Noboribetsu Date Jidaimura and the Rest of Hell Valley

The gatekeeper is a nine-meter red demon with a spiked club, standing by the road into town with one hand raised in welcome. Noboribetsu leans all the way into the devil theme, and the reason is two kilometers uphill: a steaming grey crater that locals named Hell Valley, which pumps out the water that fills every bath in town.

Noboribetsu Date Jidaimura is the other reason to come. It's a recreated Edo-period town on the edge of the resort, with ninja shows, an oiran procession and a working replica of a feudal-era street. Adults pay ¥3,300, children ¥1,700, and it opens 9:00 to 17:00 from late March through October.

Noboribetsu Date Jidaimura

A theme park in the proper sense, laid out as an Edo-period town with wooden shopfronts and a samurai residence. Four theaters run shows through the day, and there's a ninja house to walk through between them.

• Price: ¥3,300 for adults and middle school students, ¥1,700 for elementary students and ¥600 for children aged 4 and up. Visitors 65 and over pay ¥2,600, and a web coupon takes ¥150 off the adult rate.

• Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 from March 20 to October 31, and 9:00 to 16:00 from November 1 to March 19. Last entry is an hour before closing.

• Parking: ¥500 for cars, ¥200 for motorcycles.

• Getting there: six minutes by bus from JR Noboribetsu Station, or ten minutes by car from the onsen town.

The shows are the point. The ninja show in the Kasumi ninja house runs 20 minutes, the oiran show in the culture theater runs 30 and pulls an audience member on stage to play the shogun, and the outdoor action show runs 15 minutes and moves indoors in bad weather. Each runs several times a day on a timetable that changes with the season, so check the schedule when you arrive and build your visit around it.

Between shows you can throw shuriken, walk a ninja maze or rent a costume. There are sword and ninja museums too. Your ticket works as a pass, so you can leave and come back the same day.

The gatehouse at Date Jidaimura, laid out as an Edo-period post town

Jigokudani, or Hell Valley

Jigokudani, where steam vents feed the hot spring water used by every hotel in town

The crater is about 450 meters across and covers roughly 11 hectares, left by the eruptions of Mount Hiyori. Around 10,000 tons of hot spring water surface here every day, which is what supplies the town.

It's free, open at all hours, and a five-minute walk from the bus terminal. A boardwalk loop takes about ten minutes and passes Tessen-ike, a pool that boils over at intervals. The observation deck is lit until around 11:00 p.m., though sunset is the better time to see the color of the ground.

Parking costs ¥500 and there's a wheelchair ramp from the service center to the deck.

Oyunuma and the river footbath

Keep walking past the crater and you reach Oyunuma, a gourd-shaped lake about a kilometer around. Sulfur springs at roughly 130°C feed it from below, and the surface sits between 40 and 50°C. You cannot swim or bathe in it, and the grey-black surface makes that obvious when you see it.

What you can do is the footbath. The lake's overflow forms the Oyunuma river, and a spot downstream near Taisho Jigoku has been set up with benches along a natural hot stream. It's free, open 8:00 to 17:00, and it's the best 20 minutes in Noboribetsu. Bring a towel.

The walk from Jigokudani is about 1.5 kilometers with some climbing, 20 to 30 minutes each way. In winter the upper trails can be impassable and the Oyunuma car park closes.

Noboribetsu Onsen

An open-air bath in Noboribetsu, where the water arrives from Hell Valley

Ten different spring types surface in the Noboribetsu and Karurusu area, which is unusual anywhere in the world and the reason this became Hokkaido's best-known hot spring town. Sulfur, salt, iron and acidic waters all appear within a short walk of each other.

Most hotels open their baths to day visitors:

• Dai-ichi Takimotokan: ¥2,500 for adults and ¥1,500 for children, open 9:00 to 21:00 with reception until 18:00. The largest bath house in town, drawing on five spring types.

• Sekisuitei: ¥1,200 and ¥600, 11:00 to 19:00.

• Hotel Yumoto: ¥1,400 and ¥700, 13:00 to 20:00.

