One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Mori森町
Ikameshi, cherry trees and the trail up Komagatake
Oshima region · Hakodate's night view, castle towns and the shinkansen gateway.
Mori invented ikameshi — squid stuffed with rice, the king of station bento — beneath the sharp silhouette of Mt. Komagatake.
Mori spreads along the northern foot of Mt. Komagatake on Uchiura Bay, a fishing and farming town best known for ikameshi, the squid-stuffed-with-rice bento first sold at its station in 1941. The volcano's main trailhead is in the town, Aoba-ga-oka Park is the region's cherry-blossom spot after Hakodate, and a gorge and a caldera hot spring lie in the hills behind. The Sawara district, merged into Mori in 2005, adds a second harbour and some of Hokkaido's biggest scallop grounds. A good stop between Hakodate and Oshamambe.
- Region
- Oshima (渡島)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~164 km · 2.5 h summer / 3 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~173 km · 2.7 h summer / 3.2 h winter
- Best season in Oshima
- Late April–early May for Matsumae and Goryokaku cherry blossoms; the night view and markets shine year-round.
Mori 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 Mori
Mt. Komagatake trailhead
駒ヶ岳登山口
The Akaigawa trailhead on the Mori side is the usual way up the volcano, a wide gravel track to the Umanose saddle where climbing stops for safety reasons. Views over Onuma and the bay open up within an hour. Open only in the permitted season.
Aoba-ga-oka Park
青葉ヶ丘公園
A hilltop park in the town centre with about a thousand cherry trees, including a variety found only here, and the site of the town's cherry festival in spring. The rest of the year it is a quiet lookout over the bay.
Torisaki Gorge
鳥崎渓谷
A river gorge in the hills south of town with eight named viewpoints along the road, best in late October when the maples colour the cliffs. The road continues to a dam lake at the top.
Michi-no-Eki YOU-Yu-Mori
道の駅YOU・遊・もり
The roadside station (Michi-no-Eki) on National Route 5 beside Oniushi Park, with an observation deck facing Komagatake and the bay, and ikameshi and local scallops on the shelves.
Getting to Mori
Mori station is on the JR Hakodate Main Line, with limited expresses between Hakodate and Sapporo stopping here; the Sawara branch around the bay also rejoins the main line at Mori. National Route 5 and the expressway pass through, with Route 278 following the coast toward Shikabe. Hakodate is about an hour by car, Hakodate Airport a little more.
Oshima region: The Hokkaido Shinkansen arrives at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto; Hakodate also has its own airport with Tokyo flights.
When to visit Mori
Early May for the cherry trees, when Aoba-ga-oka and the town's festival draw the crowds. Summer for climbing Komagatake and the scallop harbour at Sawara. Late October for the gorge's autumn colours, with a soak at Nigorikawa Onsen in the caldera afterwards.
What to eat in Mori
Ikameshi, small squid stuffed with rice and simmered in soy, was invented at Mori station and is still the thing to buy. Scallops from Sawara and the bay are the town's biggest catch, sold fresh, dried and as sweets. Kelp and vegetables from the volcanic soil come after.
Mori 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.