Nayoro
名寄44°21′ N 142°28′ ECityPop. 24,168Furano
Nayoro sits at the far north of the Kamikawa basin, and its Piyashiri hill gets some of the coldest, lightest snow in Hokkaido.
Photo RJD · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Stay in Nayoro for Piyashiri's dry snow and empty slopes on a road trip north. It suits riders who like the cold and the quiet.
The name
nay-or / nay-or-putu
ナイ・オロ（ナヨロ）／ナイ・オㇿ・プトゥIn the river; the mouth of that river
ainu
Nayoro is a shortened nay-or, 'the place in the river', which early records apply to the Nayoro River itself. Its junction with the Teshio River was nay-or-putu, 'the mouth of the Nayoro'. Edo-period explorers wrote it as Naero, Nayorofuto and Naibutsu; Matsuura Takeshirō noted that 'Naifuto' was a contraction of Nayorofuto. Nobody knows who chose the characters 名寄, which appear in official documents from 1897.
SourceEat · 食べる
Mitsuboshi Shokudoramen¥
A diner a minute from Nayoro Station for ramen and set meals. Closed Mondays.
Soba Dokoro Benibanasoba¥
Benibana serves soba and tempura at local prices a short walk from the station.
Ichizen-yaramen¥
A town ramen shop near the station. Closed Tuesdays.
KING BEARcurry¥
Soup curry and hamburg steak. Closed Thursdays.
Yakitori Tama-chanizakaya¥¥
A small yakitori bar for an evening with the locals. Closed Wednesdays.
Drink · 飲む
RS Coffeecoffee
A roaster café on the edge of town. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
Do · 遊ぶ
村橋究理基 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 Nayoro Observatory Kitasubarusight
The city observatory houses Hokkaido University's Pirka telescope and runs public viewing nights under some of the darkest skies near any Hokkaido town.
Michi-no-Eki Mochikome no Sato Nayoromarket
The roadside station in Furen selling mochi and sweets made from Nayoro's mochi rice.
Nayoro is a long way north, about an hour past Asahikawa on the line toward Wakkanai, and it is properly cold. Clear winter mornings often drop below minus twenty, and the air fills with diamond dust that glitters over the frozen fields. The snow that falls here is about as dry as it gets in Japan. The city itself is quiet and practical, with mochi rice paddies around it and a university on the edge of town.
Riders come to ride Nayoro Piyashiri, where the runs are long and the lift lines barely exist, and to say they rode the north. Mitsuboshi Shokudo across from the station is the ramen stop, and KING BEAR does soup curry. In the evening, yakitori at Tama-chan puts you at the counter with locals. On a clear night drive up to the city observatory at Kitasubaru, where Hokkaido University's large telescope points at a sky with very little light pollution.
Quick answers about Nayoroよくある質問
What does the name Nayoro mean?
Nayoro comes from the local name nay-or / nay-or-putu, meaning in the river; the mouth of that river. Nayoro is a shortened nay-or, 'the place in the river', which early records apply to the Nayoro River itself. Its junction with the Teshio River was nay-or-putu, 'the mouth of the Nayoro'. Edo-period explorers wrote it as Naero, Nayorofuto and Naibutsu; Matsuura Takeshirō noted that 'Naifuto' was a contraction of Nayorofuto. Nobody knows who chose the characters 名寄, which appear in official documents from 1897.
Is Nayoro a good place to stay?
Stay in Nayoro for Piyashiri's dry snow and empty slopes on a road trip north. It suits riders who like the cold and the quiet.
How do you get to Nayoro?
JR Soya Line limited express trains run from Asahikawa in about an hour and continue from Sapporo. By car, Asahikawa Airport is about an hour and a half away. Bring proper winter tyres; the roads are often icy in extreme cold.
Ride from Nayoro近くの山
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