Easy Day hike at Mount Asahidake Daisetsuzan National Park - Asahidake Ropeway and Sugatami Pond Loop Trail

24 August 2023

Daisetsuzan National Park sits in the heart of Hokkaido and is Japan's largest national park. In the park is Mount Asahidake, Hokkaido’s highest mountain at 2291 meters. 

Daisetsuzan National Park is a popular place for hiking in the summer months of July and August. Ropeways (cable cars) at Asahidake Onsen and Kurodake Onsen bring visitors midway up the mountain for quick access to hiking trails of all levels.

Daisetsuzan National Park is easily accessible by car from Asahikawa where we were staying on Day 2 and Day 3 of our road trip round Hokkaido.

We chose to do the 1.7 km Sugatami Pond Loop Trail that is accessible by the Asahidake Ropeway. This scenic hiking course from the Asahidake Ropeway’s Sugatami Station takes less than 2 hours to complete and is suitable for novice hikers. 

Asahidake Ropeway will bring us from the base station at 1100 meters to the Sugatami Plateau at 1600 meters above sea level.  This plateau is a flat walking area with trails that meander between ponds, fumaroles and high-mountain flora. It also offers excellent views of Mount Asahidake.

We started our day with an excellent breakfast at Mimatsuso Ryokan that provided us with the energy that will fuel our exertions later on.

Japanese breakfast at Mimatsuso Ryokan that included award winning Oborozuki rice grown in Hokkaido and a slice of Furano melon.

The first thing I did when I woke up on this day is to check the live webcam and weather conditions on the mountain.                     

I was glad to see this forecast of excellent weather at Mount Asahidake.

The drive from our ryokan in Asahikawa to the Asahidake Ropeway took about 1 hour. It was an easy drive except the last part, after Lake Chubetsu, where our car had to zigzag up the narrow switchback road to Asahidake Onsen at 1100 meters ASL.

We parked at the Asahidake Visitor Center which is about 100 meters from the ropeway station. This car park is free of charge while the car park at the front of the ropeway station charges 500 yen.

The Asahidake Visitor Center is a good place to start a visit to Daisetsuzan National Park. In addition to free parking, it offers an overview of the Daisetsuzan mountain ranges, hiking trails, flora and wildlife that could be found within. There are also excellent toilet facilities that hikers should make use of before going up the mountain.

Some of the animals found in the area includes the red foxes, deer and the brown bears.

Model showing the Daisetsuzan Mountain Range and marked hiking trails.

Although there are hiking trails from the Visitor Center up to Sugatami Plateau, we took the ropeway up. Return tickets cost 3200 Yen per person and it is definitely better than hiking up through the pine forest where dangerous brown bears roam.

View of pine forest on the way up to Sugatami Station. I tried to spot bears or hikers but none was seen.              View of the ropeway from Sugatami Station at 1600 meters Above Sea Level.

We could immediately feel the pleasant conditions upon arrival at the plateau. There was clear blue sky with scattered clouds and 22 degrees Celsius temperature and light breeze. This was so nice compared to the summer heat we endured over the last 2 days.

Inside the station, staff made a short presentation (in Japanese) on what to expect at Asahidake.   

Sugatami Station is also the starting point for a 3 hour hike to the peak of Mount Asahidake with an elevation gain of 690 meters. This hike, although doable, was not for us on this day. I had already planned a better hike up to the summit of Mount Meakan (another active volcano) later in this trip. 

We took a map of the Sugatami Pond Loop Trail as shown below and did the much easier hike.

We took the recommended 1.7 kilometers route, plus a slight detour at Kagami Pond to view some alpine plants and flowers that bloom in July and August.

The volcanic scenery on this mountain is spectacular. There is an alpine feel that made me recall our hikes in Switzerland. But somehow, hiking at Daisetsuzan National Park is slightly different. Mount Asahidake is still an active volcano, as shown by the plumes of steam gushing out from vents in the distance.

We took about 2 hours to complete the course as we stopped very often to snap photos. These are the photos we took during our hike.

Sugatami Station – the starting and end point of the Sugatami Pond Loop Trail.

View of Mount Asahi from the 1st Observation Point. 

Snapping photos of Mount Asahidake with the gushing steam and sulfur vents.

Small pond near the station. The name could be translated as “Full Moon Pond”.

Suribachi Pond with Mount Asahidake reflected on its surface. 

Kagami Pond with Mount Asahidake reflected on its surface.

Enjoying the views of the mountain and alpine flowers at Kagami Pond. 

Blue alpine flowers near Kagami Pond. 

Spot the red dragonfly? 

Hiking up to the 4th observation point.                                          

View of the Suribachi and Kagami Ponds as we hike up to the Fourth Observation Point.  These two bodies of water are known as “meoto ponds” or “married-couple ponds.”

