One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Matsumae松前町
Japan's northernmost castle town, buried in cherry blossom each spring
Oshima region · Hakodate's night view, castle towns and the shinkansen gateway.
Matsumae is Japan's northernmost castle town — 250 varieties of cherry trees bloom around the keep, and the local kelp-squid pickle bears its name.
Matsumae sits at the very bottom of Hokkaido, on the Tsugaru Strait with Honshu's Shimokita Peninsula visible across the water on clear days. For two and a half centuries it was the seat of the Matsumae Domain, the only feudal clan on the island, and its castle keep, temple district and merchant streets are still laid out as they were. Come in spring for the 250 varieties of cherry trees around the castle, and any time for tuna, kelp and a slower pace than anywhere near Hakodate.
- Region
- Oshima (渡島)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~262 km · 4 h summer / 4.8 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~273 km · 4.2 h summer / 5 h winter
- Best season in Oshima
- Late April–early May for Matsumae and Goryokaku cherry blossoms; the night view and markets shine year-round.
Matsumae 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 Matsumae
Matsumae Castle and Matsumae Park
松前城と松前公園
The last Japanese-style castle built in the Edo period, finished in 1854; the keep was rebuilt in 1960 and holds a small museum. The park around it has about 10,000 cherry trees of 250 varieties, so blooming runs for a month rather than a week.
Temple district
寺町
Behind the castle a row of temples founded under the Matsumae lords survives, including the domain's family temple and its oldest gate. Quiet lanes, old cedars and the graves of the clan make it the calmest corner of town.
Matsumae Domain Residence
松前藩屋敷
A town-run open-air reconstruction of the castle town in its Edo-period heyday: magistrate's office, merchant houses, fishermen's huts and a shipping agent's, built to scale on the hill above the park.
Cape Shirakami
白神岬
Hokkaido's southernmost point, a few kilometres east of town on National Route 228. Honshu is close enough to make out the shore, and in autumn the cape is a stopover for migrating birds crossing the strait.
Getting to Matsumae
No railway reaches Matsumae. The nearest stations are Kikonai on the Hokkaido Shinkansen, about an hour and a half away by bus along the coast, and Hakodate, roughly two hours by car on National Route 228. Hakodate Airport is the nearest airport, also about two hours by car. The coastal road is the only practical route in.
Oshima region: The Hokkaido Shinkansen arrives at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto; Hakodate also has its own airport with Tokyo flights.
When to visit Matsumae
Late April through May for cherry blossom, when the early, mid and late varieties bloom one after another and the town holds its cherry festival. Summer is mild and good for the cape and the coast. Winter is windy and grey, with the strait at its roughest.
What to eat in Matsumae
Matsumae-zuke, the salty-sweet pickle of kelp, dried squid and herring roe, takes its name from here and is sold in every form. Bluefin tuna are landed in the port in season, and the kelp of the strait was the domain's trading wealth for centuries. Local sea urchin, abalone and rock seaweed round out the table.
Matsumae 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.