Asahikawa
旭川43°46′ N 142°21′ ECityPop. 312,209Furano
Hokkaido's second city sits in a cold inland basin within easy reach of most of the central region's hills, and it pours the island's best shoyu ramen.
Photo by Cuvii on Unsplash and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Base in Asahikawa for a different hill every day plus a real city night out. It suits riders with a car who want to move between the central region's resorts without changing hotels.
The name
cuk-pet / cup-pet / ciw-pet
チュクペッ／チュㇷ゚ペッ／チゥペッNamed after the Chubetsu River; 'sun river' was the reading that gave the city its name
ainu
The city's Ainu name is the name of the Chubetsu River, which Japanese settlers heard as 'chuk-pet'. In 1890 officials read it as cup-pet, 'sun river' (and by extension 'the river where the sun rises'), and translated that into 旭川, 'rising-sun river'. No reading is confirmed. Ciw-pet, 'river of waves' or rapids, is the most widely held, and cuk-pet, 'autumn river' (short for cuk-cep-pet, 'autumn-fish river', meaning salmon), is the other main one. Asahikawa City Museum's Ainu place-name boards present all three. The name Chiukapet sometimes given in English is a version of the same river name.
SourceEat · 食べる
カイロス / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain Hachiya Gojo蜂屋 五条創業店ramen¥
At the original Hachiya, burnt lard gives the shoyu ramen a smoky, bitter edge. Closed Thursdays.
Ramenya Tenkin Shijoらーめんや天金 四条店ramen¥
This classic shoyu ramen shop on 4-jō serves gyōza on the side and is one of the most reviewed bowls in the city.
Shoga Ramen Mizuno生姜ラーメン みづのramen¥
Mizuno created ginger ramen, and the bowl is sharp and warming. Closed Wednesdays and weekends.
Daikokuya Gochome成吉思汗 大黒屋 五丁目店yakiniku¥¥
Asahikawa's famous Genghis Khan house grills fresh, unmarinated lamb. Expect a queue.
久保竜弥 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 Ginnekoぎんねこizakaya¥¥
Come here for shinkoyaki, where a young half-chicken is grilled with sweet sauce and black pepper. Closed Mondays and holidays.
Dokushaku Sanshiro独酌 三四郎izakaya¥¥¥
A long-running counter izakaya for Hokkaido fish and sake. Closed Sundays and Mondays, and on holidays.
Sushi Minatosushi¥¥¥¥
The city's top-rated sushi counter serves omakase only. Closed Sundays; book well ahead.
Baba Horumonyakiniku¥¥
A smoky offal grill for horumon and beer. Closed Sundays and holidays.
Drink · 飲む
Taisetsu Ji Beerbrewery
This brewery beer hall in a red-brick warehouse near the station brews with Daisetsuzan groundwater. Genghis Khan on the menu. Closed Sundays.
Uedayasake
This standing bar pours local sake by the glass, including bottles from Asahikawa's own breweries. Closed Mondays.
2001 Bar Moonlightbar
A long-standing cocktail bar in the Sanroku-gai nightlife district.
Coffee Tei Chirorucoffee
An old kissa near the station that has poured coffee for decades. Closed Sundays.
Do · 遊ぶ
欅 (Keyaki) / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 Asahiyama Zoosight
Winter season runs 11 November 2026 to 7 April 2027, 10:30–15:30. The king penguins' walk through the snow starts once there is enough snow, usually from mid to late December.
京浜にけ at Japanese Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 Asahikawa Winter Festivalculture
The 68th festival runs 6–11 February 2027 on the Heiwa-dori shopping street and by the Asahibashi bridge, with a giant snow stage and a 100 m snow slide.
Kawamura Kaneto Ainu Memorial Museumculture
A museum founded by an Ainu family in the Chikabumi district in 1916, showing Ainu tools and clothing.
K. Takeda / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 Otokoyama Sake Brewery Museummuseum
One of Asahikawa's sake breweries runs a museum and tasting room at its brewery in Nagayama.
Asahikawa set Japan's official low-temperature record of minus 41.0 degrees in January 1902, and on a still winter morning the city feels like it could have another go. The basin traps the cold air so the snow squeaks underfoot. Diamond dust glitters in the light over the river. It is a working city of three hundred thousand, with a pedestrian shopping street running straight out from the station and a dense nightlife district in Sanroku-gai a few blocks east.
It is the best-placed city in Hokkaido for riding variety. Kamui Ski Links is about half an hour west, and Asahidake's ropeway is about an hour east through Higashikawa. Kurodake at Sounkyo takes an hour and a quarter up the Ishikari valley, while Furano is an hour south.
Asahikawa ramen is shoyu, made with a double stock of pork and seafood and sealed under a layer of lard to keep it hot in the cold. Hachiya, open since 1947, burns its lard for a smoky edge, and Tenkin on 4-jō is the other benchmark. For dinner, go to Daikokuya for fresh lamb, or to Ginneko for shinkoyaki, where a young half-chicken is grilled black with sauce and pepper. Dokushaku Sanshiro is the old izakaya to finish in, with a counter that has served local fish and sake since 1946.
In winter the Asahiyama Zoo runs its penguin walk once the snow is deep enough, and the Winter Festival builds a giant snow stage by the Asahibashi bridge every February. The city also has one of Hokkaido's oldest Ainu museums out in Chikabumi, where many Ainu families still live.
Quick answers about Asahikawaよくある質問
What does the name Asahikawa mean?
Asahikawa comes from the local name cuk-pet / cup-pet / ciw-pet, meaning named after the Chubetsu River; 'sun river' was the reading that gave the city its name. The city's Ainu name is the name of the Chubetsu River, which Japanese settlers heard as 'chuk-pet'. In 1890 officials read it as cup-pet, 'sun river' (and by extension 'the river where the sun rises'), and translated that into 旭川, 'rising-sun river'. No reading is confirmed. Ciw-pet, 'river of waves' or rapids, is the most widely held, and cuk-pet, 'autumn river' (short for cuk-cep-pet, 'autumn-fish river', meaning salmon), is the other main one. Asahikawa City Museum's Ainu place-name boards present all three. The name Chiukapet sometimes given in English is a version of the same river name.
Is Asahikawa a good place to stay?
Base in Asahikawa for a different hill every day plus a real city night out. It suits riders with a car who want to move between the central region's resorts without changing hotels.
How do you get to Asahikawa?
Limited express trains run from Sapporo in about 85 minutes. Asahikawa Airport is about 35 minutes from the city centre by bus. Buses run from the station to Asahidake Onsen and Sounkyo, and JR lines branch out toward Furano and Nayoro. A car makes daily hill choices easy.
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