Hokkaido Shinkansen crossing Ohno Plain on the arch-shaped track (in Hokuto-shi, Hokkaido)
Hokkaido rice “Fukkurinko” in a special package with a Shinkansen picture is sold at the farmer’s market of Agricultural Corporative (JA) Shin-Hakodate
Hokkaido Shinkansen’s service started two months ago in March 2016 by JR Hokkaido. It operates between Shin-Aomori Station in Aomori Prefecture to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station in Hokuto-shi, Hokkaido, covering approximately 148 kilometers. Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station is Japan’s northernmost Shinkansen Station located in the middle of one of the largest rice producing areas in Hokkaido. Early summer is the rice planting season here in Hokuto-shi and the rice fields that surround the brand-new Shinkansen track is now turning to green and a brilliant green bullet train runs through the rice fields.
JR Hokkaido currently provides 13 round trips per day
Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station
and 10 among them run even further to Tokyo Station through Tohoku Shinkansen line in up to 4 hours and 2 minutes. The extension of the line to Sapporo Station, the final terminal, is expected to complete in the spring of 2031.
Shinkansen train entering Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station
The brand-new elevated railroad track for Hokkaido Shinkasen runs through Ohno Plain that spreads over Hakodate-shi, Hokuto-shi and Nanae-cho. The Ohno Plain is also knows as the home of rice in Hokkaido. The lookout on the Kihijiki Mountain in the northwest of the Ohno Plain provides a fabulous view of the arch-shaped Shinkansen track that goes across the big rice fields. On the weekends, the outlook has 1,500 visitors per day.