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Daisetsuzan NP, Hokkaido
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For about a month from mid-July, brown bears may be seen feeding on fresh snowmelt growth on distant slopes above the circuit. It’s one of Mt. Daisetsu’s rare spots for near-daily sightings—watched from afar, often with binoculars.
Kara-numa (空沼, “Empty Pond”) fills with snowmelt in spring, then commonly dries up by summer. Its name hints at a seasonal surprise: one of the circuit’s ponds can lose its water just as the hiking season gets going.
In 1981, a forestry-office worker was chased by a brown bear on the trail, and the circuit closed for 2 years. When it reopened in 1983, a local bear-management council and patrols helped shape a safer way to share the bears’ habitat.
The pond circuit was created in 1961 by Kokusei Mokuzai, a timber company—a surprising part of its backstory. It winds through a landscape the same government-supported study describes as a large landslide terrain.
The still ponds share the landscape with rising geothermal steam. The Environment Ministry lists fumarolic activity among the circuit’s highlights, and its trail map marks a spot called Nozoki-jigoku—literally, “Peeking Hell.”
Kamikawa Ainu have called the beautiful Daisetsuzan massif Kamuy Mintara, “the garden where the gods play.” The local Japanese Heritage site includes Daisetsu Kogen Pond among the cultural features of this mountain landscape.
The official map names 11 ponds, including Dohyo-numa (“Sumo-Ring Pond”) and Daigaku-numa (“University Pond”). These aren’t just numbered pools on a route map: each stop has its own name and identity.
Meals are allowed only at Midori, Daigaku and Kogen ponds; cooking and stoves are prohibited because food smells can attract bears. Here, where you eat lunch is part of how people share the trail with wildlife.
A 2018 trail bulletin called Tani-masumire a signature flower of the circuit. It noted the small violet blooming between Kamo-numa and Daigaku-numa—and that violet enthusiasts travel from across Japan to see it.
The ponds’ autumn reflections mix several colors: rowans and mountain maples bring reds, while Erman’s birches add yellow. The area’s foliage typically colors in mid-to-late September, making each pond’s reflection its own palette.