Taking a rest at the 4th Observation Point. Despite the cool temperature, the sun was beating down on us relentlessly.

Closer view of Mount Asahidake from the 4th observation point.                          

There is a trail that allows visitors to get up close to the jigokudani (crater) and fumaroles emitting hot volcanic gases and vapours.

Yellow sulphur crystals could by seen on the rocks by the fumaroles. We could also hear a strange, loud and hard-to-describe noise emitted by the fumaroles. 

This signage is a reminder that Mount Asahidake is an active volcano. The current shape of Mount Asahidake looks like it has been split into two. In the past, it was a taller conical mountain. A massive eruption 2800 years ago blew away the top! 

Sugatami Pond and 5th observation point.

On the trail to the 5th observation point.     

Sugatami Pond with Mount Asahidake reflected from its surface.            

Heading back to Sugatami Station. Although this trail is considered easy, the terrain is rough. Good hiking shoes are recommended.                                                

We arrived back at the base station at about noon.  We spent some time at the souvenir shop where my son bought a T-shirt and my wife insisted we buy a small bear bell for our planned hikes in Shiretoko National Park and Mount Meakan. The best way to avoid a brown bear attack is to avoid surprising them in the dense forest. The bell is to be attached to our day pack and warn the bears of our presence. Personally, I doubt the bell is effective or necessary.

I was hungry as a bear by now but I was not tempted by the food served in the cafe at the ropeway's base station. I had plan for much better fare at Farm Chiyoda with a restaurant serving wagyu beef!

Next post: Wagyu Beef lunch at Farm Chiyoda in Biei.

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Farm Chiyoda in Biei

24 August 2023

After doing the Sugatami Pond hike at Mount Asahidake in Daisetsuzan National Park, we drove through Biei’s scenic farmland to Farm Chiyoda.

On the way we drove pass Lake Chubetsu but did not stop for photos as we were pretty hungry after the morning exertions.

Biei’s landscape is pretty too with yellow padi fields and views of the mountain range in the background.

  Driving through Biei to Farm Chiyoda.

    Padi fields with golden yellow rice almost ready for harvesting.

We arrived at Farm Chiyoda at about 1.15 PM.  This farm raises many types of cattle, including Japanese Biei beef.

There is a restaurant "Farm Restaurant Chiyoda" inside the farm, where we planned to taste Japanese Biei beef. Although Hokkaido is famous for their seafood and not their beef, we cannot come to Japan and not eat some wagyu beef during our trip.

Although it was past lunch hour, we still needed to queue. We registered for a table and were told to be back at 2 PM. With 45 minutes to spare, we went to the cafe next to the restaurant to get soft serve ice cream made from Jersey milk for 500 yen each.

With ice cream in hand we went to see the farm animals. There are unmanned booths with animal feed for visitors to purchase at 100 yen to feed the goats, sheep and ponies.

Rare white peacock and a couple of white peahens in a large cage.

 

The farm gave off a western vibe. I felt like l was visiting a farm in the US or Australia.

Chance upon these 3 yellow butterflies flying in unison.

  We were not able to enter the cattle shed but I managed to take photos through the entrance using the zoom function in my Canon G5X camera.

  Udder full of milk. 

We went back to the restaurant at 2 PM and were seated promptly on a table by a tall glass wall with views of the greenery.

  Outside Farm Restaurant Chiyoda.     

This restaurant serves mostly Western dishes including salad, soup, steaks, hamburgers, beef stew and some rice dishes. There is also a kids menu.

  Menu at Farm Restaurant Chiyoda (source: from their website).

We ordered a clam chowder soup, a highly raved wagyu beef stew and two wagyu sirloin steaks served sizzling on hotplates.

  Clam chowder made with plenty of rich jersey milk freshly squeezed from the on-site ranch.

Juicy and tender wagyu sirloin steaks cooked just right.

 

The beef stew is a highly recommended dish. The thick dark stew is best eaten with the bread.

We were given options for rice or bread with our main course and all of us chose to try the highly recommended bread and butter. Accordingly to the restaurant, their chewy, additive-free "milk bread" is baked using only local wheat from Biei and rich milk and butter from Jersey cows from Farms Chiyoda.

We also tried the Furano red wine but it was nothing to rave about.    

Overall, if you are craving some wagyu beef and is looking for a place for lunch while exploring the Biei’s scenic countryside, Farm Restaurant Chiyoda would be a good choice.  In addition, the kids and animal lovers would have a good time exploring the farm and interacting with the farm animals.

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Our stay in Mimatsuso Ryokan in Asahikawa

23 and 24 August 2023

Although there are hotels aplenty in Asahikawa, I thought it would be nice experience for my son to experience staying in a traditional Japanese ryokan. 

