's second city, anchors the region with its shoyu ramen and a zoo famous for up-close animal enclosures.
Towns near Bifuka
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More towns in Kamikawa
Other regions: Ishikari · Sorachi · Shiribeshi · Iburi · Hidaka · Oshima · Hiyama · Rumoi · Soya · Okhotsk · Tokachi · Kushiro · Nemuro