Jozankei Onsen, located on the outskirts of Sapporo, Hokkaido, is a popular hot spring resort where you can enjoy beautiful nature and hot springs in all four seasons. Easy to access from Sapporo City and New Chitose Airport, many hot spring resorts are located along the Toyohira River valley, and visitors can enjoy the spectacular seasonal scenery of fresh greenery, autumn leaves, and snow. In this issue, we will introduce six carefully selected hot spring resorts in Jozankei Onsen that are perfect for families or couples on a sightseeing trip.

Jozankei Onsen located along the Toyohira River valley

First, we will introduce basic information about Jozankei Onsen, such as the quality of its springs, features, and access. After that, we will introduce recommended hotels and inns.

A spring that keeps your skin moist and keeps the water cool

There are 56 Jozankei Onsen hot springs located along the banks of the Toyohira River and other areas around the hot spring resort. The quality of the hot spring water from these springs is sodium chloride spring (neutral hypotonic high hot spring), which is clear and colorless and contains a high salt content. The salt content adheres to the body when bathing and prevents evaporation of sweat, which has a heat-retaining effect, leaving the body warm and the skin moist. Koganeyu Onsen, Toyohirakyo Onsen, and Usuke Onsen (Oku-Jozankei Onsen) are also located near Jozankei Onsen, and each of these springs has different qualities.

Hot spring water rising from the banks of the Toyohira River

In the hot spring resort area, there are footbaths and hot spring baths where you can make hot spring eggs.

The history of Jozankei Onsen dates back to 1866, when the ascetic monk Miizumi Jozan met the source of the spring and established a therapeutic bathhouse, guided by the Ainu people. With its abundant hot spring water and beautiful seasonal natural scenery, the area developed as a hot spring resort and has been called Sapporo's "Oku-Zashiki," or inner city of Sapporo. In recent years, with the increasing number of foreign tourists, new hot spring accommodations and cafes have been opened one after another, making the area even more attractive. The easy access from downtown Sapporo and New Chitose Airport is also an attractive and popular point.

Futami Suspension Bridge, a famous scenic spot only a few minutes' walk from Jozankei Onsen Hot Spring Resort

Jozankei Onsen is generally accessible by car, bus or cab. It takes about 50 minutes from downtown Sapporo, 80 minutes from New Chitose Airport, and 60 minutes from downtown Otaru. Route 230, which leads from downtown Sapporo to Jozankei Onsen, has two lanes in each direction all the way to the hot spring resort, making it easy to drive.

Jozankei Onsen Kappa Liner

If you plan to go by public transportation, we recommend the Jozankei Onsen Kappa Liner, a reservation-only bus from Sapporo Station to Jozankei Onsen via Susukino. It takes about 60 minutes from Sapporo Station to the hot spring resort directly on a highway bus-type vehicle. There are also buses from Sapporo Station to Jozankei Onsen via Susukino (approx. 80 minutes) and from Makomanai Station on the Nanboku Subway Line (approx. 47 minutes).

There are a number of hot spring hotels and inns in Jozankei Onsen. While all hotels and inns are excellent, we have carefully selected six hotels and inns with special features such as baths, guest rooms, and cuisine.

Jozankei Bansekaku Hotel Mirione

Jozankei Bansekaku Hotel Mirione is a resort hotel with 296 rooms. Located along Route 230, the hotel is easy to access and offers a great view of the Toyohira River valley below. The hotel also offers a free shuttle bus service to and from Sapporo Station (for hotel guests only, reservations required).

Japanese-style bath with mural paintings of wild flowers

In addition to a large public bath with an open-air bath and sauna, some guest rooms offer hot spring baths with a hot spring view in the room. The spacious public baths include two large indoor baths for men and women each with two large bathtubs, an open-air bath, and a wax sauna.

