Furano (富良野), located somewhat debatably in the precise geographical center of Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, is an amalgamation of several quaint farming towns around a minor municipal center.
Furano is famous for its remarkably light and dry powder snow, beautiful fields of lavender, entirely domestic vineyards, and its unique Hokkai-Heso Matsuri — the Hokkaido Belly Button Festival.
Furano, located in central Hokkaido, Japan, is blessed with four amazing seasons, breath takingly beautiful nature and the best powder snow in Japan.
For 3 seasons of the year, the vibrant colours of Furano’s flowers, the lavender and the rivers and the mountains create a magic which must be experienced to be believed.
Furano is a fantastic small town with a great world class ski area; it is not a ski resort with a small town.
Furano is situated along the middle reaches of the Sorachi-gawa River in the central part of Hokkaido and it belongs to the Furano-Ashibetsu Nature Park.
Because of its geographical position, which is almost right in the middle of Hokkaido, Furano has a unique nickname - "the navel town." Every summer, the humorous navel festival is held in Furano, during which 3,000 participants draw funny faces on their bellies and dance around in the main street.
Furano's natural beauty is very much appreciated in all seasons throughout the year - beautiful stardust in the winter sky, charming mizubasho, Japanese skunk cabbage flowers on the roadside in spring, the inviting fragrance of lavender in summer, and the gloriously red and yellow tinted leaves in autumn.
Furano is called "Navel of Hokkaido" because it is located in very center of Hokkaido, and is well known for its fields of fragrant lavenders.
Furano is surrounded by mountains: Mt. Furano-dake, Mt. Mae Furano-dake, Mt. Furano Nishi-dake, Mt. Nunobe-dake and Mt. Ashibetsu-dake.
Furano is not only well known for cultivation, but it is also a popular place for international skiing for the world cup, and the famous lavender fields are being used in the very popular Japanese TV drama, "Kita-no-kuni Kara".
Ski Furano with Deep Powder Tours; Furano ski resort occupies the geographic centre of Hokkaido nestled between the Tokachi mountain range to the east and the Yuubari mountain range to the west.
Furano has 2 great ski areas Furano and Kitanomine, both with over 900 vertical meters of terrain that is suitable for all abilities and will challenge even the expert skiers.
Furano offers much more than just good skiing, the town's life and culture alone are enough to attract any traveller wishing to experience true northern Japanese culture and hospitality.
Furano is situated in beautiful Daisetsuzan National Park, the largest park in Hokkaido.
Apart from great snow and terrain, Furano is one of Japan's largest and most famous ski areas, but it is rarely overcrowded due to its location, 2.5 hours by express train from Sapporo City.
Furano has hosted FIS World Cup meets 10 times, and if you have the chance to ski down some of the race courses after they have been groomed (or on fresh snowfalls) it is one of the best experiences you can have on the mountain.
The Furano ski resort lies at the very centre of Hokkaido and is reknowned for its long runs, magnificent views and the ever present Hokkaido powder, with falls of up to 8 metres per season on average.
Furano is famous thoughout Japan for the long running televison show, Kita no Kuni Kara (From the North Country), written by one of Japan's most famous authors, who has made his home here.
Furano is well known for it’s lack of crowds adding to your enjoyment of this former world cup resort.
The main reason to come to the sleepy farm town of FURANO, 120km northeast of Sapporo, is to ski at the renowned World Cup resort on the slopes of Mount Kitanomine.
Furano's ski resort, overlooking Mount Furano and the smoking volcano Tokachi-dake (both within the southern border of Daisetsu-zan National Park), is run by the Prince hotel group.
Furano is best reached by direct bus from Sapporo, a service which takes around two and a half hours; ask to be dropped by the road leading up to ski-jo, rather than getting off in the centre of town, since you'll only have to backtrack.
Furano is a seriously nice change from so many of the big ski resorts around the world.
Furano is a little country town which is busier in summer than in winter where you can experience all Japan and its culture has to offer whilst skiing and boarding some of the best snow I have ever been on.
Nestled in the centre of Hokkaido, the picturesque town of Furano is renowned throughout Japan as being a powder paradise.
It is Golden Week at the moment and Furano is full of tourists enjoying the fine spring weather and soaking up the sun after another long winter.
The forecast is showing rain arriving in the early hours of tomorrow and lasting through untill lunch time and then it looks like it will remain overcast for the rest of the week and even into early next week.
Furano Resort is closing the last of the lifts on May 6th at 4pm.
Located in the "navel" of Hokkaido adjacent to the highest mountain range in the northern part of Japan, Furano receives the same perfect quality dry powder snow that Niseko does with a couple of extra added bonuses: Steeper terrain and more.
The NFP group takes possession of Furano Fresh Powder Lodge in the latter stages of this year.
Plans are underway to upgrade the premise with a restful lounge area that offers panoramic views of the ski slopes, modern well appointed kitchen, bathrooms featuring contemporary Japanese electronic toilets, wireless internet and much more.
www.furanofreshpowder.com (306 words)
Furano Japan 富良野, Summer 2004 - photos of scenery in Hokkaido on Worldisround(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-16)
Scenery in Hokkaido - travel photos - Furano is famous for the beautiful flowers, especially lavanders.
Furano is famous for the beautiful flowers, especially lavanders.
Although there are lots of flower places in Furano & every flower field is beautiful, it is difficult to keep that colorful scene in your memory for a long time.
Nowadays, Furano's lavender fields attract large numbers of visitors to the region every July and August, when the plants are in full bloom.
There are fields of various sizes all across the Furano and Biei region.
During the lavender season, some trains on the Furano Line stop at the seasonally operated "Lavender Batake Station", from where the farm can be reached in a 5 minute walk.
1) Our Furano has got the leather gear knob (although it feels like plastic), but we are going to take up the issue about the handbrake just being plastic and not leather as stated in the brochure.
I've not actually seen a Furano on the road or for that matter in natural daylight, but I'm convinced that the silver is OK and in any case it is better than the Strato which imho doesn't suit a large car and hides all of the car's details.
I've not got the car yet as it is not available for delivery until the end of December (it's pre-registered and must stay at the dealers for 3 months prior to selling on) so I can't comment on any direct experience.
Niseko and Furano accommodation comprises apartments, flats, lodges and pensions and is extremely clean and inexpensive
Ted Weeks, the proprietor of both companies has been in the ski industry for 40 years and will be only too happy to advise on all details of your ski holiday in Japan.
in conjunction with well established local operators in Niseko and Furano all of whom are Australian and have extensive knowledge of the area, and are fluent in Japanese.