We chose to stay in Mimatsuso Ryokan in Asahikawa. This ryokan offers affordable accommodation, free parking for my rental car, and is located within walking distance to the JR Asahikawa Station, eateries and shopping street in downtown Asahikawa.

Entrance to the ryokan with the owner’s car in the garage. The owner arranged for my car to be parked in a parking area about 100m away.

From the outside, the building looks small and unappealing, but inside this is a wonderful small hotel with exceptionally friendly staff and service, and very good breakfast

When we arrived, we had to remove our shoes and leave them at the front lobby. We were provided with some oversized slippers and it was quite comical that these slippers keeps coming off as we struggled a little to bring our suitcases up to our rooms, located on the second floor. The owner offered to help with our luggage which was nice of him.

The reason why we struggled with our suitcases. Two of our suitcases’  handles broke on Day 1.

We booked ourselves a Japanese-Style Single Room and a Twin Room.Both rooms came with futon beds laid on tatami mats.

Futon beds on tatami mats - Not the most comfortable bed but that’s what we get in a traditional Japanese inn.

We were served tea and simple snacks in our room after check-in. 

Air-conditioning and fans are provided which was really appreciated on hot summer nights.

Like most ryokans or minsukus, the bathrooms and toilets are shared which was the only downside.

This ryokan offers options to include dinner and/or breakfast. We only ordered the breakfast as we wanted to try some interesting food from restaurants in Asahikawa.

Breakfast is served in a dining room from 7 AM and the food exceeded my expectations. 

Dining room at Mimatsuso Ryokan where we took our breakfast.

Japanese style breakfast served on first morning in Mimatsuso Ryokan, Aashikawa.

And a slice of melon as dessert.

Breakfast on our second day.

Sign proudly stating that the ryokan serves the award winning Oborozuki rice grown in Hokkaido.

Overall we had a good stay in Mimatsuso Ryokan. This ryokan is a family business and the elderly man and his family are friendly and looked after us well. When we left, the owner presented us with a small gift bag containing origami cranes,  bookmarks and a souvenir face towel.

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Our evenings in Asahikawa with dinner at Yakitori Gin’neko and Jingisukan Daikokuya

23 and 24 August 2023

Asahikawa was where we stayed on Day 2 and 3 of our road trip in Hokkaido. After a day of exploring the sights around Furano and Biei, we checked into Mimatsuso Ryokan in the evening. Mimatsuso Ryokan is a rustic 50-year-old ryokan located in the midst of Asahikawa.

After checking in, we went to explore the pedestrian-only walking street before the shops close at 6 PM. A sign showed the temperature was 32 degree Celsius. It had been a warm summer day in Hokkaido.

  Heiwa Shopping Street, just minutes walk from the ryokan.

This street is located within walking distance from Mimatsuso Ryokan. It starts from the Asahikawa JR Station and AEON Mall Asahikawa and goes on for about 13 blocks northwards from the station.

Southern end of Heiwa Shopping Street with Asahikawa JR Station in the background.

We were a little late. Most shops were already closed or about to close, except for the eating places.

There are many eateries serving various Asahikawa cuisines near our ryokan. Our plan for our first dinner at Asahikawa was the famous Jingisukan or “Genghis Khan” where lamb and mutton are grilled on a round cast-iron grill that resembles an ancient Mongolian army helmet.

Jingisukan Daikokuya Asahikawa is the most popular mutton BBQ restaurant in Asahikawa and that was where we went. Locals and tourists flock like sheep to this restaurant to try their lamb specialties.

We arrived at 7 PM and as expected, there were already people waiting and queuing. We are to register for a queue number from an electronic tablet and wait for our number to be called.  

A dedicated waiting room is available right across the street where customers could have drinks or ice cream while waiting. Our queue number was 120 and they were just calling number 70s. We knew we are in for a long wait!

Instead of waiting, we executed Plan B and went to Furarito Alley to look for some izakaya (gastro pubs) or yakitori (grilled chicken) restaurants.

This alley is located within walking distance from our ryokan. It is supposed to be a late-night drinking and dining alley with many small restaurants such as izakaya, ramen shops, sushi restaurants, yakitori joints, and liquor stores on both sides of the walkway.  Only a few of the restaurants were opened on this weekday night. 

Dinner at Yakitori Professional Gin'neko

We came across a yakitori restaurant called the Yakitori Professional Gin’neko. The restaurant is a traditional yakitori chicken restaurant with the local Asahikawa specialty of shinkoyaki or "grilled young chicken."

Gin’neko, or Silver Cat, is an excellent yakitori restaurant located in the Furarito (Fraleet) Alley in downtown Asahikawa.

