Day 3 - Hakodate and Noboribetsu

(Above) Street Festival at Noboribetsu

Waking up at 5am, we will wash up and then pack our backpacks ready as we will be leaving Hakodate for Noboribetsu later in the morning. We will then head to the Morning Market which opens at 6am to have a seafood breakfast there. We will probably walk around the market area and also take some photos before we head back to our hotel to rest.

At the hotel, we would rest till 8.15am and then check out so that we can take a leisurely 20 minutes walk to the train station to catch the main JR Train line - Hokuto No.5 Express Train(above) to Noboribetsu which will depart at 9.30am.( You can find out your required train schedule in Hokkaido at http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/ ) The distance from Hakodate to Noboribetsu is 207km approximately and time taken will be 2hrs and 20minutes. We will most probably get reserved seats(below) which will cost us ¥6700(SGD$88)each.
We will take the ride to Norboribetsu to catch on an hour of sleep and look at the scenery passing us.
For those who do not know about Noboribetsu, it is directly south of Sapporo city, and since it runs along the coast and is surrounded by beautiful forested hills, scenery there will be picturesque. Of course, the main attraction of Noboribetsu is that it is the main hot spring resort area which boasts 11 different kinds of hot spring baths that are said to have medicinal properties. Also famous in Noboribetsu are the Hell Valley (地獄谷 Jigokudani) sulphurous volcanic pits and geysers, the ninja village and Bear Park. Like most coastal parts of Japan, Noboribetsu is also famed for it’s gourmet spread of seafood . which includes cod roe, salmon roe and Onikama a type of boiled fish paste.

On arrival at JR Noboribetsu Station(above), we will take a feeder bus which departs 3 or 4 times an hour from the train station to Noboribetsu Onsen(Hot Spring area) which is like the central spot for tourists to arrive in Noboribetsu. The bus ride takes 15 minutes and costs ¥330(SGD$4.30) for a one way trip per person. On arrival at Noboribetsu Onsen Bus Terminal, we will check with the office there about booking a bus for the next day to Sapporo. From what we know, there are eight daily direct express bus services operated by the Chuo and Dohnan Bus companies from Noboribetsu Onsen Bus Terminal to Sapporo Station. It costs about ¥1,900 (SGD$25) per single trip per person.

After that, we will walk across the road to reach our hotel which is very conveniently located just directly opposite the bus terminal. We are staying at the Hotel Yumoto Noboribetsu. The central location of this hotel along Noboribetsu’s main street is justification for staying there. It is less than 5 minutes walking time from the hotel to the bus station, Tourist Association Office and the shopping belt. This hotel is also noted for it’s own mineral hot spring baths and 8 course Japanese dinner sets. We purchased a 1 night stay package inclusive of the traditional Japanese dinner set and breakfast for two for SGD$430.00. We took up the dinner set(below) as we wanted to experience dinner as served by the hotel chef.

(Above) Noboribetsu's main shopping belt

After checking in and resting a short while, it should be around close to 1pm and so we will take a 5 minute walk up the street to the Noboribetsu Tourist Association to find out more information on Noboribetsu. The Noboribetsu Tourist Association (tel. 0143/84-3311; open daily 9am-6pm) is on Noboribetsu Onsen's main street, just a minute's walk north of the bus depot (continue up the hill; it will be on your left side with a clock above the door). We will obtain a copy of the local tourist pamphlet "The Land of Hot Springs" with its map and hot-springs information. We read that the town is small so we shouldn't have any problem getting around.

(Above) Nice enticing display of Japanese dishes

We plan to check out along the main shopping street to look for lunch. We heard that Noboribetsu has a variety of Japanese food like You ramen (noodles) shops and seafood restaurants selling fresh horse-hair crab, shrimps, clams, salmon and codfish. Casual meals like Ramen with tea (oocha) are available for ¥ 950(SGD$12.30) only. There is also a famous seafood market there where one can order fresh seafood to be cooked and served.
We will take then head for the Noboribetsu Ropeway Station to take a cable car(above) to Bear Park, one of the main tourist attractions there. We heard that there is some nice scenery there, including a crater lake. The ropeway 2 way fare inclusive of admission to the Bear park costs ¥ 2520 ( SGD$33) per person. There is a famous signage there which points to the distance to major cities in the world and that will definitely be a good photo opportunity. The lake there known as Kuttara (Below) is known as having the best water quality of all lakes in Japan with the greatest transparency known, allowing light to penetrate up to 19metres.

Of course, taking a look at the 140 bears there(below) goes without saying.


After an hour and a half there, we will take the ropeway down, probably taking alot of the scenery as we go down. By this time, it would be around 4pm and we would go back to the hotel and take a dip in the hot spring bath and relax till probably 6pm where we will have our 8 course dinner at the hotel.

After the hour long meal, we will see if we are tired. If not, we will venture out to the shopping belt(below) again for a hour or so before returning to our hotel for a good rest and sleep as we will be leaving Noboribetsu for Sapporo the next day.

For those who have more time, they can go to the Marine Park, Hell Valley, which is the remains of a live volcano(above), Date Jidai Mura(ancient Japan theme park village where you can dress up as a samurai and watch ninjas in action) in Noboribetsu.