![Mount Racey is also scheduled to open this year! Yubari City with beautiful scenery created by nature and man-made structures [Yubari City x Domingo].｜Domingo](https://p1-634a4370.imageflux.jp/w=768,f=webp:auto,q=78/https%3A%2F%2Fdomingo.ne.jp%2Fwp%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F12%2Fe0073d78460a64a44339e515b46126f4.jpg)
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Mount Racey is also scheduled to open this year! Yubari City with beautiful scenery created by nature and man-made structures [Yubari City x Domingo].
Yubari City is located almost in the center of Hokkaido and covers an area of 763㎢, which is enough to fit all of Tokyo's 23 wards.
Yubari and the autumn foliage of Taki no Kamigami Park, as well as the charm of the scenery created by man-made structures such as the Yubari Shuparo Dam and the former Yubari coal mine of the Northern Coal Mine, Tenryu Tanto, which are not seen anywhere else.
Let's enjoy Yubari City, which covers such a vast area, from various angles! Some spots are closed during the winter, so be sure to check the opening period before visiting.
Table of Contents
1. Enjoy with all your senses! Experience Yubari
2. enjoy the scenery! The magnificent nature of Yubari
3. Enjoy the food! Delicious food in Yubari! 4.
I want to know about coal mines! History of the coal mine that made Yubari prosperous
Enjoy with all five senses! Experience Yubari
In Yubari City, there are spots where you can enjoy moving your body and fully utilize all five senses. Some events are limited to certain seasons or days of the week, so please check the hours of operation before participating.
Mount Race Ski Resort
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
From December to April, this ski resort offers high-quality powder snow and accessibility. The closest winter resort from New Chitose Airport, the slopes boasting a maximum run distance of 3,500 meters and a maximum slope angle of 45° allow you to experience high-quality powder snow and a variety of course layouts for beginners and advanced skiers alike. The resort was closed until last season, but is scheduled to be open from December 18 this season.
Shimizusawa Town Walk
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
Visitors can enjoy "Shimizusawa Machiaruki," a walking tour held on the fourth Saturday of every month, which is a project to walk the Northern Coal Historical Heritage Route that visits coal mine tenements, Zuri Mountain climbing, and the former Shimizusawa Thermal Power Station.
Climbing Mt. Yubari
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
Yubari-dake, one of Japan's two hundred most famous mountains, is a treasure trove of 600 varieties of alpine flora and is also known as a mountain famous for its flowers.
Trekking to Lengshueishan (冷水山) can be done from May to September and is 6.7 km, about a 2-hour round trip. The elevation is 702 meters and the difference in elevation is 405 meters, and the view from the top is spectacular.
Lengshuishan is privately owned, and it has not yet been determined whether it will be open to the public from next year.
I want to enjoy the scenery! Magnificent Nature in Yubari
Yubari City is a hilly area nurtured by the rich forests and clear streams of the Yubari Mountains. The Yubari River, which flows from the 1,668-meter-high Mt. Yubari, and its tributaries run almost through the center of the city, forming a strip of towns along the river basin.
Another attraction of Yubari is the magnificent scale of its man-made structures, which exist only because of the city's history of prosperous coal mining. Here are some spots where you can enjoy the overwhelming scenery created by the magnificent nature and magnificent man-made structures!
Takinoue Park
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
The valley created by the erosion of the Yubari River is composed of oddly shaped rocks and countless waterfalls of various sizes, offering a unique scenic beauty. The autumn foliage in fall is especially a must-see.
The Taki no Kami Power Plant in the park was built in January 1925 by Hokkaido Coal Mine Steamship Company as a private power generation facility, and is a testament to the coal mining legacy. The old brick warehouse building is recognized as a recommended civil engineering heritage site.