Open-air baths renewed in 2024

The open-air baths have a building roof over the top, making bathing comfortable even on rainy or snowy days, and the outside blind fence provides a view of the mountains that line the Jozankei valley. There is a shampoo bar where you can choose your favorite shampoo and conditioner, and the powder room attached to the changing room has individual partitions for a comfortable bathing experience.

Hybrid Lowlu Sauna

There are various types of guest rooms, including Western-style rooms and Japanese-style rooms, but for those who value privacy and a special feeling, rooms with a hot spring bath with a view are the best choice. Western-style rooms with hot spring baths are spacious rooms of approximately 80 m2, with the walls and floors wrapped in the warmth of wood, creating a soft impression and allowing you to enjoy a luxurious and relaxing time. The hot spring observation bath by the window offers a panoramic view of the Jozankei valley and mountains below, a spectacular view that differs from that of the open-air bath in the main bathroom.

Western-style living room with hot spring observation bath

Western-style room with hot spring bath with a view

In addition to Western-style rooms and Japanese Western-style rooms with hot spring observation baths, there are various other types of rooms, including rooms with a sau with a view, Western-style rooms, Japanese-style rooms, and Western-style rooms with tatami mats, but with a Western-style modern Japanese feel.

Buffet dinner image

Dinner and breakfast can be enjoyed at the buffet restaurant based on the concept of "marche style. About 80 different kinds of Japanese, Western, and Chinese dishes are available, and you can enjoy the taste of freshly prepared dishes such as nigirizushi, beef steak, and stone oven baked pizza in the live kitchen located in the restaurant.

Live Kitchen

Onigiri rice balls are also served at breakfast

If you stay in a room with a sauna or a hot spring bath with a view, you will have your own dining room where you can enjoy creative seasonal kaiseki cuisine prepared with the finest ingredients in a private room. You will surely be able to enjoy a stay of a higher rank along with the hot springs.

Photo courtesy of Jozankei Bansekaku Hotel Milione

Hana-Momiji

Hana-Momiji is an annex of Shika-no-Yu, a long-established inn in Jozankei Onsen, and is located near the Toyohira River. Located in the center of Jozankei Onsen town, it is easy to stroll around the souvenir stores, "Tsukimi-bashi Bridge" overlooking the Toyohira River valley and the hot spring resort, and "Jozan-source Park" where you can enjoy footbath and making hot spring eggs. There is also a free shuttle bus service to and from Sapporo Station (for hotel guests only, reservations required) for convenient access.

The view of the valley from the large "Fugetsu" bath on the top floor is spectacular!

The view from the open-air bath in "Fugetsu" is also superb

The hot spring water is a blend of three different sources, of which "Shika-no-yu" is the most famous, with the source gushing out directly under the large bathhouse along the Toyohira River. Three bathhouses are available: the "Fugetsu" observation bath on the top 12 floors, the "Momijiyu" with its impressive Japanese garden-like open-air bath, and the large bathhouse (with open-air bath and sauna) in the affiliated building "Shika-no-yu". In addition, there are three private baths with different atmospheres.

Momiji-yu" with autumn leaves and snowy scenery

There are three types of private baths: "Ten-no-yu" on the top floor with a view of the mountains, "Maruyu" with a Shigaraki-ware ceramic bathtub, and "Kakuyu" with a luxurious cypress structure. The three large baths are attractive, but the private baths are the best. Be sure to visit the various baths in the hotel!

Ama-no-yu

Maruyu

Kakuni-yu

In addition to several types of Japanese-style rooms with a capacity of 3 to 6 persons, there are Western-style twin rooms with a shower room in the guest room on the one-rank higher floor "kokonoe," and twin rooms and suite rooms on the highest level premier floor "urara" where you can enjoy a free-flowing hot spring in the guest room. The appeal of this hotel is that you can choose from a variety of room types depending on how you would like to spend your stay.

