Northern Japan itinerary with JR pass from Tokyo to Hokkaido by train

Kon’nichiwa!

Below is a plan that will take you from Tokyo to Sapporo by train in 6 days. You can make it into a Northern Japan itinerary of 7 to 10 days from Tokyo to Hokkaido by shinkansen bullet train! There’s a regional JR pass called the JR East + South Hokkaido pass that you’ll want to look into for this route.

This Northern Japan itinerary leaves from Tokyo by train to go to Aomori and the Hokkaido cities of Hakodate, Noboribetsu Onsen, and Sapporo. It’s a trip that includes coastal scenery, hot springs, and even a castle town where you can see former samurai homes. You can even experience a bit of Japanese cultural festival vibes without attending the festival itself.

 

There are partner websites included in this post. I may earn a commission.

 

Day 1 begins when you are ready to leave Tokyo. This takes you from Tokyo to Sapporo in 6 days by train with several stops along the way, and at the end you can add on several days in Sapporo, making it into a 7-day to 10-day trip. Head back to Tokyo by train, or go the quick way and fly out of the Sapporo airport (New Chitose airport). This itinerary goes on the easy-going side, and it would be possible to move along quicker if you want to pack your days.

For reference, if you wanted to go straight from Tokyo to Sapporo by train without overnight stops along the way, it can be done in a day. It will take around 8 hours, and it requires a transfer in Hakodate.

 

👆 Google maps makes it easy to plan out your train routes from Tokyo to Hokkaido! When using google maps to plan your route, adjust the departure time to get a better idea.

 

Depending on the actual stops you decide on between Tokyo and Sapporo, you may consider getting a regional JR pass (JR East + South Hokkaido pass) for the convenience and to save you money. I’ll tell you a bit about this at the end.

 

 

Tokyo Station to Shin-Aomori Station shinkansen train time: 3 to 3.5 hours
Shin-Aomori Station to Aomori Station train time: 10 minutes

Overnight in Aomori (1 night)

 

👆 Tokyo to Aomori train route: Take the Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo Station to Shin-Aomori Station! (map)

 

The longest train ride of this multi-day trip is the route from Tokyo to Aomori. Aomori is the last shinkansen station before the train goes through an underwater tunnel to the northernmost island of Hokkaido.

If you get an early start from Tokyo, then you can drop your luggage off at the Shin-Aomori Station coin lockers (JR map), and then head straight for Hirosaki!

Hirosaki is a castle town that’s a 30 minute train ride from Shin-Aomori Station.

Along with visiting Hirosaki Castle Park, another cool historical thing you can do is walk through the Hirosaki samurai district. It’s a small area of preserved streets where former samurai homes still stand. You can walk into at least 4 of these homes for free to get a glimpse of the traditional style of Japanese homes.

You can also head to the Neputa Village museum (reviews). Neputa Village is a museum where you can get a glimpse of the local festival culture. If the timing’s right, you can stick around for demonstrations which are scheduled throughout the day.

Shin-Aomori Station is the shinkansen train station, and then there’s the regular train station that’s Aomori Station. It’s a 5 to 10 minute train ride from Shin-Aomori Station to Aomori Station that is in the heart of Aomori City right near the waterfront.

Aomori City also has a museum dedicated to the local festival, which is the Neputa Museum Wa Rasse (reviews), located near Aomori Station. You can see massive floats from the festival there. See current information, including hours, admission fees, and the interactive experiences that you can do.

There’s also a big Buddha (reviews) that you can visit during your stop in Aomori, which is a 30 minute bus ride from Aomori Station.

Aomori is known for apples, so make sure to do all things apples when you are in Aomori! Near Aomori Station, there is A-factory (reviews) which has lots of apple-themed things. The general hours for the food seems to be around 11am to 5:30pm, although the souvenir shop is open longer.

 

👆 See a castle in northern Japan with a stop in Aomori.

 

👆 See former samurai homes in northern Japan with a stop in Aomori. You can walk inside to see traditional Japanese homes of samurai.

 

👆 Have fun with the apple-theme in northern Japan!

 

👆 The most famous festival in Aomori is the Nebuta Festival. While the festival takes place in early August, you can get a glimpse of the festival culture year-round by visiting the Nebuta Museum in Aomori City or the Neputa Village museum in Hirosaki. The museums have festival floats and musical demonstrations.