This place is small. There were only 8 or 9 counter seats and two small Japanese style floor tables which could seat a maximum of 4 persons per table. We were lucky in that there was no queue but we had to sit cross legged on a Japanese style low table. This was not very comfortable for aged people with stiff joints!

There is an English menu. The guy who served us speaks a little English and was helpful to recommend and explain the dishes to us. The restaurant serves only grilled chicken and pork and the grilled dishes include various body parts of the pig and chicken. He told us the half grilled chicken is their specialty and can be done 2 ways - with sauce and with salt and pepper.

The local Asahikawa specialty of grilled shinko yaki or "grilled young chicken" is the restaurant’s speciality dish.

There are skewers of chicken ovaries, gizzards, chicken liver, chicken skin, pork tongue, pork liver, minced chicken etc in the menu. All grilled over a charcoal fire.

The restaurant imposes a cover charge of 250 Yen per person which included an appetiser of pickled zucchini. In addition, each person must order at least 1 drink as this is a drinking place.

Enjoying our Sapporo beer while waiting for our food to be served.

The atmosphere inside is casual and friendly. There is no air-conditioning in the restaurant, so it was quite warm inside despite the fans.

While waiting for our food to be served, we went to take a look at the chef grilling the chicken over a smoky charcoal fire.  

Chef at work in Yakitori Professional Gin’neko.

The grilled half young chicken served 2 ways - with salt & pepper and with tare (soy-sauce). The chicken is tender, delicious and is a highly recommended dish.

 

     

“Chappu” or Pork Loin with onions and tare sauce. Juicy and tender meat. It was so good that we ordered another serving of this dish.

Tabasaki or grilled chicken mid wings. We ordered the last 3 wings for the night.

 

Grilled Pork Liver with Onions on a skewer with tare (soy-sauce) is very good.

Must drink the local Sapporo beer when in Hokkaido.

All the above grilled food goes very well with a glass of cold Sapporo beer. Overall, Sliver Cat or GIn’neko is a gem of a yakitori restaurant in Asahikawa.

           

Dinner at Jingisukan Daikokuya Asahikawa.

We did not give up on having dinner at Jingisukan Daikokuya in Asahikawa. On our second evening at Asahikawa, we went to this restaurant again. This time, we went relatively early at 5 PM (30 minutes after the restaurant’s opening time).

Our queue number was 40 and they were calling 34. We waited only 15 minutes before we were shown to our table located on the second floor of the building.

Walking up the stairs to the dining room located on the second floor of Jingisukan Daikokuya.

Diners had to remove shoes and sit cross legged on traditional Japanese low tables. The dining room is fairly large and already buzzing with early diners enjoying their BBQ.

Service is efficient and customer oriented. I noticed that the staff provided picnic chairs for the elderly who are uncomfortable sitting on low tables and even a baby bouncer for a couple with a young baby on the next table.

Although there are many all-you-can-eat Jingisukan restaurants in Hokkaido, this restaurant serves ala carte menu.

Ordering is easy as there is English menu.

We ordered the first set that came with rump, shoulder and tenderloin and vegetables and additional portions of tenderloin and shoulder loin and a portion of kimchi.

Each table is equipped with a round cast-iron grill that resembles an ancient Mongolian army helmet. Jingisukan is made by placing vegetables around the sides of the grill while lamb meat cooks on top of the small mound in its center.

The staff demonstrated the process and we were free to grill the rest of the meat ourselves.

       A piece of lamb fat is placed on top to render out the fat which is used to oil the grill. Vegetables are placed at the side.

During the grilling process, fat and meat juices from the lamb trickle down to the side of the grill, cooking the vegetables in the fat.

The lamb meat is tender and juicy if we do not overcook the meat (ideally 30 seconds on each side). The grilled meat is best eaten dipped in salt and pepper or in a special BBQ sauce provided.

Personally I loved some fat with the meat which adds extra flavour after grilling. Hence, the ribeye and shoulder loin would be my favourite cuts instead of the tenderloin which is tender but lean.

Eating in a Jingisukan restaurant is an oily and smoky experience. Although each table is equipped with a suction device above the grill and paper aprons were provided, our clothes and body smelled of oil after dinner.

Suction device above the grill will remove some, but not all, of the smoke and oil.

The restaurant also serves their own craft beer which was quite nice. This came in bottles, was quite dark in colour and tasted good with the grilled lamb. 

Our dinner came up to be 10500 yen for 3 persons which was good value for money.    
 
After dinner, we went shopping along the walking street and ended up in Aeon Mall, with shops that stayed opened till 10 PM. Here we saw some of the cutest puppies and cats in a pet shop.

This chihuahua puppy was following me around the display case and begging me to bring it home.

Puppies cost around 300,000 yen to 500,000 yen. If only we could buy one and bring it home.

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