Yamanami Twin" guest room at Koko no E

Room "Premier Suite" at "urara

Dinner is a Japanese-style kaiseki meal, and breakfast is a buffet of about 50 Japanese and Western dishes. The number of dishes and ingredients for the Japanese kaiseki dinner varies depending on the accommodation plan and guest room, but all courses are prepared using carefully selected seasonal ingredients such as seafood from Hokkaido and other regions. Guests staying on the "urara" floor can enjoy special kaiseki meals in a semi-private dining room. Those who wish to fully enjoy both hot springs and meals in a private atmosphere should definitely take advantage of the "urara" accommodation plan.

Image of the "Ayane" special kaiseki course, available only to guests staying at "kokonoe".

Breakfast featuring Japanese and Western dishes made with local ingredients, such as sashimi, side dishes, breads and salads

Photo courtesy of Shikanoyu Group

Jozankei Dai-ichi Boteiru Suizantei

Jozankei Dai-ichi Boteiru Suizantei is an accommodation facility with hot spring baths in all guest rooms. In addition to bathing in the hot spring in your guest room, you can also fully enjoy the hot spring in the large public bath. A free shuttle bus (for guests only, reservation required) is available from Odori Nishi 5-chome in downtown Sapporo, making it easy to use for those without a car. Note that the facility is exclusively for elementary school students and older, so those with small children are encouraged to enjoy the adult hot spring baths in a relaxed atmosphere after their children have grown up.

Inner bath of the large "Tobisen-no-yu" public bathhouse

Open-air bath in the large bathroom "Katsuragino-yu

The hot spring is from our own hot spring source. There are three sources that flow out naturally from the bed of the Toyohira River that runs through the Jozankei hot spring resort, and visitors can bathe in the rich hot spring water blended from the sources, each of which contains different components such as salt and iron. There are two types of large baths, "Tobisen-no-yu" and "Keiki-no-yu," and men and women switch at different times of the day, so be sure to enjoy both baths. Both have indoor and outdoor baths, saunas with auto-laulu every 15 minutes, and spacious bathrooms for a relaxing time.

The open-air baths at Morinoyu

If you would like to enjoy the atmosphere of a traditional therapeutic bathhouse, you should definitely try "Morinoyu," a detached bathhouse. There is an indoor bath with dimmed lighting and an open-air bath that makes you feel as if you are in a forest, both with free-flowing hot-spring water. Since this is a place to enjoy bathing, no amenities are provided and there are no showers. There is also an after-bath area with healing music, so you can spend a comfortable relaxing time while feeling the original Japanese landscape in the bathhouse.

The view from the private bath is exhilarating!

The guest rooms range in size from 45 square meters to 160 square meters, and each room has a different bathtub shape, atmosphere, and view from the window, making for a diverse lineup. All rooms have their own hot spring bathtubs, and some rooms have private saunas.

Room with private sauna

Bathrooms in guest rooms with a bath with a view, of course hot spring water!

An example of a spacious guest room

Dinner is served kaiseki style and breakfast is Japanese style, so you can enjoy your meals in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. All dishes are prepared with seafood from Otaru, Eruption Bay, and other parts of Hokkaido, vegetables from our own farm, and meat from our butcher store in Jozankei.

Image of "Suizan Gozen" dinner

There are three dining areas. There is "Kuwanoki," a restaurant type with various types of seating including tables, sunken kotatsu, tatami rooms, and counter seats where you can see the charcoal cooking, "Shoan," a semi-private room with a private atmosphere, and "Yuaishichiseki," a special dining area with four tables and three private rooms only. Guests can choose from several meal types, including "Suizan Gozen" and "Shichiseki no Zen" at the time of reservation.

Shoan Restaurant

Special dining room "Yuso Shichiseki

There is a lounge with self-service coffee and tea, a store, and a bookstore. There are approximately 2,500 books available for purchase, and there are even private rooms where visitors can stretch their legs and read a book. It would be chic to spend a relaxing time with a good book and a hot spring bath, just like the great writers.

