Jozankei Autumn Gondola and Hoheikyo Bus

When autumn sets the hills behind Sapporo alight, the valleys around Jozankei Onsen become one of Hokkaido’s most accessible foliage spectacles. This ticket combines the two best ways to see it: the electric bus into the Hoheikyo dam gorge and the gondola ride at Sapporo Kokusai, lifting you high over slopes of crimson and gold.

Hoheikyo by electric bus

Private cars are banned from the Hoheikyo gorge, so quiet electric buses carry visitors through the tunnel to the dam, where the reservoir sits ringed by cliffs that turn spectacular colours in late September and October. Walkways around the dam give long views down the gorge, and on release days the dam’s discharge adds drama to the scene.

Up the gondola at Sapporo Kokusai

A short drive further into the mountains, the Sapporo Kokusai resort runs its gondola through the green season, climbing over a carpet of beech and rowan to a summit terrace with views that reach toward the Sea of Japan on clear days. In autumn the ride up is the show itself, the canopy shifting colour beneath your feet.

Getting there

Direct buses run from Sapporo Station to Jozankei Onsen in about seventy five minutes, with local connections onward to Hoheikyo and the resort; many visitors finish with a soak in Jozankei’s baths before the ride home. Check seasonal operating dates, as the gondola and foliage window are both finite.

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