 

Cost of train tickets:

• Tokyo Station to Shin-Aomori Station shinkansen bullet train: 17,700 yen (US$115)
• Shin-Aomori Station to Aomori Station: 190 yen (less than $2)
• Shin-Aomori Station to Hirosaki Station x2 for round trip
  • regular train: 590 yen ($4)
  • limited express train: 1640 yen ($11)

 

 

Aomori Station to Shin-Aomori Station train time: 10 minutes
Shin-Aomori Station to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station shinkansen train time: 1 hour
Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station to Hakodate Station train time: 15 minutes

Overnight in Hakodate (2 nights)

 

👆 Aomori to Hakodate train route: First take the Hokkaido shinkansen bullet train from Shin-Aomori Station to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station (Honshu island to Hokkaido island!), and then take a regular train from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station to Hakodate Station. (map)

 

If there’s anything you didn’t get a chance to do in Aomori the day before, put your luggage in a train station coin locker, and go explore Aomori some more before you leave for Hakodate!

Then once you’re ready to leave, you’ll get back on a shinkansen at Shin-Aomori Station to go to the northernmost shinkansen station there is, and that is Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station! Welcome to Hokkaido! From the shinkansen station, it’s a 15 minute train ride to get to Hakodate Station, which is in central Hakodate.

Arriving in Hakodate in the afternoon or evening, you can start by taking it easy and walk over to the red brick warehouse waterfront area. You can further head to the Mount Hakodate ropeway to see iconic city views from above. You can see it during the day, and it’s also a popular activity to see the city night views from the Hakodate ropeway too. So this can make for an easy-going activity on the day you arrive.

 

👆 Get your shinkansen bullet train experience in Northern Japan by traveling from Tokyo to Hakodate by train!

 

Cost of train tickets:

• Shin-Aomori Station to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station shinkansen bullet train: 8,100 yen (US$55)
• Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station to Hakodate Station: 470 yen ($3)

 

 

Overnight in Hakodate

 

A full day in Hakodate will allow you to do all the famous Hakodate things. You can start your day off by walking over to the Hakodate morning market for fresh seafood and other local specialty food items, which is a 5 minute walk from Hakodate Station.

Then you can take the iconic Hakodate tram aka streetcar to the iconic star-shaped Goryokaku Fort. First, take a walk around the fort park, and then head up the Goryokaku Tower so you can see how the fort makes a star shape.

If you didn’t get a chance the day before, walk the Motomachi area which is full of western-style buildings, a reflection of its recent past. This is in the same general area as the red brick warehouse and ropeway.

 

👆 You can see the classic Hakodate views by doing the Hakodate ropeway.

 

👆 There’s a red brick warehouse area in northern Japan that reflects Hakodate’s western-influenced history as a port city. (In the Tokyo area, there is also a red brick warehouse district in Yokohama, similarly reflecting its role as an international port city.)

 

Hakodate Station to Noboribetsu Station limited express train time: 2.5 hours
Noboribetsu Station to Noboribetsu Onsen bus time: 20 minutes

Overnight in Noboribetsu Onsen (2 nights)

 

👆 Hakodate to Noboribetsu Onsen train route: Hokuto limited express train from Hakodate Station to Noboribetsu Station, then take a bus to town. (map)

 

Rest up in an onsen hot springs town in Hokkaido on your way to Sapporo!

Noboribetsu Onsen is often done as a day trip from Sapporo, but you can also take it easy in an onsen town and make it an overnight stop. Noboribetsu Station is on the way from Hakodate to Sapporo!

 

Cost of train tickets:

• Hakodate Station to Noboribetsu Station limited express train: 7,800 yen (US$50)

 

 

Overnight in Noboribetsu Onsen

 

Having 2 nights in Noboribetsu Onsen means time to take it easy!

A perfect easy-going day in Noboribetsu Onsen can be going to see the volcanic steam vents at Jigokudani aka hell valley, doing an ashiyu (onsen for your feet!) at the steaming Oyunuma River, and walking the streets to see the oni demon statues that are all around town!

 

👆 Walking the streets of Noboribetsu Onsen town, you’ll seen oni demon statues all over.

 

👆 One of the ways you can experience a hot springs town is through ashiyu, which is onsen for your feet! There’s a natural hot springs river that you can go to soak your feet in minerals. (In the Tokyo area, you can find free ashiyu to soak your feet in Hakone and in Odawara.)