Furoya Bookstore

Photo courtesy of Suizantei, Jozankei Daiichi Boteiru

Yurakusoan

Yurakusoan is a Japanese-style hot spring inn located in an ideal location overlooking the Toyohira River valley, the hot spring resort area, and the mountains. It is easily accessible from Route 230, and there is also a free shuttle bus (for guests only, reservations required) to and from Sapporo Station, making it easy to visit.

The front desk also has a pure Japanese style appearance.

The charm of this hot spring hotel is that you can enjoy hot spring baths in a variety of bathhouses. In addition to indoor and outdoor cypress baths where you can enjoy hot spring water while gazing at the mountain scenery, there are also rock baths, open-air pot baths, bedrock baths, saunas, and private open-air baths.

Cypress indoor bath in the main bathhouse

Open-air bath in the main bathhouse

There are four types of private open-air baths with different atmospheres, and if available, you can use any of the four types without a reservation. Moreover, you can use the private baths as many times as you like without additional charge. Depending on your timing, you may be able to conquer all four types!

Private bath "KAN" cypress bath

Rock bath in the "Jakku" private bathhouse

Hiba (cypress) bath at the "Sei" private bathhouse

Private bath "Yu" (ceramic bath)

It is not only in the large public baths and private open-air baths that you can enjoy hot spring baths. All guest rooms are equipped with a hot spring guest room bath using a hiba tub, so you can enjoy hot spring baths in your room as well. Rooms are available in twin, deluxe twin, triple, and force, and all rooms have the functionality of Western-style rooms with beds and sofas, but with tatami mats for a "Japanese" atmosphere.

Example of twin room

Onsen (hot spring) in guest rooms

Meals are prepared using carefully selected ingredients from the sea and mountains of Hokkaido, and guests can enjoy Japanese kaiseki meals for dinner and Japanese-style meals for breakfast. Both dinner and breakfast are available for children of elementary school age and under, and Japanese and Western-style meals are also available for those with children. The dining room has counter seating by the window with a view of the Jozankei mountains, as well as private rooms, semi-private rooms, and a small dining room.

Dinner image

Breakfast image

The facilities include a tea ceremony room where the staff will prepare matcha (powdered green tea) for you, and a yukata (Japanese bathrobe) room where a wide variety of colored yukata are available for rent free of charge. We recommend this hot spring resort for those who want to spend a "quiet" time while enjoying the comforts of home.

Photo courtesy of Yurakusoan

Jozankei Tsuruga Resort Spa Mori no Motto

Jozankei Tsuruga Resort Spa Mori no Motto is a resort spa and hotel nestled in the forest. It is located close to Route 230, which is lined with convenience stores, yet is surrounded by lush greenery and snowy forests. Free shuttle bus service from Makomanai Subway Station (for guests only, reservations required) is available, making it an easy facility to visit.

Large bathroom with high ceilings and windows that let in bright sunlight

Open-air bath with rocks

The bath water is of course hot spring water. In addition to the bright and spacious large bathhouse with indoor and outdoor baths and a sauna with self-launge, there is also a bedrock spa exclusively for women. There is also a full range of esthetic and relaxation services, including treatment spas such as facial esthetics, traditional Thai massage, and a hydrogen bar.

Image of Deluxe Japanese/Western-style room

In addition to Japanese and Western-style rooms and twin Western-style rooms, there are also rooms with a bedrock bath and rooms where you can bring your dog. In addition, there is a maisonette-type cottage in a separate building, which has an outdoor hot spring bath on a wooden deck connected to the living room. It is a luxurious space where you can feel a strong sense of privacy.

Spacious living room in a separate building

The open-air bath in the annex guest room is, of course, a private bath.

The hot springs and guest rooms are wonderful, but the dinner and breakfast you can enjoy at the buffet restaurant "Mori Buffet" are exquisite! In the restaurant's open kitchen, the chef grills meats and oven-baked pizza right in front of you, and the creative cuisine corner offers a variety of Japanese and Western dishes.

