One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Toyotomi豊富町
Oil-scented hot springs beside the Sarobetsu wetland
Soya region · Hokkaido's northern tip: Wakkanai, Cape Soya and the islands of Rishiri and Rebun.
Toyotomi's oil-tinged hot spring is famous nationwide for soothing skin conditions, and the vast Sarobetsu wetland blooms at its door.
Toyotomi is a dairy town on Route 40 south of Wakkanai, where the Sarobetsu wetland spreads west toward the Sea of Japan and Rishiri's cone stands on the horizon. It is known for Toyotomi Onsen, Japan's northernmost hot-spring resort, whose water came up during oil drilling in the 1920s and carries a faint petroleum sheen prized for skin conditions. Come for a soak, the boardwalks through the mire in flower season, and pasture views that feel like the end of the country.
- Region
- Soya (宗谷)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~356 km · 5.5 h summer / 6.5 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~315 km · 4.9 h summer / 5.7 h winter
- Best season in Soya
- Summer suits flowers and walks, but blooms and ferry conditions vary. Keep room in your plan to adjust.
Toyotomi 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 Toyotomi
Toyotomi Onsen
豊富温泉
A small hot-spring village east of town with a distinct oil smell in the water, a legacy of the 1920s drilling that found it. People stay for weeks of therapy for skin conditions, and the town runs a public bathhouse.
Sarobetsu Wetland
サロベツ湿原
One of Japan's largest high moors, part of Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park. A boardwalk loop from the wetland centre crosses open mire where day lilies and cotton grass bloom in early summer, with Rishiri floating beyond.
Large-scale pasture
大規模草地
A town-run grazing range in the hills east of Route 40, where cattle from farms across the region spend the summer on open grassland. A lookout on the ridge gives the wide view of the whole wetland and the island.
Lake Kabuto
兜沼
A quiet lake in the north of town with a park and campground on its shore, a small station on the Soya Main Line nearby, and a gentle place to spend a summer night.
Getting to Toyotomi
Toyotomi station on the JR Soya Main Line is in the town centre, under an hour from Wakkanai and about four and a half hours from Sapporo by limited express. Wakkanai Airport is about 40 minutes by car. Route 40 runs through town, the hot spring is a short drive east, and the wetland centre is west toward the coast.
Soya region: Reach Wakkanai by air, JR or intercity bus. Ferries to Rishiri and Rebun leave from Wakkanai port; check the operator's timetable and service status.
When to visit Toyotomi
Mid-June to July for the wetland flowers, when day lilies turn the mire orange and Rishiri is usually clear. August for pasture and lake camping. The hot spring is a year-round destination, and winter, when the moor is white and the road is quiet, is when the long-stay bathers come.
What to eat in Toyotomi
Toyotomi is milk country: the town's dairies bottle a rich local milk and make butter, cheese and soft-serve from it, and beef from the pastures shows up in local dishes. Fish comes in from the Sea of Japan coast to the west, beyond the wetland.
Toyotomi in context: the Soya region
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Soya is the region at the northern tip of Hokkaido, made up of one city, eight towns and one village. Cape Soya, in Wakkanai city, is the northern end of Hokkaido's main island, marked by the Northernmost Point in Japan monument; on clear days Sakhalin can be visible across the strait. Wakkanai is also the port for ferries to the islands.