One of Hokkaido's 179 towns
Yakumo八雲町
The only town in Japan facing two seas
Oshima region · Hakodate's night view, castle towns and the shinkansen gateway.
Yakumo is the only town in Japan facing two seas — Volcano Bay and the Japan Sea — and the birthplace of Hokkaido's carved wooden bears.
Yakumo stretches from Uchiura Bay on the Pacific side clear across the peninsula to the Japan Sea coast at Kumaishi, which makes it the only municipality in Japan with a shore on both. The bay side is dairy and scallop country settled by former samurai from Owari in the 1870s, and the carved wooden bear that became Hokkaido's souvenir was first made here on their farm. The Kumaishi side is abalone, hot springs in the hills and a coast of rock and sunset. A long town best crossed on the road over the pass.
- Region
- Oshima (渡島)
- From New Chitose Airport
- ~187 km · 2.9 h summer / 3.4 h winter
- From Sapporo
- ~183 km · 2.8 h summer / 3.3 h winter
- Best season in Oshima
- Late April–early May for Matsumae and Goryokaku cherry blossoms; the night view and markets shine year-round.
Yakumo 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 Yakumo
Wooden Bear Museum
木彫り熊資料館
A town museum tracing how a Swiss souvenir bear brought back by the farm's founder in the 1920s became a winter craft for settlers, then the emblem of Hokkaido. Early carvings sit alongside later styles.
Funkawan Panorama Park
噴火湾パノラマパーク
A large park on the hill above town with the whole arc of Uchiura Bay in front of it, from Komagatake to the Iburi coast. Lawns, a playground and a campsite, with a direct entrance from the expressway parking area.
Kumaishi coast
熊石の海岸
The Japan Sea side of the town, an hour over Unseki Pass on National Route 277: a fishing harbour, an abalone hatchery, rocky shore and evenings that end in colour over the sea. Hiratanai Onsen lies in the valley behind the coast.
Yakumo Onsen
八雲温泉
A hot spring in the Yurappu River valley inland from the town centre, with a public bathhouse under the mountains. The river above it is a salmon-run stream in autumn.
Getting to Yakumo
Yakumo station is on the JR Hakodate Main Line, with limited expresses between Hakodate and Sapporo stopping here. National Route 5 and the expressway run along the bay side, with an interchange at Yakumo; Route 277 crosses to Kumaishi on the Japan Sea. Hakodate is about an hour and a half by car, Sapporo roughly three and a half. Hakodate Airport is the nearest.
Oshima region: The Hokkaido Shinkansen arrives at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto; Hakodate also has its own airport with Tokyo flights.
When to visit Yakumo
June to September for the pastures, the bay park and the Kumaishi coast, when the pass road is easy and the sea is calm. July brings the town's float parade. Autumn is scallop and salmon season on the bay side; winter is long and best for the hot springs.
What to eat in Yakumo
Scallops from Uchiura Bay are the town's main catch and appear grilled, dried and in bento. The dairy farms behind town make milk, cheese and ice cream, and beef from the same pastures is a local brand. On the Kumaishi side, abalone and Japan Sea squid take over.
Yakumo 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.