Yubari
夕張43°03′ N 141°58′ ECityPop. 5,766South
Yubari dug coal for a century and now grows melons, with the Mount Racey ski area rising from the top of the old town.
Photo Yasu (talk) · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Stay at Mount Racey for cheap, uncrowded laps a short drive from the airport. It suits families and anyone curious about Hokkaido's coal history.
The name
yu-paro
ユーパロThe place where mineral springs come up; literally the mouth of the hot water
ainu
The usual reading is yu-paro, where hot or mineral water flows out. Matsuura Takeshirō, who proposed the district names in 1869, recorded it as i-yu-paro, 'the mouth of the hot spring', with the Japanese reading Yūhari.
SourceEat · 食べる
Yubari Yataimura Bari Yataiゆうばり屋台村 バリー屋台shokudo¥
A small food-stall village in Suehiro built with timber from old miners' row houses. Come for Yubari curry soba, or sushi from the stall next door.
Kurishita Shokudo栗下食堂soba¥
A noodle diner by Shin-Yubari Station where the local curry soba shares the menu with ramen. Open 11:00–20:00; closed on alternate Sundays.
Michi-no-Eki Yubari Meload道の駅 夕張メロードcafe¥
The roadside station beside Shin-Yubari Station with a farm shop and Yubari melon sweets. Winter hours 10:00–18:00; closed Mondays outside summer.
Do · 遊ぶ
Wakimasa / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 Mount Raceyactivity
The city's ski area rises straight out of the old town, and the Hotel Mount Racey with its Racey no Yu bath stands at the base.
Ooyubari9201 at Japanese Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 Yubari Coal Mine Museummuseum
A museum of the coal industry built around a real mine shaft at the top of the valley. Check winter opening before you go.
Yubari dug coal for most of a century. In 1960 nearly 117,000 people lived along its narrow valleys. Fewer than 6,000 do today, which is one of the steepest falls of any town in Japan, and in 2007 the city went bankrupt. Walk the upper town in winter and you pass shuttered company housing and empty lots under deep snow, with the Mount Racey lifts climbing straight out of the old town centre.
Riders come for Mount Racey, which is a compact hill with a hotel at its base. It rarely sees crowds and sits about an hour from New Chitose by car. The local dish is curry soba, which the miners loved: buckwheat noodles in a thick curry broth with pork belly and onion. The Bari Yatai food stall village in Suehiro serves it, and so does Kurishita Shokudo near Shin-Yubari Station. The Michi-no-Eki next door sells Yubari melon sweets year-round, long after the melons themselves are gone.
Quick answers about Yubariよくある質問
What does the name Yubari mean?
Yubari comes from the local name yu-paro, meaning the place where mineral springs come up; literally the mouth of the hot water. The usual reading is yu-paro, where hot or mineral water flows out. Matsuura Takeshirō, who proposed the district names in 1869, recorded it as i-yu-paro, 'the mouth of the hot spring', with the Japanese reading Yūhari.
Is Yubari a good place to stay?
Stay at Mount Racey for cheap, uncrowded laps a short drive from the airport. It suits families and anyone curious about Hokkaido's coal history.
How do you get to Yubari?
The JR line into the old town closed in 2019, and the nearest station is Shin-Yubari on the Sekisho Line, served by limited express trains between Sapporo and Obihiro. Local buses run from Shin-Yubari up the valley to the Racey resort stop. By car it takes about 20 minutes from the Yubari IC on the Do-to Expressway.
Ride from Yubari近くの山
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