• Yumoto Sagiriyu: ¥500 and ¥180, 9:00 to 21:00, the cheapest way to try the water.

If you have not used a public bath in Japan before, our guide to onsen etiquette covers the order of operations. Tattoos are refused at some hotels here, so ask before you pay.

Demon Fireworks

The Demon Fireworks, set off from the floor of Hell Valley on scheduled evenings

Costumed demons set off hand-held fireworks from the floor of Jigokudani in a ritual meant to drive off bad luck. It is genuinely good, and it is not nightly.

For 2026 the schedule runs from June 1, on Mondays and Thursdays in June, Thursdays in July and Thursdays in September. The show starts at 20:00 and lasts about 15 minutes. Tickets cost ¥500 for adults and are free for elementary-age children and younger. Capacity is 1,000, and same-day tickets go on sale at 15:00 at the tourist information center. Special winter editions run in late January.

The demon statues and Onibi no Michi

Demon statues along the paths above the onsen town

Demons are the town's mascot rather than a warning. Statues stand at the station, at the expressway exit and along the streets. Among them are a set of three said to grant wishes, a parent-and-child pair and a large Nembutsu demon.

After dark, the Demon Fire Road (Onibi no Michi) lights the path between the town and the valley with orange lanterns. It's free and open from sunset until 9:30 p.m.

Shikotsu-Toya National Park

Lake Shikotsu, a caldera lake inside the national park that surrounds Noboribetsu

Noboribetsu sits inside a national park that also holds Lake Toya, Lake Shikotsu and Mount Usu. Showa Shinzan, the volcano that pushed up out of a wheat field in 1943, is in the same group. Lake Kuttara, a near-perfect circular crater lake, is the closest of these and among the clearest water in Japan.

The park is the reason to give Noboribetsu two days instead of one. A rental car opens up the lakes and the Usu ropeway, and the drive to Lake Toya takes about an hour.

Bear Park, Nixe and the rest

Noboribetsu Bear Park sits on a 550-meter peak above the town, reached by a seven-minute ropeway that's included in the ¥3,200 adult ticket. Children pay ¥1,600. It closes for maintenance in February and early March, and again from April 6 to 24, 2026 for a ropeway inspection.

Down by the coast, Marine Park Nixe is an aquarium built as a Danish castle, with adults at ¥3,200 and children at ¥1,600, open 9:00 to 17:00.

Where to eat

Onsen manju, the local steamed buns sold along the main street

Onsen manju, steamed buns with sweet bean or custard filling, are sold warm along the main street and are the town's standard souvenir. Hokkaido does the rest of the work. Restaurants here run to crab, scallops and summer sea urchin. Muroran curry ramen is the local specialty, thick enough to coat the noodles.

Most hotels serve an enormous buffet dinner, which is what the majority of guests do. If you would rather eat out, book before 7:00 p.m., since the street empties early.

Getting to Noboribetsu

The limited express from Sapporo takes about an hour and costs ¥4,890 one way, and it's covered by the JR Pass and the Hokkaido Rail Pass. From New Chitose Airport, the direct Donan Bus to the onsen town takes about 1 hour 15 minutes and costs ¥1,900 to ¥2,400 with a reserved seat.

From JR Noboribetsu Station, a local bus runs up to the onsen town in 15 to 25 minutes for ¥450. It is not covered by the JR Pass, and a taxi costs about ¥2,500 to ¥3,000.

How long to stay

One night is enough for Hell Valley, a bath and Date Jidaimura. Two nights lets you add the footbath walk, Lake Kuttara and either Bear Park or a drive to Lake Toya.

Most people come as part of a wider Hokkaido trip. This family road trip around Hokkaido includes Noboribetsu along with Otaru, Lake Toya and Biei over eight days.

For a route that starts further south, Northern Japan from Tokyo to Hokkaido builds the island into a longer trip.

If you are weighing up onsen towns, our comparison of Yufuin and Beppu covers the Kyushu equivalents.

Winter is the best season here despite the cold. Snow on the valley, steam in the air and an outdoor bath at minus five is the whole point of the place, and our five-day Hokkaido itinerary covers what else to see once you're on the island.