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Hokkaidō: Powder, Patience, and Very Good Ramen

Hokkaidō, JapanMira Okonkwo@mira9 min readTravelled With friends

Trip notes

If you are going yourself

Everything practical for Hokkaidō, Japan in one place — where it actually is, where to sleep, how to move, what to eat, what the weather does, and what to put in the bag. The story itself follows.

Travelled

With friends — Four of us: two who could ski properly and two who could eat. Both skills got used.

The route

5 stops · 5 slept in · 12 nights · 117 km by road

Stayed the nightPassed throughBy road — follows the actual roadBy train

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  1. Sapporo

    3 nights

    Arrive via New Chitose. Three nights eating, before any snow is involved.

    Good signal — 5G everywhere, plus free wifi in the subway and most cafés.

  2. Asahikawa

    1 night

    One night, mostly for the darker, cleaner soy ramen the city is known for.

    Good signal — Solid 4G and 5G, and free wifi at the station.

    By train

  3. Asahidake Onsen

    2 nights · 1,100 m

    One ropeway, one volcano, almost nobody. Ryokan with dinner included.

    Patchy signal — One carrier reaches the ryokan. The top of the ropeway has nothing at all.

    By road · 46.7 km · 1 hr 3 min driving

  4. Furano

    4 nights

    The main base. Reliable snow, a real town, half the lift queues of Niseko.

    Good signal — 4G in town and on the lower lifts; thin at the top of the mountain.

    By road · 70.5 km · 1 hr 6 min driving

  5. Hakodate

    2 nights

    Long train south to finish. Morning market, clear salt ramen, night view.

    Good signal — 5G, and tourist wifi across the old quarter and the morning market.

    By train

Furano — the quieter base in the story43.3421° N, 142.3833° E

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Weather

Best time to go

Mid-January to late February for snow; June to August for hiking

Jan–Feb (best snow)−4 °C / −12 °C
The dry powder the island is known for. Short days, heavy snowfall.
Mar–Apr3 °C / −6 °C
Still good cover, warmer, far cheaper, longer daylight.
Jun–Aug24 °C / 15 °C
A different trip entirely — flower fields, hiking, no humidity.

Ranges are typical daytime high and overnight low.

What to pack

Dressed for −15 °C with wind, then a hot spring

  • Waterproof insulated jacket and trousers — snow here is constant, not occasional
  • Merino base layers, top and bottom; cotton is useless once damp
  • Winter boots with real tread for icy town pavements
  • Balaclava or neck gaiter — exposed skin is the first thing to suffer
  • Two pairs of gloves so one can dry
  • A small towel for the onsen, which most ryokan will not lend you

Where to stay

  • Furano

    Pension or hotel

    A working town rather than a resort. Half the lift queues of Niseko and a fraction of the nightly rate.

  • Sapporo

    City hotel

    The food base. One to two hours from most of the skiing, so best if eating matters as much as the snow.

  • Asahidake Onsen

    Onsen ryokan

    One ropeway, one volcano, almost nobody. Book the ryokan with dinner included — there is nowhere else to eat.

Getting around

  • Getting there

    Fly into New Chitose (Sapporo). Domestic connections from Tokyo are frequent and often cheaper than the train.

  • Trains

    JR covers Sapporo–Asahikawa–Furano well. A Hokkaido Rail Pass pays off if you are moving every few days.

  • Driving

    Freeing, and serious in winter. Insist on studded winter tyres and expect white-outs; do not drive at night in a storm.

  • Resort buses

    Most towns run shuttles to the lifts. Cheap, reliable, and they mean you can use the onsen afterwards.

Food stops

  • Sapporo miso ramen

    Ramen shop

    A slick of lard on top keeps the broth scalding in sub-zero air. Engineering, not garnish.

  • Nijo Market, Sapporo

    Seafood market

    Uni, crab and ikura donburi eaten at 8am at a counter. The best-value luxury meal in Japan.

  • Asahikawa shoyu ramen

    Ramen shop

    Darker and cleaner than Sapporo's. Worth the detour on the way to Asahidake.

  • Soup curry

    Sapporo speciality

    A Hokkaidō invention and the ideal thing after a day in the cold. Order it mild the first time.

Day by day

14 days, start to finish · 18–31 January 2025

  1. Days 1–3

    18–20 Jan

    Sapporo, eating

    Land at New Chitose and spend three days on food before any snow: miso ramen, Nijo Market at 08:00, soup curry, an onsen each evening.

    Visiting1Sapporo

    Staying Sapporo

  2. Day 4

    21 Jan

    North to Asahikawa

    Ninety minutes by limited express, mostly for the darker, cleaner soy ramen the city does better than anywhere.

    Visiting2Asahikawa

    Staying Asahikawa

  3. Days 5–6

    22–23 Jan

    Asahidake Onsen

    One ropeway, one volcano, almost nobody. Check the avalanche forecast properly. Ryokan with dinner, because there is nowhere else.

    Visiting3Asahidake Onsen

    Staying Asahidake Onsen

  4. Days 7–10

    24–27 Jan

    Furano

    The core of the trip. Four days of dry powder, a real town in the evenings, and a third of Niseko's lift queues.

    Visiting4Furano

    Staying Furano

  5. Days 11–12

    28–29 Jan

    The long train south

    Most of a day back through Sapporo to Hakodate. Buy an ekiben and watch the coast go past.

    Visiting5Hakodate

    Staying Hakodate

  6. Days 13–14

    30–31 Jan

    Hakodate, then home

    The morning market, a clear salt ramen that undoes your assumptions, the night view from Mount Hakodate, and the flight.

    Visiting5Hakodate

    Staying Hakodate

The story

Hokkaidō gets somewhere between eight and fourteen metres of snow a year, delivered by cold Siberian air that picks up moisture crossing the Sea of Japan and dumps all of it on the first land it meets. The result is snow so dry it does not pack — it moves out of the way.

Go in late January, leave the resort

Niseko is excellent and extremely discovered. Furano is quieter, colder, and the town still feels like a town. Asahidake, further north, is a single ropeway and a volcano and almost nobody, which is either the appeal or the problem depending on your appetite.

  • Furano — reliable snow, real town, half the lift queues.
  • Asahidake — one ropeway, alpine terrain, check the avalanche forecast properly.
  • Sapporo as a base — an hour or two from everything, and the food is the point.
  • An onsen at the end of every single day. Non-negotiable.

The ramen argument

Sapporo does miso ramen with a slick of lard on top that keeps the broth scalding in sub-zero air. This is not a garnish, it is engineering. Asahikawa does soy, darker and cleaner. Hakodate does a clear salt broth that will make you doubt everything you thought you liked.

I ate ramen nineteen times in fourteen days. I regret one of them, and only because I was not hungry yet.

Two weeks chasing snow across Japan's north island, and a strong argument for travelling in the off-season.

  • #winter
  • #japan
  • #food

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