One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Hokuryu北竜町
A million sunflowers facing the same way
Sorachi region · Inland central Hokkaido: coal heritage, wineries and seasonal fields.
Hokuryu plants a million sunflowers every summer — Japan's most famous sunflower village, blooming through August.
Hokuryu is a small town on Route 275 and Route 233 at the foot of the Rumoi hills, and for one month a year it is the most photographed farm village in Hokkaido. From mid-July to mid-August the Himawari-no-Sato hillside is planted with a million or more sunflowers, all facing east in the morning, with a maze and viewing platforms among them. The rest of the year it is rice paddies, black soybeans and a roadside station with a hot spring. Time your visit and it is unforgettable; miss it and it is a quiet farm town.
- Region
- Sorachi (空知)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~149 km · 2.3 h summer / 2.7 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~115 km · 1.8 h summer / 2.1 h winter
- Best season in Sorachi
- Canola usually in mid to late May, the coal museum from spring to autumn (closed in winter); winery visits depend on each winery.
Hokuryu 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 Hokuryu
Himawari-no-Sato
ひまわりの里
A hillside of sunflowers, more than a million of them across a huge field, at their peak in late July and early August. Viewing platforms and a sunflower maze stand among the flowers, and a festival runs through the bloom.
Michi-no-Eki Sunflower Hokuryu
道の駅サンフラワー北竜
A roadside station (Michi-no-Eki) on Route 275 at the centre of town, with a castle-like gate and a hot spring, and sunflower oil, black soybeans and rice for sale. The base for a visit to the sunflower hill.
Black soybean and rice fields
黒千石大豆と米の畑
Beyond the sunflowers the town is a working farm landscape of paddies and fields of kuro-sengoku, a small black soybean revived here. Straight farm roads and the Rumoi hills behind make for an easy evening drive.
Getting to Hokuryu
Hokuryu has no railway. Fukagawa station on the JR Hakodate Main Line is about 30 minutes away by car or bus. The Fukagawa–Rumoi Expressway has a Hokuryu-Himawari interchange, and Routes 275 and 233 meet in the town. Sapporo is about 2 hours by car, Asahikawa Airport about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Sorachi region: Between Sapporo and Asahikawa by JR or car. Sights are spread out, so check the last leg from the station; anyone tasting wine should not drive.
When to visit Hokuryu
Mid-July to mid-August is the reason, with the last week of July and first week of August the safest bet for full bloom. September brings the rice and soybean harvest. The hot spring at the roadside station makes a winter stop worthwhile if you are passing on Route 275.
What to eat in Hokuryu
Sunflower oil pressed from the town's own seed and kuro-sengoku black soybeans, tiny and dark, eaten roasted or as tea, are the two things to buy. Rice grown under the sunflower brand and summer melons from the foothills fill the roadside station shelves.
Hokuryu in context: the Sorachi region
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Coal mining shaped many Sorachi towns, and places such as Yubari and Mikasa still keep that history in museums, rail relics and quiet main streets.
Towns near Hokuryu
Read next
More towns in Sorachi
Other regions: Ishikari · Shiribeshi · Iburi · Hidaka · Oshima · Hiyama · Kamikawa · Rumoi · Soya · Okhotsk · Tokachi · Kushiro · Nemuro