On the concourse at Sapporo Station, the departure boards list the names of towns that sound like a different island: Muroran, Oshamambe, Hakodate. The traveler standing under them usually has the same question, how to reach the port at the southern tip of Hokkaido. Trains link the two cities by a route that bends around the coast, and flights run from Chitose to Hakodate for those who prefer the air.
How do you get from Sapporo to Hakodate?
You go by rail along the Hakodate Main Line system, or you fly from Chitose Airport to Hakodate. The railway that bears the city’s name is operated by JR Hokkaido and connects Hakodate and Asahikawa by way of Sapporo, but the name is misleading when you read it on a map. The passenger and freight services that run all the way between Sapporo and Hakodate do not follow the main line the whole distance.
All direct services between the two cities travel via the Chitose and Muroran lines. They rejoin the Hakodate Main Line at Oshamambe Station and carry on from there to Hakodate.
In practice, that means the journey swings south from Sapporo past the Chitose area and follows the Muroran line around the coast before it meets the older line again. The stretch between Oshamambe and Otaru, which the through trains skip, is a different story, and it has a future of its own (more on that below).
The railway behind the name
The Hakodate Main Line opened on November 28, 1880, which makes it one of the long-standing rail corridors of the island. It runs for 263 miles (262.9 mi), with 76 stations on the main line and 6 on the branch. The branch, the Sawara Line, is a 22 miles (22 mi) loop from Onuma to Mori that opened in 1945 and counts as part of the main line.
Along the way you will see the names Otaru and Iwamizawa on the western side of Sapporo, and Hakodate at the other end. Local trains on this line stop at every station, and rapid trains skip the smaller ones without charging a supplement. That is worth knowing when you read a timetable and see several train types with the same destination.
The last stretch: Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto and the Shinkansen
Near the end of the trip, the other great railway of the south comes into the picture. The Hokkaido Shinkansen, operated by JR Hokkaido, links Aomori Prefecture on Honshu with Hokkaido through the Seikan Tunnel, and its Hokkaido terminus is Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto. The line is 92 miles long from Shin-Aomori, and its first section opened on 26 March 2016.
Between Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto and Hakodate itself, the Hakodate Liner rapid service connects the two stations. The Shinkansen is therefore the way travelers from Tokyo arrive in the area, with the fastest Tokyo journey currently at 3 hours, 57 minutes. For someone coming up from Sapporo the Shinkansen does not yet play a role, since the extension to Sapporo is planned for 2030.
Reserved seats and tickets online
JR Hokkaido sells reserved seats for Shinkansen and limited express trains online, and rail passes can also be bought there. Seat reservations that go with a rail pass can be made online too, though some trains do not accept reservations at all. Reserved seats on the Shinkansen and on the Rapid Airport can be bought as E-tickets from JR Hokkaido.
Which options are there?
There are three: the train via the Chitose and Muroran lines, a flight from Chitose to Hakodate, and the road, with a rail pass as the main way to shape the train option.
By train
The train is the way to see southern Hokkaido unfold, and the rail line is the same corridor that built the island’s towns in the nineteenth century. Start in Sapporo, where the line to the south leaves toward the Chitose area, and follow the Muroran line before the route rejoins the Hakodate Main Line at Oshamambe. From there you continue to Hakodate.
Onuma, at the head of the Sawara loop, sits on the main line, and the loop continues to Mori. Not every train stops at these places, so look at the destination and the stops listed on the board before you step on.
By air
Hakodate has direct flights from major Japanese airports and from Chitose, Okadama and Okushiri airports within Hokkaido. For a traveler based in Sapporo, the relevant airport is Chitose, which the Special Rapid Airport train serves from Otaru and Sapporo to New Chitose Airport. Some of those trains stop at Kita-Hiroshima only for events at Es Con Field Hokkaido.
A flight means skipping the coastal run of the Muroran line, and what you gain is time you can spend on the Hakodate side of the trip. What you give up is the long look at the coast and the small stations of the south.
By road
If you drive, traffic in Japan moves on the left side of the road. Without Japanese, you will have trouble understanding road signs, a point to keep in mind before choosing a car over the train.
Rail passes for foreign visitors
JR Hokkaido sells several passes, and all of them are available to foreign visitors only. They include the Sapporo-Noboribetsu Area Pass, the Sapporo-Furano Area Pass, the Hokkaido Rail Pass, the JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass and the JR Tohoku-South Hokkaido Rail Pass. Prices depend on where you buy: outside Japan or in Japan.
| Pass | Days | Bought | Adult | Child |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sapporo-Noboribetsu Area Pass | 4 | Outside Japan | 8,000 yen | 4,000 yen |
| Sapporo-Noboribetsu Area Pass | 4 | In Japan | 8,500 yen | 4,250 yen |
| Sapporo-Furano Area Pass | 4 | Outside Japan | 9,000 yen | 4,500 yen |
| Sapporo-Furano Area Pass | 4 | In Japan | 9,500 yen | 4,750 yen |
| Hokkaido Rail Pass | 5 | Outside Japan | 19,000 yen | 9,500 yen |
| Hokkaido Rail Pass | 5 | In Japan | 20,000 yen | 10,000 yen |
| Hokkaido Rail Pass | 7 | In Japan | 26,000 yen | 13,000 yen |
| Hokkaido Rail Pass | 10 | Outside Japan | 25,000 yen | 12,500 yen |
| Hokkaido Rail Pass | 10 | In Japan | 26,000 yen | 13,000 yen |
What should you know before you travel from Sapporo to Hakodate?
