Lake Shikotsu
支笏湖42°46′ N 141°24′ EOnsen townSapporo
Lake Shikotsu fills a deep caldera forty minutes from the airport, and it never freezes, even in the coldest weeks of winter.
Photo Inlet Masu · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Stay at Lake Shikotsu for a first or last night near the airport with a proper onsen, or a rest day between Niseko and the Sapporo hills. It suits couples and anyone who wants quiet.
The name
sikot-to
シコット（シコットホ）The lake of the Shikot river, where si-kot means the great hollow
ainu
Ainu speakers called the lake sikot-to or sikot-toho, the lake at the head of the Shikot-pet (the river now called the Chitose). In formal speech it was Shikotem-ko-ean-parato, the broad lake that lies at the source of the Shikot River, according to Yamada Hidezō. The river and the district lost the name in 1805, when it was swapped for Chitose because Shikotsu sounded like 'dead bones'; the lake kept it.
SourceEat · 食べる
Healthy Buffet Amamucafe¥¥
Shikotsuko Tsuruga Resort Spa Mizu no Uta opens its lunch buffet to non-guests from 11:30 to 14:00, and as a café until 16:00, every day of the year.
Okotobukisoba¥¥
Soba and seafood in the onsen village. Lunch only, 10:30–15:00; closed Wednesdays.
Kita no Umaimon Ten Hekisuicafe¥
Soft serve and yakisoba in the onsen village, 10:30–17:00, for a cheap lunch after a lakeside walk.
The Bird Watching Cafecafe¥¥
A café on the road in from Chitose with a gallery and a hide for watching forest birds at the feeders. Lunch 10:30–14:30; closed Tuesdays. Phones are banned in the hide.
Do · 遊ぶ
t-konno / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 Chitose–Lake Shikotsu Ice Festivalculture
Sculptures built from sprayed lake water are lit from 16:30. Runs 30 January to 23 February 2027, 10:00–20:00. Entry ¥1,000 on weekdays and ¥3,000 on weekends and holidays; parking is free in winter.
Shikotsuko Visitor Centermuseum
Exhibits on the caldera and the wildlife around the lake. Winter hours 9:30–16:30; closed Tuesdays from December to March.
Mamusi Taka / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 Lakeside walk at the onsen villagewalk
Walk out on the red Yamasen Railway bridge over the Chitose River outlet for the view across the water to the volcanoes. Dawn is best, when steam rises off the lake.
Lake Shikotsu fills a caldera blown out by an eruption about 44,000 years ago. At 363 metres it is the second deepest lake in Japan, and so much warm water sits in the depths that the surface never freezes. No lake further north in Japan stays open all winter. On a still January morning the water turns an unreal blue against the snow while steam lifts off it into the cold. Tarumae's lava dome smokes quietly to the south.
Shikotsuko Onsen is a small cluster of hotels and shops at the outlet of the Chitose River, and it goes quiet early. Most people eat at their hotel. For lunch, the buffet at the Tsuruga resort is open to everyone, and Okotobuki serves soba. Menus call the kokanee salmon raised in the lake since 1894 chippu, and it is worth ordering salt-grilled. Around the shore, Marukoma Onsen's rock bath sits right at lake level. From late January the Ice Festival builds sculptures from sprayed lake water and lights them in colour after dark.
Quick answers about Lake Shikotsuよくある質問
What does the name Lake Shikotsu mean?
Lake Shikotsu comes from the local name sikot-to, meaning the lake of the Shikot river, where si-kot means the great hollow. Ainu speakers called the lake sikot-to or sikot-toho, the lake at the head of the Shikot-pet (the river now called the Chitose). In formal speech it was Shikotem-ko-ean-parato, the broad lake that lies at the source of the Shikot River, according to Yamada Hidezō. The river and the district lost the name in 1805, when it was swapped for Chitose because Shikotsu sounded like 'dead bones'; the lake kept it.
Is Lake Shikotsu a good place to stay?
Stay at Lake Shikotsu for a first or last night near the airport with a proper onsen, or a rest day between Niseko and the Sapporo hills. It suits couples and anyone who wants quiet.
How do you get to Lake Shikotsu?
Hokkaido Chuo Bus runs from JR Chitose Station to Shikotsuko; allow about an hour. By car it is about 40 minutes from New Chitose Airport and roughly an hour from Jozankei over the mountain road. Parking lot 5 by the village charges ¥1,000.
Ride from Lake Shikotsu近くの山
Stay in Lake Shikotsu宿
Hot springs nearby温泉
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