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Shikotsu-Tōya NP., Hokkaido
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Jozankei’s kappa legend dates to 1965: cartoonist Hiroshi Ōba named Kappabuchi after an elder recalled a drowning, then invented a happy twist—the missing fisherman was living with a kappa wife and children.
Jozankei has 56 natural spring outlets, many in cracks along the Toyohira River. Together, they produce about 8,600 liters of water per minute at 60–80°C—a remarkable flow for a mountain ravine.
A Sapporo city timeline credits explorer Matsuura Takeshirō with finding this spring in 1858—8 years before monk Miizumi Jozan, guided by Ainu locals, arrived to develop it as a healing bath.
Since 1931, Daikokuya has made onsen manju at the same spot with the same recipe. Each bun is steamed that morning; after filling, the dough rests overnight in a freezer for its moist skin, and each bun gets its Jozankei stamp by hand.
The Jozankei Railway carried ore, crops, timber—and bathers. Its postwar “Moon-viewing train” paired an evening ride with beer and a hot-spring soak; the line opened in 1918, was electrified in 1929, and closed in 1969.
Each spring, about 400 donated koinobori fill Jozankei’s sky. They come from Hokkaido homes and workplaces that no longer need them; the tradition began in 1987, giving retired family streamers a new life above the ravine.
On Kappabuchi’s rocky banks, Ezo-kirinso grows among the wildflowers—and serves as food for the Jozan shijimi, a rare local butterfly. Those small ledges are not just scenic: they’re part of the butterfly’s habitat.
Local legend says geisha Suzuka leapt into Kappabuchi after heartbreak; a yellow, bell-like maruba-kinreika flower grew where her kimono lay. People call it Jozan-ominaeshi, and say the nearby rocks were renamed Futami-iwa in her memory.
A small bathhouse near today’s Tsukimibashi was built in 1871. Later, official Higashikuze Michitomi praised founder Miizumi Jozan’s work and named the previously unnamed valley “Jozankei” in his honor.
The Jozanji museum’s account describes founder Miizumi Jozan as nearly 180 cm tall and strong enough to move roadside stones; it also says children loved him. It’s a vivid portrait of the person behind Jozankei’s name.
