One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Mikasa三笠市
Ammonites, a geopark and Hokkaido's first railway
Sorachi region · Inland central Hokkaido: coal heritage, wineries and seasonal fields.
Mikasa is fossil country: ammonites the size of truck tires in the city museum, and the birthplace of Hokkaido's first railway.
Mikasa is a former coal city in the hills southeast of Iwamizawa, at the head of the Ikushunbetsu River. Two things put it on the map: the coal that made Horonai the terminus of Hokkaido's first railway in the 1880s, and the ammonite fossils, some as big as truck tyres, that erode out of the same valleys. The city museum, a railway village on the old Horonai site and a geopark trail along the river tie it together, and Hokkaido's very first roadside station is here.
- Region
- Sorachi (空知)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~77 km · 1.2 h summer / 1.4 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~75 km · 1.2 h summer / 1.4 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.
Mikasa 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 Mikasa
Mikasa City Museum
三笠市立博物館
Hokkaido's ammonite museum, with hundreds of specimens from the Cretaceous seabed under Sorachi, including giants over a metre across, plus the coal-mining history of the city.
Mikasa Railway Village
三笠鉄道村
On the site of Horonai, where Hokkaido's first railway ended in 1882, a rail museum keeps steam and diesel locomotives, coal wagons and the story of the line that carried the coal to Otaru.
Mikasa Geopark outdoor trail
野外博物館
A walk up the Ikushunbetsu River past coal seams, folded strata and fossil beds, with a former mine's brick and concrete relics on the way. Part of the Mikasa Geopark, open in the snow-free months.
Michi-no-Eki Mikasa
道の駅三笠
The first roadside station (Michi-no-Eki) ever registered in Hokkaido, on Route 12 at the edge of the city, with a large farm market that in summer overflows with the city's melons.
Getting to Mikasa
There is no active railway in Mikasa. The nearest station is Iwamizawa on the JR Hakodate Main Line, about 20 minutes away by bus or car. By car from Sapporo take Route 12 or the Do-o Expressway (Mikasa IC), about an hour. Route 452 continues over the Katsurazawa dam to Ashibetsu and Furano.
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 Mikasa
Late May to October for the geopark trail and the melon market, with July and August the heart of melon season. Mid-October for the foliage around Lake Katsurazawa. The museum and railway village are worth a winter visit if the roads are clear.
What to eat in Mikasa
Mikasa melon is the signature, grown in greenhouses on the valley floor and sold at the roadside station through summer. The hills to the west are among Sorachi's vineyard slopes, and rice, grapes and other fruit come off the same farms.
Mikasa 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 Mikasa
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More towns in Sorachi
Other regions: Ishikari · Shiribeshi · Iburi · Hidaka · Oshima · Hiyama · Kamikawa · Rumoi · Soya · Okhotsk · Tokachi · Kushiro · Nemuro