Getting to Tobetsu
Rental Car
Rental cars will give you the most freedom to explore the broader Hokkaido area and travel where and when you'd like. If you are coming to Tobetsu by aeroplane, you should go with Sapporo Shin Chitose Airport.
Sapporo Shin Chitose Airport: There are rental car providers there, such as Toyota Car Rental, Times Car Rental and ORIX Rent-A-Car. The desk for car rentals is in the domestic flights terminal on the first floor.
If you are getting the train to Sapporo Station from elsewhere in Japan, there are also car rental options there.
Sapporo Station: On the south side of the station, you can find Nissan Car Rental and Times Car Rental. Nippon Rent-A-Car is just West of the North Exit and Toyota Rent-a-Car are on the East side. Staff at any and all of these providers have a high level of English and will we very helpful.
Legal Requirements: International Driver's License, as well as Domestic Driving License from home country at least 3 months old. Both documents must be valid.
Rules of the Road: https://english.jaf.or.jp/driving-in-japan/rules-of-the-road
To Tobetsu: From Shin Chitose Airport, Tobetsu is a 1 hour drive exactly. From Sapporo Station, Tobetsu is around 50 minutes by car. Both these routes are relatively straight forward.
Train
By far the easiest way to get to Tobetsu is the train from Sapporo Station. Running every 25 minutes or so, usually between 6:20am and 11:30pm, these local trains take around 40 minutes. The views are spectacular, as you watch the Sapporo cityscape melt into rice fields, forests and wide rivers. A ticket costs 800 yen and can be easily obtained via terminals at the station which have English language options. See: https://www.sapporostation.com/gakuentoshi-line-sassho-line-sapporo-tobetsu/
Tobetsu Station is right in the centre of town, a 5-10 minute walk away from most accommodation. You will be welcomed by its stunning stained glass and displays of historical ornaments. Keep your eyes peeled for images of owls, which are Tobetsu's mascot.
From Tobetsu Station, you can easily get trains to the Hokkaidō-Iryōdaigaku, which is further into the Tobetsu countryside and might be good as the starting point for a hike/walk. Going the other way, trains from Tobetsu Station to Sapporo Station are also regular, air conditioned and clean. Via this line, you can visit neighbouring Futomi (5 minutes by train), home to a nationally renowned Ramen shop (See What to do in Tobetsu) and an amazing onsen (https://www.manyo.co.jp/futomi/eng/).
You can also go to Royce Chocolate and Cacao Town on this line (10 minutes from Tobetsu Station), which is a great place for a fun and delicious day trip to understand how chocolate is produced from bean to bar (See Tobetsu Activities and Experiences).
Payment: You can either buy tickets at ticket terminals in the stations (in Tobetsu Station: Go up the stairs, walk down the hallway and turn into the main room with the benches and ticket gates. The terminals will be on your right), or purchase an IC Card at a station. This IC card can then be used for touch payments coming in an and out of stations and makes for much more seamless travel.
You can top up IC cards at train terminals, designated IC card top up points in station, or at any Konbini. You simply ask the member of staff working at the counter to charge the card and give them the amount you would like to add to the card. The main IC card in Hokkaido is Kitaca, but most main IC Card providers will work (e.g. Suica). For more information: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html
Bus
It is possible to get to Tobetsu from Sapporo via bus/coach, but it is a two-leg journey which takes an hour and a half and costs 880 yen. It is therefore more expense than the train despite taking 3 times the amount of time. We would definitely suggest the train from Sapporo Station to Tobetsu Station over the bus.
Transport within Tobetsu
Bus
There is a regular bus around Tobetsu: the "JR 札沼線代替バス," which runs from central Tobetsu through the Kanzawa/Nakagoya areas to Tsukigata. The bus runs every hour or so and is air-conditioned and quick. It does not seem to show up on Google Maps but is on Apple Maps if that option is available to you. If not, the bus information (route/ticket prices etc) can be found here: https://www.town.tobetsu.hokkaido.jp/uploaded/attachment/27805.pdf
Taxi
There are always taxis by Tobetsu Station with friendly drivers who know the area well. These taxis are relatively inexpensive.
Bike
Cycling is a great way to get around Tobetsu, with scenic nature and bike-friendly roads (best practice is to cycle on the pavement or the hard shoulder rather than the road itself).
If you're staying in any of the accommodation featured on Where to Stay, you can get in touch with shutarotsujino@gmail.com to arrange provision of bicycles for free.
Motorbiking
Motorbiking is extremely popular in Tobetsu. With smooth, quiet, and extremely scenic mountain roads, there are few places better for riding a motorbike in Japan. There is a great local community of bikers. Routes often centre around the Tobetsu Dam area. As far as motorbiking in Japan goes, this area north of Tobetsu town offers some of the best road and scenery in the country.
There aren't any motorbike rental places in Tobetsu, but you can easily rent one from Sapporo or Chitose and ride it to the town. If you hang around the local biker spots like the roadside soft serve ice cream place No Serve No Life (more on About Tobetsu and What to do in Tobetsu), you are sure to make great friends who may even be able to show you around the area.