Lake Shuparo
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
With Mt. Yubari in the background, visitors can enjoy the magnificent nature of Yubari. At the bottom of the lake lies the Kashima area, where up to 20,000 people lived and prospered at the Mitsubishi Dai-Yubari Coal Mine, which closed in 1973. During the drought season, the dried-up trees and arched bridges that peek out from the surface of the lake offer a nostalgic view that reminds us of the prosperity that once existed.
Yubari Shuparo Dam
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
This gravity-fed concrete dam is located upstream of the Yubari River in the Ishikari River system. It is known as a multi-purpose dam of overwhelming scale, boasting the second largest water area in Japan (15.0㎢) and the fourth largest total storage capacity (427 million m2) in Japan.
Enjoy the food! Delicious food in Yubari
The first thing that comes to mind when most people think of Yubari City is probably the Yubari melon. Yubari melons are a well-known specialty, with exceptional taste, aroma, and appearance.
But Yubari is more than just melons. Let us introduce you to the delicious foods produced by the rich natural environment and history of coal mining.
Yubari melon
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
Yubari melons are a specialty of Yubari, a city with a wide range of temperatures. It is characterized by its beautiful netted appearance, fresh aroma, and elegant sweetness.
Curry Soba
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
This is the soul food of Yubari, loved and passed down from generation to generation by coal miners engaged in hard labor. (Yoshinoya Soba Restaurant, Maple Town, Kurishita Shokudo, Baron)
Snack
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
Cinnamon doughnuts (Usagiya) are bite-sized an-doughnuts filled with koshian (sweet red bean paste); panjyu (Oguraya Panjyu Store) are manjyu (buns baked like bread); tandorayaki (dumplings made with dough kneaded with bamboo charcoal to resemble coal) are made at Abe Kashiho; and taiyaki (fish dumplings) are served warm. Tandora (Abe Kashiho), dorayaki made with dough kneaded with bamboo charcoal to resemble coal, and Taiyaki (Shimura Kashiho) with its characteristic large head served warm.
I want to know about coal mines! The History of Coal Mining that Made Yubari Prosperous
The history of Yubari as a "coal mining town" began in 1888 when a large outcrop of coal was discovered in the upper reaches of the Horokabetsu River, a tributary of the Yubari River.
The energy revolution of the 1960s led to the closure of coal mines one after another, but Yubari continued to contribute greatly to the development of Hokkaido.
However, the industrial revolution in the north that unfolded on the stage of "coal," "steel," "ports," and the "railroads" that connected them, which contributed greatly to the development of Hokkaido, still remains in many places as a real industrial landscape that overwhelms the viewer.
The coal mining heritage of Sorachi, the factory landscape of Muroran, the harbors of Otaru, and the railroad facilities in various areas, all of which retain traces of the prosperity of those days, were recognized as "Coal and Steel Ports" as a Japan Heritage in 2028.
This section introduces spots where visitors can learn about the coal mines and their history, which came to an end in 1990!
Yubari Coal Museum
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
Visitors can learn about Yubari's history and its relationship with the coal industry through exhibits, as well as view actual coal mining equipment in operation. This museum will deepen your understanding of coal mining.
Former Northern Coal Shimizusawa Thermal Power Station
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
This is a private power plant that was in use until 1991. Some of the equipment still remains and can be visited. Tours are available by advance reservation only. The entire exterior of the plant can be seen from Shimizusawa Dam located in front of the plant.
Former Yubari Coal Mine Tenryu Antic
Photo courtesy of Yubari City
The mine opened in 1900. It is characterized by the fact that the entrance and exhaust shaft entrances remain in pairs, and by the beautiful red-brick decorative mine entrance in a costume style. It is also recognized as a component cultural property of the Japan Heritage Coal and Iron Port.
Yubari City was a town that could be enjoyed in many ways!
There are different attractions throughout the four seasons, such as pure white snow in the coming full-blown winter, cherry blossoms in spring, vivid greenery and flowers in summer, and autumn leaves in fall, so please visit Yubari in the season you are interested in.
