Shirogane Onsen

In 1950 Biei's mayor finally struck hot water here, and he said it was like finding platinum in the mud the 1926 eruption of Tokachidake had left behind. Shirogane means platinum. The road in runs through four kilometres of birch that seeded itself on the old mudflow, and the Blue Pond and the Shirahige falls are a few minutes from the hotels.

The water comes up clear and turns brown in the tub as the iron meets the air. It's a sulphate and chloride spring that people here call tsue-wasure no yu. The name says you'll forget your walking stick after a soak, and it's the right medicine for knees after a week of touring.

Ao no Bi Yuyu, which used to be the Yumoto Shirogane Onsen Hotel, sells day entry for ¥1,200 until eight in the evening, and it has a rotenburo and sauna. In winter the road over to Fukiage and Tokachidake Onsen is closed, so from Furano you loop round through Biei.