One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Urakawa浦河町
The capital of horse country, with summer strawberries
Hidaka region · Thoroughbred country, cherry-tree roads and the windswept cape.
Urakawa is the heart of Japan's racehorse country — mare-and-foal pastures to the horizon, plus summer strawberries.
Urakawa is the administrative seat of the Hidaka region and the heart of Japan's racehorse breeding industry, with pastures of mares and foals stretching back from the Pacific coast into the foothills of the Hidaka range. It is also where visitors can actually get on a horse, at the town's riding facilities. The mountains behind town are now part of the Hidaka-sanmyaku-Erimo-Tokachi National Park. Come to ride, to drive the cherry-lined pasture road in May, and to eat strawberries in midsummer when the rest of Japan has none.
- Region
- Hidaka (日高)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~150 km · 2.3 h summer / 2.7 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~205 km · 3.2 h summer / 3.7 h winter
- Best season in Hidaka
- Early May for cherry blossoms, summer for green pastures and foals, any clear day for the cape.
Urakawa 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 Urakawa
Yushun Sakura Road
優駿さくらロード
A pasture road in the Nishicha district lined for kilometres with old cherry trees, blooming in early May with foals grazing on either side. The town's spring event is held here.
Horse riding in Nishicha
西舎の乗馬
The town's riding grounds in the Nishicha pastures offer trail rides and lessons for beginners, one of the few places in the region where you can ride rather than just watch.
Urakawa Horse Museum
浦河町馬事資料館
A small town museum on the history of horse breeding in Hidaka, from farm horses to thoroughbreds, with tack, photographs and the story of the famous horses raised here.
Hidaka range foothills
日高山脈の山麓
The mountains behind Urakawa are within the Hidaka-sanmyaku-Erimo-Tokachi National Park, designated in 2024. Trailheads into the range are remote and the peaks are for experienced climbers, but the forest roads and rivers reward a short drive.
Getting to Urakawa
Urakawa is a long way down the coast: about three hours from Sapporo by car via the Hidaka Expressway and Route 235, and around 2.5 hours from New Chitose Airport. Express buses run from Sapporo and local buses from Tomakomai along the same road. There is no rail service in the region, so a car makes everything easier.
Hidaka region: A car region: follow Route 235 down the coast from the Sapporo side. Cape Erimo is the far, rewarding end.
When to visit Urakawa
Early May for the cherry road and newborn foals. June to September for riding, the strawberry harvest and the national park's rivers. Autumn brings salmon into the rivers and clear views of the range. Winter is cold and windy but the roads stay open.
What to eat in Urakawa
Urakawa is one of Japan's main growers of summer strawberries, harvested from June into autumn when the fruit is scarce elsewhere. From the sea come Hidaka kombu, autumn salmon and shellfish; the town also serves horse-country beef and dairy from the same pastures.
Urakawa in context: the Hidaka region
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Along the Hidaka coast, the pastures do something found almost nowhere else in Japan: they raise racehorses. The majority of Japan's thoroughbreds are born on these ranches between the mountains and the sea, and driving the coast road past grazing mares and foals is an experience in itself.