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| Kitami Family Land |
| Wakamatsu 638. Tel 0157-22-2910 |
 Twenty minutes by car from the city centre. A fun park at the foot of the
Kitami Wakamatsu Ski Field. In the park, thirteen different kinds of rides
include the Crazy Mouse and the Space Shuttle. An outdoor activity area
has field athletic climbing frames and a jumbo slide, so it is a place
where the whole family can spend an enjoyable day. |
| Wakamatsu Ski Field |
| Wakamatsu 651. Tel 0157-22-2910 |
 Enjoy silky snow from December to March on three courses, from beginner
to advanced. Snowboards are permitted on all three courses and there are
four, seven and ten kilometre cross-country skiing trails. |
| Kitami Banba Racecourse |
| Wakamatsu 306. Tel 0157-24-7911 |
 In banba horse racing, draft horses pull iron sledges weighing up to a
ton over a two hundred metre course, which incorporates two obstacle mounds.
This kind of racing has a history of more than forty years in Hokkaido.
It originated from races held during festivals in the pioneering days for
the horses farmers used for ploughing. The races are powerful and exciting
to watch. |
| Pierson Memorial House |
| Saiwai Cho 7 Chome 4-28. Tel 0157-23-2546 |
 An American Christian missionary couple, George and Ida Geopp Pierson,
first came to Japan in 1889 and moved to Kitami, then called Notsukeushi,
in 1915. They were devoted to this place and were unstinting in their efforts
to raise the level of spiritual culture in the Kitami area. The house,
which has been designated a Hokkaido Historic Place, is now a memorial
museum with displays showing their missionary activities. |
| Kitami-Abashiri Region Cultural Centre |
| Koen Cho 1. Tel 0157-23-6700 |
 This multi-purpose facility incorporates a science hall, a museum, an art gallery and an audio visual centre. It also houses an observatory and the only planetarium in eastern Hokkaido. The museum contains exhibits which introduce Kitami's natural and human history. The science hall displays scientific models and apparatus and the art gallery puts on a variety of exhibitions. |
| Kitami Mint Memorial Museum |
| Minami Nakamachi 1 Chome 7-28. Tel 0157-23-6200 |
 The Kitami region once produced seventy percent of the world's peppermint.
The peppermint boom of the 1930s brought great prosperity to Kitami. The
museum, housed in one of the buildings that was part of the old Kitami
Hokuren Peppermint Factory complex, introduces the history of peppermint
in Kitami and displays some of the equipment and machinery formerly used
in the processing and manufacture of peppermint products. |
| Misato Cave |
| Misato. Tel 25-1172 |
 This natural cave, formed by the action of water eroding limestone, was the first limestone cave dwelling site to be discovered in Hokkaido. It is thought to have been used as a temporary dwelling by hunters in ancient times, with the oldest traces of habitation dating back about six thousand years. It is open to visitors from July to October. The access path can be slippery, so care is required. |
| Konpira Hillside Shrine |
| Tsunekawa. Tel 0157-38-2215 |
 Konpira Hillside Shrine is south of the township of Kamitokoro. One thousand
cherry trees were planted there in 1952 and 1953 and there are 500 purple
azaleas. A cherry blossom festival is held every year in May, when the
cherries are in full bloom. It is a well-known local cherry viewing site
and receives many visitors. |
| Lake Tomisato Forest Park |
| Tomisato. Tel 0157-33-2520 |
 This 73 hectare park located at the foot of Kitami's highest mountain,
Mt Nikoro (829 metres), comprises Lake Tomisato and the surrounding forest.
In summer there are camp sites with bungalows and more than four kilometres
of hiking trails. In winter it is crowded with people fishing for pond
smelt through the ice. |
|
Kamurin - One of the World's Largest Cuckoo Clock Towers |
| Onneyu. |
 The 19.8 metre high cuckoo clock tower Kamurin at the roadside station
at Onneyu Hot Spring is one of the largest in the world. Every hour a bird
proclaims the time and a fairy tale procession of mechanical dolls appears.
At the nearby Kamurin Wood Crafts Centre visitors can buy wood craft products,
play with wooden toys or on the jungle gym and make their own wood craft
objects. |
| 280,000 Purple Azaleas In Bloom on Azalea Hill |
| Rubeshibe. |
 On the hillside behind Onneyu Hot Spring 280,000 Hokkaido purple azaleas
come into flower in May, the most spectacular such sight in Hokkaido.,
The Onneyu Azalea Festival is held there from early to mid May |
| Three hot springs with a history of more than 100 years |
| Onneyu |
 Onneyu is one of Hokkaido's premier hot spring resorts, with a history
of more than a century. Six hot spring hotels, large and small, lining
the banks of the Mukagawa River attract visitors from far and wide with
their fine quality spas. In other parts of town are the Takinoyu Hot Spring,
known as 'tsuru tsuru' because it makes the skin feel slippery, and the
Kitami Hot Spring, known for its medicinal benefits. |
| Fresh Water Aquarium |
| Rubeshibe Cho Matsuyama 4-4 Tel & Fax 0157-45-2223 |
 More than 3000 fish of 50 different species found in Hokkaido rivers and
streams are on display at this unique aquarium. Among them are the elusive
ito giant trout (Japanese huchen) as well as yamame (cherry salmon) and
iwana (whitespotted char). In the same building, the local history museum
has displays depicting the pioneering history and former way of life of
the Rubeshibe district. |
| Wakka Wild Flower Park |
| Tokoro Cho Tel 0152-54-2111 |
 Lake Saroma is barely separated from the Sea of Okhotsk by a long, narrow
sandspit. This is the location of the Wakka Wild Flower Park, one of the
largest in Japan. The whole area is coloured with more than 300 different
species of wild flower when they are at their peak in June and July. It
has been likened by Japanese travellers to the famous Ama no Hashidate
in Honshu. |
| Tokoro Archaeological Sites (Designated a National Historic Site) |
| Tokoro Cho Sakaeura Tel 0152-54-3167 FAX 0152-54-3996 |
 Many archaeological sites dating back to prehistoric times have been found
in the Tokoro area. Such is their scale and importance that they have been
designated a National Historic Site by the Japanese government. Particularly
remarkable are the pre-historic tateana (pit) dwellings, said to be the
largest number of their kind in the world. Sites date continuously from
ancient times up to the Ainu period. Many are associated with the mysterious
Okhotsk Culture, the origins and disappearance of which is still a matter
for debate among scholars. A unique research facility, part of Tokyo University,
has responsibility for carrying out the archaeological excavations. There
is a display centre and reconstructed dwellings can be explored in a forest
park.Japanese page |