Buffet Restaurant "Mori Buffet

Chefs serve freshly prepared hot dishes

In addition to dishes using fresh vegetables, fish, and meat, there is also a considerable selection of freshly made sweets specially prepared by the hotel's patissier lab. You will definitely want to try this and that.

The variety of sweets is so great that you will have a hard time deciding which one to try!

Breakfast is served with a variety of hotel-made breads.

The lobby "Forest Lounge" in the hotel has a fireplace where you can bake your own marshmallows, a library where you can enjoy reading, and a live harp concert four times a day. Enjoy the resort life with an elegant spirit.

*Photographs courtesy of Tsuruga Resort

Ryoroya Jozankei Shoten

Ryoroya Jozankei Shoten" is a restaurant that offers "more freedom. More carefree. Jozankei Shoten" is a hot spring accommodation facility for guests 13 years old and older, based on the concept of "more freedom. It is an affiliate of "Jozankei Daiichi Boteiru Suizantei" and has capsule type rooms, which are rare in the Jozankei Onsen area. A free shuttle bus (for hotel guests only, reservation required) to/from "Jozankei Dai-ichi Boteiru Suizantei" departs from Odori Nishi 5-chome in downtown Sapporo is available.

The large public bathhouse where you can enjoy hot spring baths has indoor and outdoor baths, as well as a sauna and a water bath.

Shampoo, conditioner, body soap, cotton swabs, and a hair dryer are provided in the baths, but amenities and other services included with your stay are kept to a minimum. Since the concept is "free" and "carefree" stay, you can bring what you need or buy what you like from the various items available at the facility's store. The store sells toothbrushes, soaps, and other items, as well as souvenir sake, boar cups, and T-shirts by various designers.

The store is a fun place to browse.

There are five types of guest rooms. In addition to Western-style and Japanese-style rooms, there are two types of small "hataganonaka" rooms and the "Kazemachi Onsen Apartment," a 45-square-meter log house with a hot spring located in a remote area.

Image of Japanese-style room

Hatago-no-naka" looks like a capsule room, but it is unexpectedly spacious because it has a larger area and a ceiling height that is high enough to stand up inside the room compared to a conventional capsule room. Hataganonaka" is available in two types: a women-only type with multiple individual spaces in a large room, and a group type with individual spaces for three people in one room, making it easy to use among friends.

Image of "Hataganonaka

A log house with a hot spring for 3 people, "Kazemachi Onsen Apartment," is also located in a separate building on the premises. Recommended for those who want to enjoy a sense of privacy and a stay like living in Jozankei Onsen. You can enjoy the hot spring in the bathtub with the scent of hinoki cypress.

Image of Yakiniku Course "Rokudan

Meals are provided by a butcher store located inside the inn. You can choose "Rokudan" (grilled meat course) for dinner and curry or rice porridge for breakfast. The butcher store specializes in supplying meat to hotels in the Jozankei hot spring resort area and yakiniku restaurants in Sapporo, so you can be sure of the quality and taste of the meat.

Image of breakfast curry

Breakfast rice porridge

The facility also has a liquor store, "Sake Shop Jozankei Shoten," with a full lineup of alcoholic beverages. The drink counter has about 30 kinds of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, and the drinks and snacks under order can be tasted anywhere except the main baths, so it is recommended for meals and after-dinner moments.

The sake brewery has about 100 brands of sake alone available at any given time!

*Photo courtesy of Ryoroya Jozankei Shoten

Image of Jozankei Onsen hot springs

Jozankei Onsen is a major hot spring resort less than an hour away from downtown Sapporo. The Jozankei area is famous for its autumn foliage, and is usually quite crowded in autumn, but the green scenery in spring and summer is also beautiful, and in winter you can enjoy the open-air baths with a view of the snow. You will never get tired of visiting the area at any time of the year. There are many lodging facilities such as onsen hotels and onsen inns, all of which offer excellent facilities and food. We hope you will take advantage of your favorite accommodations and enjoy a relaxing and leisurely soak in the hot springs.

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