One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Teshikaga弟子屈町
Two caldera lakes, a smoking mountain and hot springs
Kushiro region · Cranes over the marsh, caldera lakes in the mist.
Caldera country: Lake Mashu's impossibly clear water, Lake Kussharo's swan-filled hot-spring shores, and sulfurous Mt. Io between them.
Teshikaga holds the northern half of Akan–Mashu National Park: Lake Mashu, the caldera lake famous for water clarity and its habit of vanishing into fog, and Lake Kussharo, Japan's largest caldera lake, ringed with hot springs you can dig on the beach. Between them Mt. Io hisses sulphur from open vents, and Kawayu Onsen's strongly acidic water is the classic soak. In winter whooper swans crowd the warm shallows of Kussharo. A town for lake views, steam and long soaks, easily paired with Akan and Shiretoko.
- Region
- Kushiro (釧路)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~328 km · 5 h summer / 6 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~349 km · 5.4 h summer / 6.3 h winter
- Best season in Kushiro
- Winter for dancing cranes, summer for cool canoe mornings while the rest of Japan swelters.
Teshikaga 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 Teshikaga
Lake Mashu
摩周湖
A deep caldera lake with no inflowing or outflowing rivers, famous for clarity and for fog that hides it for days. Two observatories on the rim road look down the sheer walls to the water and its single small island.
Lake Kussharo and Sunayu
屈斜路湖と砂湯
Japan's largest caldera lake, with hot water seeping through the beach sand at Sunayu so you can dig your own bath. The Wakoto Peninsula has a lakeside walk past steaming hot-spring vents, and swans winter on the unfrozen shore.
Mt. Io (Atosanupuri)
硫黄山（アトサヌプリ）
A bare volcanic hill between the two lakes where you can walk right up to roaring fumaroles crusted yellow with sulphur. The smell reaches the road and the ground is warm underfoot.
Kawayu Onsen
川湯温泉
A hot-spring town at the foot of Mt. Io whose water is strongly acidic and flows through the streets in open channels. A national-park eco-museum centre has forest trails starting at the edge of town, and the whole place is walkable.
Getting to Teshikaga
Memanbetsu Airport and Kushiro Airport are each about 1.5 hours by car, and Nakashibetsu is an hour. The Senmo Line stops at Mashu station in the town centre and at Kawayu-Onsen station, with buses onward to the lakes. Route 241 comes from Akan, Route 243 over Bihoro Pass, and Route 391 up from Kushiro. From Sapporo count on six hours by car.
Kushiro region: Fly into Kushiro Airport or ride the scenic JR line from Sapporo. Winter crane spots and the lakes are easiest by car.
When to visit Teshikaga
June to October for the lakes, with the best chance of seeing Mashu clear in autumn once the summer fog eases. January and February for swans on Kussharo, frost flowers on the ice and diamond dust on cold mornings, with the hot springs at their best.
What to eat in Teshikaga
Mashu soba, buckwheat grown on the cool highland around the lake and served in the town's noodle shops, is the signature. Pork and beef raised locally, dairy from the pastures, and potatoes and pumpkins from the fields fill out the menu. Smelt fishing on frozen Kussharo brings wakasagi tempura in winter.
Teshikaga in context: the Kushiro region
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Kushiro is eastern Hokkaido's atmospheric heart. Japan's largest wetland, the Kushiro Marsh, spreads north of the city — canoe country, home of the red-crowned crane, the tancho, which dances here in the snow every winter. The port city itself is famous for robatayaki charcoal grills and fog-softened sunsets.
Towns near Teshikaga
Read next
Akan–Mashu National Park Guide
The other national park in Hokkaido's wild east — Lake Mashu's impossible blue, Lake Kussharo's lakeside onsen, and the caldera scenery that sits between Kushiro and Shiretoko.
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The Wild East Guide
Every English-language Hokkaido guide stops at Furano. That's the mistake. Eastern Hokkaido — Shiretoko, the Akan–Mashu caldera lakes, Kushiro Marsh — is where the island stops performing 'Japan' and just becomes itself. Here's how to get there and what it's for.
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