Jozankei Valley was added to Your Favorites!
Shikotsu-Tōya NP., Hokkaido
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
Shiraito Falls is the overflow from Jozankei Power Station, not a natural stream. The station began supplying electricity in 1907 and is still Hokkaido’s oldest operating hydroelectric plant.
In 1965, cartoonist Hiroshi Ōba named Kappa Pool after hearing an elder recall a drowning—and created the local legend that made the kappa a symbol of Jozankei.
A cicada more typical of warmer parts of Japan was confirmed at Futami Park in Jozankei. A Sapporo Museum survey suggested the hot-spring area's ground warmth might help explain its local presence.
At around 300 meters above sea level, Jozankei’s valley trails are home to about 800 kinds of wildflowers—including alpine plants. That’s a remarkable botanical variety for such a low elevation.
Daikokuya has made Jozankei hot-spring manju since 1931, using the same recipe in the same place. Today’s fourth generation still makes them fresh each morning; the shop’s account says they can sell out by midday.
Local history records explorer Matsuura Takeshirō staying here in 1858. In 1866, monk Miizumi Jōzan—credited with reaching the spring with Ainu guides—built a bathing hut that began Jozankei’s hot-spring resort story.
When Sato Isezo took over Jozan’s bathing place in 1880, he reportedly named this area Futami after his hometown’s Futami Bay in Ise. The valley’s twin rocks reminded him of home.
On Jozankei’s rocky slopes, ezonokirinso plants feed the caterpillars of the Jozan-shijimi butterfly—a small, local link between a wildflower and a butterfly whose name also comes from Jozankei.
Kappon, the tourism mascot said to live at Kappa Pool, received a special resident certificate from Sapporo’s Minami Ward in July 2012. The official profile gives him the memorable full name Jozan Kappa Kokichibei.
Jozankei’s spring streamside carp-banner display began in 1987 with 150 banners donated by households and workplaces. The local tradition has grown to about 400 colorful carp.
Jozankei’s 56 hot-spring sources rise naturally through cracks in rock along the Toyohira River’s banks and bed. Together they produce about 8,600 liters of water per minute at 60–80°C.
