One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Iwanai岩内町
A fishing port with hot springs on the hill and Picasso in the gallery
Shiribeshi region · Powder, canals and the bluest coast in Japan.
Iwanai claims Japan's first asparagus fields and a surprising Picasso print collection in its clifftop art museum.
Iwanai is the port town at the base of the Shakotan Peninsula, facing west across Iwanai Bay. Fishing built it and still feeds it, and the town claims the first commercial asparagus fields in Japan. Above the harbour a hot-spring district looks over the bay, two art museums sit on the hill, and the Raiden coast south of town is a run of cliffs and tunnels along the sea. It suits people who want a real working town with a sunset over the water, and it is the road gateway to the peninsula's west coast.
- Region
- Shiribeshi (後志)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~136 km · 2.1 h summer / 2.5 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~98 km · 1.5 h summer / 1.8 h winter
- Best season in Shiribeshi
- December–March for powder, June–August for Shakotan blue and uni. Otaru works in any season.
Iwanai 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 Iwanai
Raiden Coast
雷電海岸
South of town Route 229 threads cliffs and sea caves along the Sea of Japan, past the sword-shaped rock of Katanakake-iwa. Best driven in late afternoon when the sun is on the water.
Iwanai Onsen
岩内温泉
A hot-spring district on the slope above the harbour, with baths that look down over the whole bay to the Shakotan hills. The classic end to a day on the coast.
The hilltop art museums
高台の美術館
Two museums stand together above town: one devoted to the local painter who spent his life on the Iwanai sea, the other holding a large collection of Picasso prints. Unexpected in a fishing town, and worth the climb.
Michi-no-Eki Iwanai
道の駅いわない
The roadside station in the town centre, with the harbour's fish and the town's cod roe products, and a good place to check the coast road conditions before heading north.
Getting to Iwanai
Route 5 and Route 276 connect Iwanai to Kutchan and the Niseko area in about 30 minutes; Route 229 follows the coast north to Tomari and Shakotan and south to Suttsu. There is no railway; direct express buses run from Sapporo in about two and a half hours, and by car it is roughly two hours. New Chitose Airport is about two and a half hours.
Shiribeshi region: Otaru is 40 minutes from Sapporo by train; Niseko is about 2 hours by car or winter bus. Shakotan needs a car.
When to visit Iwanai
May and June for asparagus, the town's original crop. July and August for the coast, when the water is calm and the sunsets are longest. Autumn brings cod season and the roe that the town is known for. Winter is grey and windy but the hot springs above the bay make it bearable.
What to eat in Iwanai
Cod roe is the speciality: Iwanai's fishing fleet lands Alaska pollock and the town cures the roe into tarako that it sells all over Hokkaido. Asparagus in late spring, sea urchin and flounder in summer, and squid in autumn come from the same bay and its fields.
Iwanai in context: the Shiribeshi region
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Shiribeshi packs three world-class reasons to visit into one compact peninsula. In winter, Niseko's legendary powder falls beneath the perfect cone of Mt. Yotei, drawing skiers from every continent. Year-round, Otaru's canal glows under gas lamps, its herring-boom mansions and sushi counters an easy trip from Sapporo.