One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Hokuto北斗市
Where the shinkansen steps onto Hokkaido
Oshima region · Hakodate's night view, castle towns and the shinkansen gateway.
Hokuto is where the shinkansen arrives in Hokkaido — with a silent Trappist monastery avenue and coastal fields facing Hakodate across the bay.
Hokuto wraps around the west side of Hakodate, from the cement port of Kamiiso on the bay to the rice paddies of Ono under the hills. Since 2016 it has been the northern end of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, so many travelers pass through Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto without noticing the town. Stay a little longer for the poplar avenue of Japan's first Trappist monastery, the hilltop panorama of Kijihiki Highland and a spring cherry route that runs from temple gardens to a former Matsumae Domain fort.
- Region
- Oshima (渡島)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~186 km · 2.9 h summer / 3.4 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~201 km · 3.1 h summer / 3.7 h winter
- Best season in Oshima
- Late April–early May for Matsumae and Goryokaku cherry blossoms; the night view and markets shine year-round.
Hokuto 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 Hokuto
Trappist Monastery
トラピスト修道院
Japan's first Trappist monastery, founded in 1896 on a slope above the bay at Tobetsu. The straight avenue of poplars and cedars leading up to the gate is the picture everyone takes; the grounds are closed to visitors, but the butter and cookies made here are sold at the gate.
Kijihiki Highland
きじひき高原
A highland pasture on the ridge above Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto with a panorama deck looking east over Onuma and Mt. Komagatake and, on the other side, Hakodate and the strait. The road up is closed in winter.
Matsumae Domain Togirichi fort site
松前藩戸切地陣屋跡
The earthworks of a star-shaped fort the Matsumae Domain built in 1855 to guard the coast, now a national historic site. The approach is a cherry tunnel in spring, one stop on the town's cherry route along with the weeping cherry at Hokiji temple.
Birthplace of Hokkaido rice
北海道水田発祥の地
A monument in the Ono district marks where rice was first grown successfully in Hokkaido in the late 1600s. The paddies around it are still farmed, and the town remains one of the island's southern rice belts.
Getting to Hokuto
The Hokkaido Shinkansen from Tokyo terminates at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, and a shuttle train on the Hakodate Main Line takes about 20 minutes to Hakodate station. The Donan Isaribi Railway runs along the bay through Kamiiso toward Kikonai. Hakodate Airport is about 40 minutes by car. National Route 228 follows the coast, Route 227 heads inland toward Esashi, and the expressway passes through on its way north.
Oshima region: The Hokkaido Shinkansen arrives at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto; Hakodate also has its own airport with Tokyo flights.
When to visit Hokuto
Late April to early May is the reason to come, when the temple weeping cherry, the fort's cherry tunnel and the riverside rows all bloom within a week or two. Summer opens the road to Kijihiki Highland and its green pastures; autumn colours the hills behind the monastery.
What to eat in Hokuto
Hokuto is rice country: the Fukkurinko variety grown across southern Hokkaido was bred here. Trappist butter and butter cookies from the monastery are the classic souvenir. From the bay come scallops and kelp, and the farms inland add vegetables and dairy.
Hokuto in context: the Oshima region
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Oshima is Hokkaido's historic south — the first part of the island to open to the outside world. Hakodate wears that history beautifully: Motomachi's churches and slopes, red-brick warehouses on the bay, a morning market that justifies the trip alone, and the celebrated night view from Mt. Hakodate.