Know that the direct route goes around by the Chitose and Muroran lines, that Hakodate and the Shinkansen terminus are two different stations, and that winter weather can touch the timetable on the Shinkansen side. These are the points that tend to change a plan once you are on the platform.
Two stations, two names
Hakodate Station and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto are separate. The Hakodate Liner rapid service runs between them, and Kitaca IC card support was put in place in 2024 for that section of the Hakodate Main Line. On the other side of the island, Kitaca is supported within the Otaru-Iwamizawa section since 2006, and on the rest of that section since 2024.
Hakodate itself is a city and port in Oshima Subprefecture, and it is the third largest city in Hokkaido after Sapporo and Asahikawa. It sits at the southern tip of the island, so the trip from Sapporo takes you from the largest city to a harbor town at the other end.
The Oshamambe to Otaru section
On March 27, 2022, the municipalities along the line agreed to close the Oshamambe to Otaru section after the Hokkaido Shinkansen extension to Sapporo opens in 2030. Until then the section remains part of the Hakodate Main Line, although the direct Sapporo to Hakodate services do not use it. After the extension opens, the Shinkansen is meant to link Sapporo directly with the line you see ending at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto today.
Winter on the Shinkansen
Snow affects the trains. Snow buildup in the bogies of Hokkaido Shinkansen trains running up to 81 miles/h can reach 3 cm on arrival at a station, causing damage or schedule delays. The line’s occupancy rate reached a low of 19% in January and February, which gives a sense of how the winter months look from the platform.
Through the dual-gauge section that includes the Seikan Tunnel, the speed is limited to 99 miles/h because the shock wave of a Shinkansen at full speed could destabilize a narrow-gauge freight train traveling the other way. About 50 freight trains use the section daily. During holiday periods from 2024, JR Hokkaido raises the limit through that section to 162 miles/h.
Trains and timing in general
Japanese trains have a reputation for being always on time, which lets travelers plan their trips to the minute. All Hokkaido Shinkansen services are formed of 10-car JR East E5 or JR Hokkaido H5 series trainsets. The line’s two service types are the express Hayabusa between Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto and Shin-Aomori, with through services to Tokyo or Sendai, and the local Hayate service between the same two stations, with some trains continuing to Morioka.
Good to know before you go
Prices on this route are in yen, and passes are priced in yen whether you buy them before or after arrival. In Sapporo, the evening can include a stop at the Sapporo Beer Museum and its pub, the Sapporo Beer Garden, where visitors enjoy a beer and lamb barbecue. Hakodate sits on the same island as Sapporo, which hosted the first Winter Olympic Games in Asia in 1972 and holds its Snow Festival in February, so the two ends of the trip have very different characters.
Sources
- JR Hokkaido, Rail passes and tickets (https://www.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/english/ticket/index.html), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikipedia, Hakodate Main Line (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakodate_Main_Line), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikipedia, Hokkaido Shinkansen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkaido_Shinkansen), checked October 11, 2026
- Japan National Tourism Organization, Sapporo (https://www.japan.travel/en/destinations/hokkaido/hokkaido/sapporo-and-around/), checked October 11, 2026
- Hokkaido Love, the official Hokkaido tourism site (https://www.visit-hokkaido.jp/en/), checked October 11, 2026
- Japan National Tourism Organization, Hakodate (https://www.japan.travel/en/destinations/hokkaido/hokkaido/hakodate-and-hokkaido-south/), checked October 11, 2026
- U.S. Department of State, Japan travel information, travel and transportation (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Japan.html), checked October 11, 2026
- Japan National Tourism Organization, trains and buses (https://www.japan.travel/en/guide/how-to-travel-by-train-and-bus-in-japan/), checked October 11, 2026
- Japan National Tourism Organization, traveling by rail (https://www.japan.travel/en/guide/traveling-by-rail/), checked October 11, 2026
To plan your stay
- Best Time to Visit Sapporo: Snow Festival, Summer Weather and Seasonal Highlights
- Things to Do in Sapporo: Snow Festival, Odori Park, Ramen and Day Trips
- Where to Stay in Sapporo: Sapporo Station, Odori, Susukino and Ryokan Stays
- Know Before You Go to Sapporo: Entry, Money, Getting Around and Local Customs