 

Noboribetsu Station to Sapporo Station limited express train time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Overnight in Sapporo (2+ nights)

 

👆 Noboribetsu Onsen to Sapporo train route: Hokuto limited express train from Noboribetsu Station to Sapporo Station. (map)

 

Now it’s time to head to Hokkaido’s capital to spend time in and around Sapporo.

You can spend time in the city visiting Sapporo Clock Tower, Odori Park, the Sapporo Beer Museum, and/or the Nijo Market for a foodie experience. You can even see a fun sumo show in Sapporo.

It’s also popular to do a day trip to see the Otaru canal area or for the hot springs at Jozankei. In the winter, you can do a day trip to see the Asahiyama Zoo penguin walk. (SO cute!)

 

👆 There’s a “ramen alley” in Sapporo.

 

If the schedule lines up (spring/summer/fall), make an evening trip by train out to the Es Con Field Hokkaido baseball stadium in Kitahiroshima to watch the pro baseball team of Hokkaido. Japanese baseball games in the cheering sections are fun local experiences!

The Hokkaido team is the one that Shohei Ohtani played for in Japan. Shohei Ohtani is the reason there are so many fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB) in Japan. Almost every single Dodgers game is broadcast in Japan. If you’re a baseball fan looking for excuses to see baseball teams in the Tokyo area, Roki Sasaki (LA Dodgers) played for the Chiba team, and Shota Imanaga (Chicago Cubs) played for the Yokohama team. For Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LA Dodgers + World Series MVP), you’ll need to go to Osaka. See the Japan baseball map.

 

Cost of train tickets:

• Noboribetsu Station to Sapporo Station limited express train: 4,900 yen (US$35)

 

 

To end your Northern Japan trip, you can fly out of New Chitose Airport near Sapporo! It’s a 40 minute train ride from Sapporo Station to New Chitose Airport Station, and it costs around 2,100 yen.

 

👆 This is what’s included on the 6-day Northern Japan itinerary from Tokyo to Sapporo. (map)

 

The JR East – South Hokkaido rail pass is a regional JR pass that includes train routes that are part of the JR East train network and the JR South Hokkaido train network.

So it’s for EAST JAPAN and SOUTH HOKKAIDO… which is exactly the region you’re traveling when you are going from Tokyo to Aomori to Sapporo! Tokyo to Aomori is East Japan. Hakodate, Noboribetsu Onsen, and Sapporo are considered South Hokkaido.

 

There is also a country-wide JR pass that can be used to do the typical first-time Japan route of Tokyo – Kyoto – Hiroshima.

 

If you do the train routes as described in this Northern Japan itinerary, then the 6-day JR East + South Hokkaido Rail Pass is worth it, albeit by a small amount.

It will for sure be worth it if you decide to go from Tokyo to Hokkaido and back by train in 6 days.

The JR East – South Hokkaido Rail Pass is a 6-day JR pass that costs 35,370 yen (US$230). Confirm the current price of the JR pass, as well as the individual train routes you are planning. I think google maps is the easiest way to get a general idea of whether or not a JR pass is worth it. You can check the public transportation directions, and it will tell you the estimated cost of any train route.

Even if you have a JR pass for this route, you will still need to get shinkansen train tickets, because the shinkansen trains on this route (Tokyo to Hakodate and anything in between) do not have non-reserved seats. Your JR pass will cover the cost of the train ticket, but you will need to get an assigned seat.

 

Using the cost estimates on google maps, the major train routes on the above Northern Japan itinerary works out to 37,800 yen. This includes the main routes of:

• Tokyo to Aomori: Tokyo Station to Shin-Aomori Station: 17,700 yen
• Aomori to Hakodate: Shin-Aomori Station to Hakodate Station: 8,500 yen
• Hakodate to Noboribetsu Onsen: Hakodate Station to Noboribetsu Station: 7,800 yen
• Noboribetsu Onsen to Sapporo: Noboribetsu Station to Sapporo Station: 4,900 yen

 

You can also use the JR East + South Hokkaido rail pass for shorter JR train routes like:

• Shin-Aomori Station to Hirosaki Station
• Shin-Aomori Station to Aomori Station
• Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station to Hakodate Station